🔗 Share this article

Itranspired he could survive defeat by Grimsby. Survive losing a crucial continental showpiece against one of the worst Spurs sides in living memory. He could survive home defeats to West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, an unwavering system, undermining some of the club’s best academy products, a poor winning percentage, labeling the squad the worst the club has ever seen. But there was one adversary against whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to engage. You come at the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous Premiership right-back during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning campaign, Amorim came at Jason Wilcox and appears to have missed. Even the most casual observer will notice the irony here: a manager who frequently berated at his players for failing in individual battles succumbing in the face of the white heat and formidable presence of a England's top division's most intimidating football executives.

In truth, this whole painful saga appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. It may have been tempting, based on his nine months in a similar role at Southampton, to regard Jason Wilcox as merely a drudge within the club's structure: an individual whose appointment was due as much to his close relationship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada as any verifiable talent. How mistaken everyone was. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated head coach, just as he bested the unfortunate a previous executive earlier, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated to be among the sport’s strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect of which United’s mid-table rivals will now be rightly wary.

A Strategic Clash Over Formation and Philosophy

To illustrate, this was Jason Wilcox , after being involved in the hierarchy that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach originally, was instrumental in attempting to convince him to abandon his beloved 3-4-3. Naturally, these entreaties met a certain resistance. But perhaps these judgements carry more weight when issued by a man of a man the unimpeachable football pedigree he possesses, holder of three England caps and a role in a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox might agree to outline his thought processes to the rest of us. Maybe one day he might be asked why Amorim is departing with a full payout, with no penalty clause in place. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks in public, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals in football – individuals such as him – simply operate at a level exceeding our mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, probably we would perceive would be ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not equivalent to being ready to comprehend it.

An Ultimate Authority Behind Command

Naturally, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the real power behind the modern United throne. The director is, in reality, merely executing the directives of his superior the billionaire owner, who in private has made very clear his preference for a back four. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also suggested deploying the forward in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for United to adopt analytics and analytics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit soon after his minority ownership, he announced that the team's approach of play “will be determined by this group”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is a specialist in this technical football matters, leveraging his previous experience in petrochemicals and yachting. Above all he remains incredibly rich, and as we all know, the rich are superior: more insightful, more wise, strategically brilliant, fundamentally better. Who else would you trust to oversee an enlightened programme of austerity, the building of a new stadium that looks a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of a new striker?

A New Soccer Order: Executives Above Managers

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels football. For decades, clubs foolishly entrusted major sporting choices to subordinate staff such as coaches, talent spotters – players themselves. Perhaps it was once possible for a young, visionary coach with a philosophy and energy to go into a club and implement their plan supported to fruition. Yet how many businesses have such individuals established? How many large-scale layoffs have they managed? Better by far to place the real power where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with impressive LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to determine the tactics by the directors and appoint a coach who can tailor their offering to suit. If managers were formerly chefs, they are now more like delivery personnel: not creating the food, yet finally accountable if it arrives cold or fails of the box.

In the meantime, a coach's role is increasingly less about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the visible figurehead of an organisation they can do little to change. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of literal children into Europe and wins two medium-sized trophies, and essentially gets sacked for talking. A manager at Celtic sees his reputation ruined while those individuals who appointed him continue to make errors another day.

A Neoliberal Game: Responsibility for the Coaches

And possibly on some microcosmic level this represents corporate governance in action: the elevation of a gilded elite who are infallible, whose choices remain untouchable, whose errors can always be resolved by sacking without explanation. Hire the 3-4-3 coach and then dismiss him for using too much that system. Bring in the project manager and later bin him for taking too long. And above all show gratitude; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for your new summer signings, for the fact that the adults – however well qualified – remain in control.