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Transpired the manager was able to withstand a loss to Grimsby. Survive losing a crucial European final against one of the worst Spurs sides for many years. He could survive losing at home to West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, the tactical inflexibility, undermining the team's most promising academy products, a poor winning percentage, labeling the squad the poorest in Manchester United history. Yet, there existed a single opponent with whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to dance. If you challenge the sporting director, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, like many a Premiership right-back in Blackburn’s title-winning campaign, the coach took on the executive and appears to have failed. The most casual observer can see the irony here: a manager who frequently berated at his players for losing individual battles crumbling when confronted by the intense pressure and formidable presence of one of the Premier League’s most feared sporting directors.

And frankly, this entire painful saga seems to paint Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. It may have been tempting, based on his brief stint of experience with the Saints, to regard him as little more than a functionary within the club's structure: a man whose appointment was due largely to his close relationship with ex-colleague a fellow executive rather than any demonstrable skill. How mistaken we all were. In brilliantly outsmarting the club's celebrated manager, just as he bested the hapless Dan Ashworth earlier, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated to be among football's true generals: a strategic mind of which the club's mid-table rivals are now justifiably concerned.

A Tactical Conflict Over System & Philosophy

To illustrate, it was Jason Wilcox , after being involved in the hierarchy that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach originally, was instrumental in trying to persuade him to abandon his beloved 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these pleas met a certain resistance. But perhaps these judgements hold greater authority when issued by a man with the unimpeachable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of international appearances and a role in a championship team 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 departing with a full payout, with no penalty clause in place. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely in public, and with very good reason. The real thinkers of this sport – men like him – function at a level exceeding our 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 quite equivalent to being prepared to receive.

The Ultimate Authority Behind Command

But of course, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the real power behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, merely executing the commands of his line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has made very clear his preference for a back four. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also proposed deploying the forward in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for United to embrace data science and metrics. Per reports, during a leadership summit soon after his investment, he announced that United’s style to football “shall be determined by this group”.

After all, Ratcliffe is an expert in these intricate football matters, leveraging his previous experience in petrochemicals and yachting. Above all he remains immensely wealthy, and it is known, the wealthy are the best of us: more perceptive, more wise, strategically brilliant, simply superior. Who else would you trust to oversee an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the construction of a new stadium that appears similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of a new striker?

The New Soccer Order: Executives Above Managers

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing in top-tier football. Historically, teams mistakenly entrusted big footballing decisions to subordinate staff such as coaches, scouts – players themselves. Maybe previously possible for a young, visionary coach with ideas and energy to go into an organization and implement their plan supported to fruition. But how many companies have such individuals established? How many large-scale layoffs have they managed? Far preferable to invest the real power where it belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the guys with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to decide the tactics in the boardroom and appoint someone who can tailor their methods accordingly. If managers were formerly chefs, they are now more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not really responsible for the product, yet ultimately answerable should it be delivered poorly or fails of the box.

In the meantime, a coach's role has become less about defining the vision and more about marketing it: the receptionist on the front desk, the public face of an organisation they can do little to change. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of very young players into the Champions League and secures two medium-sized trophies, and essentially is dismissed for speaking out. Wilfried Nancy sees his standing damaged whereas those individuals who appointed him live to blunder another day.

A Neoliberal Football: Accountability for the Few

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this is simply corporate governance at work: the rise of a privileged overclass who are infallible, whose choices are always untouchable, whose errors can invariably be sacked away without justification. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach and then dismiss them for playing excessively 3-4-3. Hire the process guy and then bin them for requiring excessive time. And above all show gratitude; for your modest season ticket price rises, for the latest summer signings, for the reality that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.