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Itranspired the manager could survive losing against Grimsby. He weathered a decisive continental showpiece versus one of the worst Tottenham teams for many years. He could survive losing at home to West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, an unwavering system, squandering some of the club’s best academy products, the 32% win rate, labeling the squad the poorest the club has ever seen. But there was one adversary with whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to dance. You come at the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, similar to numerous top-flight right-back during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning 1994-95 season, Amorim took on the executive and appears to have missed. Even the most casual observer will notice the paradoxical situation: a coach who frequently berated at his players for losing individual battles crumbling when confronted by the white heat and formidable presence of one of England's top division's most feared football executives.

And frankly, this entire painful saga appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been easy, based on his brief stint of experience with the Saints, to view Jason Wilcox as little more than a functionary within the club's structure: a man who owed his position largely to his friendship with ex-colleague a fellow executive rather than any demonstrable skill. How wrong everyone was. By masterfully outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated head coach, just as he bested the hapless Dan Ashworth earlier, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated as one of the sport’s strategic masterminds: a strategic mind that United’s competitors will now be justifiably concerned.

The Strategic Conflict Regarding System and Ideology

To illustrate, it was Jason Wilcox who having been part of the leadership that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach originally, was instrumental in attempting to convince him to ditch his beloved 3-4-3. Naturally, these pleas were resisted. But perhaps such directives carry more weight when issued from the mouth of a man the unimpeachable soccer background he possesses, a veteran of international appearances and a role in a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox might agree to explain his reasoning publicly. Perhaps at some point questions may arise regarding why the coach is walking away with a full payout, with no penalty clause in place. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely publicly, and with very good reason. The real thinkers in football – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – simply operate at a level beyond our own mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, probably all we would hear is a series of high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Wanting is not quite equivalent to being ready to receive.

An Supreme Power In the Throne

But of course, in training our focus on the sporting director we overlook the real power behind the club's current leadership. The director is, after all, merely executing the directives of his line manager the billionaire owner, who in private has made very clear his desire for a back four. According to reports, the owner has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for the club to embrace data science and analytics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting soon after his investment, he declared that the team's approach to football “will be decided by this group”.

After all, Sir Jim is a specialist in this technical footballing stuff, drawing from his previous experience in industry and sailing. Above all he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the rich are the best of us: more insightful, more wise, strategically brilliant, simply better. Who else would you trust to manage a strategic plan of austerity, the building of a modern arena that looks a lot like an abstract design, the signing of a new striker?

The Modern Football Hierarchy: Directors Above Coaches

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels of the game. For decades, clubs foolishly entrusted big footballing decisions to subordinate staff such as coaches, scouts – even footballers. Perhaps it was once possible for a young, visionary coach with a philosophy and drive to join an organization and see their vision through to completion. But how many companies have these guys established? What number of large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Far preferable to invest genuine authority where it belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to determine the tactics in the boardroom and appoint someone who will adapt their offering to suit. If coaches were once chefs, they have become more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not really creating the product, but still ultimately answerable should it be delivered cold or fails to meet standards.

Nowadays, their job has become less about defining the vision and more about marketing it: the front-facing representative on the front desk, the public face for a club they have minimal power to change. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of literal children into the Champions League and secures domestic cups, and essentially is dismissed for talking. A manager at Celtic sees his reputation ruined while the people who appointed him continue to make errors another day.

The Modern Corporate Game: Responsibility for the Coaches

And possibly on some microcosmic level this is simply neoliberalism in action: the elevation of a gilded elite who are infallible, whose decisions remain sacrosanct, whose mistakes can invariably be sacked away without explanation. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach and then dismiss him for playing excessively that system. Bring in the project manager and later bin him for taking excessive time. And above all be grateful; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for your new player acquisitions, for the reality that the adults – however well qualified – are in charge.