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Transpired the manager was able to withstand losing against Grimsby. Survive losing a crucial European final against a particularly poor Tottenham teams in living memory. He could survive home defeats against West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, undermining some of the club’s best academy products, a poor winning percentage, calling the squad the worst in Manchester United history. Yet, there existed a single opponent against whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to tango. You come at the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, like many a top-flight right-back in Blackburn’s championship campaign, the coach took on Jason Wilcox and appears to have missed. The most casual observer can see the irony here: a coach who frequently berated his squad for failing in one-on-one duels succumbing in the face of the intense pressure and animal charisma of one of England's top division's most intimidating sporting directors.

In truth, this whole bruising episode appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. It may have been tempting, based on his nine months of experience at Southampton, to regard Jason Wilcox as merely a functionary in the United exoskeleton: a man who owed his position as much to his close relationship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada as any demonstrable skill. How mistaken everyone was. By masterfully outsmarting the club's celebrated head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate Dan Ashworth earlier, he has proved himself to be among football's true generals: a strategic mind that the club's competitors will now be rightly wary.

The Strategic Clash Regarding System and Philosophy

To illustrate, this was Jason Wilcox who being involved in the leadership that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim originally, played a key role in trying to persuade Amorim to abandon his favored formation. Naturally, these entreaties met a certain resistance. However, such directives hold greater authority when delivered from the mouth with the impeccable football pedigree he possesses, a veteran of three England caps and a role in a title-winning side decades past.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox may be persuaded to explain his thought processes publicly. Maybe one day questions may arise why Amorim is walking away with full compensation, with no compensation reduction clause in place. The director seldom speaks publicly, and with very good reason. The real thinkers in football – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – function on a plane beyond our own prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, most likely we would perceive would be high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not quite the same as being ready to comprehend it.

The Ultimate Power Behind Command

Naturally, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we overlook the true genius behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, simply carrying out the commands of his superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has emphasized his preference for a back four. According to reports, the owner has also suggested deploying the forward in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for the club to adopt data science and metrics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit early in his investment, he announced that the team's approach to football “shall be decided in this room”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is a specialist in this technical footballing stuff, drawing from his previous experience in petrochemicals and yachting. Above all he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the wealthy are the best of us: more insightful, more wise, strategically brilliant, simply better. Who else would you trust to oversee a strategic plan of austerity, the building of a modern arena that appears similar to an abstract design, the acquisition of a new striker?

A New Football Hierarchy: Executives Over Managers

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent in top-tier football. Historically, clubs foolishly entrusted big footballing decisions to subordinate staff such as coaches, talent spotters – players themselves. Perhaps it was once feasible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with a philosophy and energy to go into a club and see their vision through to completion. But how many companies have such individuals set up? What number of large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Far preferable to place the real power where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with impressive professional resumes. It is wiser to decide the strategy by the directors and hire a coach who can tailor their offering accordingly. If managers were formerly chefs, they have become more like Deliveroo drivers: not responsible for the food, but still ultimately answerable if it arrives poorly or leaks out to meet standards.

In the meantime, a coach's role is increasingly less about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the receptionist of the operation, the public face of an organisation they have minimal power 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 speaking out. A manager at Celtic finds his reputation ruined while the people who hired him live to blunder another day.

A Modern Corporate Game: Accountability for the Coaches

And possibly on some microcosmic level this represents corporate governance in action: the elevation of a gilded elite who can never be wrong, whose choices are always untouchable, whose errors can always be sacked away without justification. Hire the system coach only to fire them for playing excessively 3-4-3. Bring in the project manager and then discard him for taking excessive time. And most importantly show gratitude; for your modest season ticket price rises, for your new summer signings, for the fact that the adults – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.