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Iturns out he endured defeat by Grimsby. He weathered an important continental showpiece versus one of the worst Spurs sides for many years. He could survive losing at home against West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, squandering some of the club’s most promising academy products, the 32% win rate, calling the squad the worst in Manchester United history. But there was one adversary against whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to tango. If you challenge the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, like many a Premiership defender during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning 1994-95 season, the coach came at Jason Wilcox and seems to have missed. The most casual observer will notice the irony here: a coach who often railed his squad for failing in 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 different perspective. It may have been easy, based on his nine months in a similar role at Southampton, to view him as little more than a drudge within the club's structure: a man whose appointment was due as much to his friendship with ex-colleague a fellow executive rather than any demonstrable skill. How mistaken we all were. By masterfully outsmarting the club's celebrated head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless a previous executive earlier, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated to be among the sport’s strategic masterminds: a strategic mind of which United’s mid-table rivals will now be justifiably concerned.

The Tactical Conflict Over System & Ideology

To illustrate, it was the director who having been part of the hierarchy that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach originally, played a key role in attempting to convince him to ditch his favored formation. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties were resisted. But perhaps these judgements carry more weight when delivered by a man of a man the impeccable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of international appearances and a role in a championship team from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to outline his reasoning to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point he might be asked regarding why the coach is departing with a full payout, with no compensation reduction clause activated. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely in public, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers in football – individuals such as him – simply operate on a plane beyond our own mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, probably we would perceive would be ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not quite the same as being prepared to comprehend it.

The Ultimate Power In the Throne

But of course, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we overlook the real power behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, simply carrying out the commands of his ultimate line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has emphasized his preference for a back four. According to reports, the owner has also proposed deploying the forward as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for the club to adopt data science and analytics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit soon after his minority ownership, he declared that United’s style to football “shall be decided in this room”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is a specialist in these intricate footballing stuff, drawing from his background in petrochemicals and sailing. Most importantly he remains incredibly rich, and as we all know, the rich are superior: more insightful, sagacious, strategically brilliant, simply superior. Who else would you trust to oversee an enlightened programme of austerity, the building of a modern arena that looks similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of a new striker?

The New Football Hierarchy: Directors Above Coaches

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels football. Historically, clubs foolishly entrusted major sporting choices to low-level employees such as coaches, scouts – even footballers. Maybe previously feasible for an up-and-coming, visionary coach with a philosophy and energy to join an organization and see their vision supported to fruition. But how many businesses have such individuals set up? How many mass redundancies have they overseen? Far preferable to place genuine authority where it belongs: the executive class, 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 methods to suit. If managers were formerly chefs, they have become more akin to delivery personnel: not responsible for the food, but still finally accountable should it be delivered poorly or fails to meet standards.

In the meantime, a coach's role has become not about defining the vision and more about selling it: the receptionist on the front desk, the visible figurehead of an organisation they can do little to change. Enzo Maresca leads a team of literal children into Europe and wins domestic cups, and essentially gets sacked for talking. A manager at Celtic finds his standing damaged whereas the people who hired him continue to make errors another day.

A Neoliberal Football: Accountability Only for the Few

And possibly in a small way this represents neoliberalism at work: the elevation of a privileged elite who are infallible, whose decisions are always sacrosanct, whose mistakes can always be resolved by sacking without explanation. Hire the system coach only to fire him for using too much that system. Hire the project manager and later discard him for requiring too long. And above all be grateful; for your modest season ticket price rises, for the latest player acquisitions, for the reality that the adults – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.