🔗 Share this article

Iturns out the manager was able to withstand defeat by Grimsby. Survive a decisive European final against one of the worst Spurs sides for many years. He could survive losing at home against West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, an unwavering system, undermining some of the club’s most promising academy products, a poor winning percentage, labeling his team the worst the club has ever seen. But there was one adversary with whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to tango. You come at the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, similar to numerous Premiership right-back in Blackburn’s championship campaign, the coach came at the executive and appears to have failed. The most distracted of readers will notice the paradoxical situation: a manager who frequently berated his squad for losing one-on-one duels crumbling when confronted by the intense pressure and animal charisma of one of England's top division's most intimidating sporting directors.

And frankly, this entire painful saga appears to portray the director in a whole new light. It may have been easy, given his nine months in a similar role with the Saints, to view him as little more than a functionary in the United exoskeleton: a man whose appointment was due largely to his friendship with ex-colleague a fellow executive rather than any verifiable talent. How mistaken everyone was. In brilliantly outsmarting United’s feted head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless Dan Ashworth earlier, he has proved himself as one of the sport’s true generals: a tactical intellect that the club's competitors are now rightly wary.

A Strategic Clash Regarding Formation & Philosophy

For example, it was Jason Wilcox who having been part of the leadership that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach originally, was instrumental in attempting to convince Amorim to abandon his favored 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties were resisted. But perhaps such directives carry more weight when delivered by a man with the impeccable soccer background he possesses, holder of three England caps and a role in a championship team decades past.

Maybe eventually Jason Wilcox might agree to outline his reasoning to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point he might be asked why Amorim is departing with a full payout, without any penalty clause in place. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely publicly, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals in football – men like him – simply operate at a level exceeding our mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, most likely we would perceive is a series of ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not quite equivalent to being prepared to receive.

The Supreme Authority Behind the Throne

But of course, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the true genius behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, after all, merely executing the directives of his superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has emphasized his desire for a back four. It is reported, the owner has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for United to adopt data science and analytics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit early in his investment, he announced that United’s style of play “will be determined by this group”.

After all, Ratcliffe is an expert in these intricate footballing stuff, leveraging his previous experience in industry and sailing. Above all he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the rich are superior: more insightful, more wise, strategically brilliant, fundamentally better. Whom else could one trust to manage an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the construction of a new stadium that looks a lot like an abstract design, the signing of a new striker?

The New Football Hierarchy: Executives Above Managers

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels football. For decades, clubs foolishly entrusted big footballing decisions to subordinate staff like managers, talent spotters – players themselves. Maybe previously possible for a young, innovative manager with ideas and energy to join a club and see their vision supported to fruition. Yet how many businesses have these guys established? How many mass redundancies have they managed? Far preferable to invest genuine authority where it belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the guys with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. It is wiser to determine the strategy by the directors and appoint someone who can tailor their offering accordingly. If managers were once chefs, they are now more akin to delivery personnel: not responsible for the product, but still finally accountable if it arrives poorly or fails to meet standards.

Nowadays, a coach's role is increasingly not about defining the vision and more about selling it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the public face for a club they can do little to change. A coach at Chelsea leads a team of literal children into Europe and secures two medium-sized trophies, and effectively is dismissed for talking. Wilfried Nancy finds his standing damaged while the people who appointed him continue to make errors indefinitely.

A Neoliberal Football: Accountability Only for the Coaches

And possibly in a small way this is simply neoliberalism at work: the rise of a privileged elite who are infallible, whose decisions remain untouchable, whose mistakes can always be sacked away without explanation. Hire the system coach only to dismiss him for using too much 3-4-3. Hire the project manager and then bin him for taking too long. And most importantly show gratitude; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for the latest player acquisitions, for the reality that the adults – however well qualified – are in charge.