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Turns out the manager was able to withstand a loss to Grimsby. Survive losing a crucial European final against one of the worst Spurs sides in living memory. He could survive losing at home against domestic rivals, a lowly league position, an unwavering system, undermining the team's most promising academy products, the 32% win rate, calling the squad the poorest the club has ever seen. But there was one adversary with whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to engage. You come at the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, like many a Premiership defender in Blackburn’s championship campaign, Amorim took on the executive and appears to have failed. Even the most distracted of readers will notice the paradoxical situation: a coach who frequently berated his squad for losing individual battles succumbing in the face of the intense pressure and formidable presence of a England's top division's most intimidating sporting directors.

And frankly, this entire bruising episode appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been easy, based on his brief stint of experience with the Saints, to regard Jason Wilcox as little more than a functionary in the United exoskeleton: an individual whose appointment was due as much to his friendship with ex-colleague a fellow executive as any verifiable talent. How wrong everyone was. By masterfully outmanoeuvring United’s feted manager, just as he bested the unfortunate Dan Ashworth earlier, he has proved himself as one of football's true generals: a strategic mind of which United’s competitors will now be rightly wary.

The Strategic Conflict Over Formation and Ideology

For example, it was Jason Wilcox who having been part of the leadership that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach originally, played a key role in attempting to convince Amorim to ditch his beloved formation. Naturally, these pleas faced pushback. But perhaps these judgements hold greater authority when delivered by a man of a man the unimpeachable football pedigree he possesses, holder of three England caps and a role in a championship team decades past.

Maybe eventually he may be persuaded to outline his reasoning to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point questions may arise regarding why the coach is walking away with full compensation, without any compensation reduction clause in place. The director speaks rarely publicly, and with very good reason. The real thinkers of this sport – men like him – simply operate on a plane exceeding our prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, probably we would perceive is a series of high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not quite equivalent to being ready to comprehend it.

An Ultimate Power Behind the Throne

But of course, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the true genius behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, after all, simply carrying out the commands of his ultimate superior the billionaire owner, who privately has made very clear his desire for a four-man defense. It is reported, the owner has also proposed deploying the forward in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for United to adopt analytics and metrics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting early in his investment, he announced that United’s style to football “will be determined by this group”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is an expert in these intricate footballing stuff, drawing from his previous experience in petrochemicals and sailing. Above all he remains immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the rich are the best of us: more perceptive, more wise, strategically brilliant, simply better. Who else could one trust to manage a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the building of a modern arena that looks similar to an abstract design, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

A New Football Hierarchy: Directors Over Coaches

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing in top-tier football. For decades, clubs foolishly delegated big footballing decisions to subordinate staff such as coaches, scouts – players themselves. Perhaps it was once feasible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with a philosophy and drive to go into a club and implement their plan supported to fruition. Yet how many companies have such individuals established? How many mass redundancies have they managed? Far preferable to invest the real power where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the guys with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to decide the strategy by the directors and appoint a coach who will adapt their offering accordingly. If managers were once chefs, they have become more like delivery personnel: not creating the product, but still finally accountable should it be delivered poorly or leaks out of the box.

Nowadays, a coach's role is increasingly not about defining the vision and more about selling it: the receptionist on the front desk, the visible figurehead for a club they can do little to influence. A coach at Chelsea leads a team of very young players into the Champions League and secures two medium-sized trophies, and effectively is dismissed for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy finds his standing damaged whereas those individuals who appointed him live to blunder another day.

A Modern Corporate Game: Accountability for the Coaches

And perhaps in a small way this represents corporate governance at work: the rise of a privileged elite who can never be wrong, whose decisions are always untouchable, whose errors can always be sacked away without explanation. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach only to fire them for playing excessively that system. Hire the project manager and then discard them for taking too long. And most importantly be grateful; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for your new player acquisitions, for the fact that the adults – however well qualified – are in charge.