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Turns out the manager was able to withstand defeat by Grimsby. He weathered an important continental showpiece against one of the worst Tottenham teams for many years. He withstood losing at home to domestic rivals, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, laying waste to some of the club’s best academy products, a poor winning percentage, labeling the squad the poorest in Manchester United history. But there was one adversary with whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to tango. If you challenge the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, similar to numerous top-flight defender during Blackburn Rovers' championship campaign, Amorim took on the executive and appears to have failed. The most casual observer can see the paradoxical situation: a coach who frequently berated at his players for losing individual battles succumbing in the face of the intense pressure and formidable presence of one of the Premier League’s most intimidating football executives.

In truth, this whole bruising episode seems to paint the director in a different perspective. It may have been easy, given his brief stint of experience with the Saints, to regard Jason Wilcox as little more than a drudge in the United exoskeleton: a man whose appointment was due largely to his close relationship with his former boss a fellow executive rather than any demonstrable skill. How mistaken everyone was. By masterfully outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated 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 mid-table rivals are now justifiably concerned.

A Tactical Clash Over System and Philosophy

For example, this was the director who being involved in the hierarchy that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim originally, was instrumental in attempting to convince Amorim to ditch his favored formation. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties faced pushback. However, these judgements carry more weight when delivered from the mouth of a man the impeccable football pedigree he possesses, a veteran of three England caps and a contributor to a title-winning side decades past.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox might agree to outline his reasoning publicly. Maybe one day questions may arise regarding why the coach is walking away with a full payout, with no compensation reduction clause in place. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks in public, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals of this sport – men like him – function on a plane beyond our own mundane comprehension. If he ever did speak, probably all we would hear is a series of ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not equivalent to being ready to comprehend it.

The Supreme Authority In the Throne

But of course, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox we overlook the real power behind the club's current leadership. The director is, after all, simply carrying out the directives of his ultimate superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has emphasized his desire for a back four. According to reports, the owner has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for the club to adopt analytics and metrics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit early in his minority ownership, he declared that the team's approach of play “will be decided in this room”.

After all, Sir Jim is an expert in these intricate football matters, drawing from his background in petrochemicals and sailing. Above all he remains immensely wealthy, and it is known, the rich are superior: more insightful, sagacious, more tactically astute, fundamentally superior. Who else could one trust to manage an enlightened programme of austerity, the building of a modern arena that looks a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of a new striker?

The New Soccer Hierarchy: Directors Above Managers

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent in top-tier of the game. For decades, clubs foolishly delegated major sporting choices to low-level employees such as coaches, talent spotters – players themselves. Maybe previously possible for a young, innovative manager with a philosophy and drive to join a club and implement their plan supported to fruition. But how many companies have these guys set up? What number of mass redundancies have they overseen? Far preferable to place the real power where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to determine the tactics by the directors and appoint a coach who will adapt their methods to suit. If coaches were once chefs, they are now more like delivery personnel: not really 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 not about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the receptionist of the operation, the visible figurehead for a club they can do little to influence. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of very young players into Europe and wins two medium-sized trophies, and effectively gets sacked for talking. A manager at Celtic sees his standing damaged while the people who appointed him live to blunder another day.

A Modern Corporate Game: Responsibility for the Coaches

And possibly on some microcosmic level this is simply corporate governance in action: the elevation of a privileged elite who are infallible, whose decisions remain sacrosanct, whose mistakes can invariably be sacked away without justification. Hire the 3-4-3 coach only to fire him for using excessively 3-4-3. Hire the project manager and later bin them for taking too long. And above all be grateful; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for the latest summer signings, for the fact that the adults – however well qualified – remain in control.