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Tbecame clear he was able to withstand losing against lower-league opposition. He weathered a decisive European final versus one of the worst Tottenham teams in living memory. He could survive home defeats to domestic rivals, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, squandering some of the club’s most promising academy products, a poor winning percentage, calling his team the worst in Manchester United history. But there was a single opponent with whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to engage. You come at Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous Premiership right-back during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning campaign, Amorim took on the executive and seems to have missed. The most distracted of readers will notice the paradoxical situation: a manager who frequently berated his squad for failing in individual battles crumbling in the face of the white heat and formidable presence of a England's top division's most feared sporting directors.

In truth, this whole bruising episode appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. It may have been tempting, given his nine months of experience with the Saints, to view Jason Wilcox as little more than a functionary within the club's structure: an individual who owed his position as much to his close relationship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada rather than any verifiable talent. How mistaken everyone was. By masterfully outsmarting the club's celebrated head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate Dan Ashworth earlier, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated to be among football's strategic masterminds: a strategic mind of which the club's competitors will now be rightly wary.

A Tactical Conflict Regarding Formation and Philosophy

To illustrate, it was Jason Wilcox , after being involved in the hierarchy that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim originally, played a key role in trying to persuade Amorim to ditch his favored 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties met a certain resistance. However, these judgements hold greater authority when delivered from the mouth of a man the impeccable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of international appearances and a contributor to a title-winning side decades past.

Perhaps in time he might agree to outline his thought processes to the rest of us. Perhaps at some point questions may arise regarding why the coach is walking away with full compensation, with no penalty clause activated. The director speaks rarely publicly, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals of this sport – individuals such as him – simply operate at a level beyond our own mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, most likely all we would hear is a series of high-frequency signals and four-dimensional whirring. Wanting is not 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 true genius behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, merely executing the commands of his ultimate superior the billionaire owner, who in private has emphasized his preference for a back four. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for the club to adopt analytics and metrics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit soon after his investment, he announced that the team's approach of play “will be determined by this group”.

After all, Sir Jim is an expert in these intricate football matters, leveraging his background in petrochemicals and sailing. Above all he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the rich are superior: more perceptive, more wise, strategically brilliant, fundamentally better. Who else would you trust to manage a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the building of a modern arena that appears a lot like an abstract design, the acquisition of a new striker?

The Modern Football Order: Executives Over Managers

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels of the game. Historically, teams mistakenly delegated big footballing decisions to low-level employees such as coaches, scouts – players themselves. Perhaps it was once possible for a young, innovative manager with a philosophy and drive to go into an organization and see their vision supported to fruition. But how many companies have these guys established? How many mass redundancies have they managed? Better by far to place the real power where it belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with impressive LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to decide the strategy in the boardroom and hire a coach who can tailor their offering to suit. If managers were once chefs, they have become more like Deliveroo drivers: not creating the food, but still ultimately answerable should it be delivered poorly or fails of the box.

Nowadays, a coach's role is increasingly not about defining the vision and more about selling it: the front-facing representative on the front desk, the public face of an organisation they have minimal power to influence. Enzo Maresca leads a team of very young players into Europe and secures two medium-sized trophies, and effectively is dismissed for talking. A manager at Celtic sees his standing damaged whereas the people who hired him live to blunder indefinitely.

A Modern Corporate Football: Responsibility for the Few

And perhaps in a small way this is simply neoliberalism in action: the rise of a privileged overclass who can never be wrong, whose decisions remain untouchable, whose mistakes can always be resolved by sacking without explanation. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach only to fire him for using too much 3-4-3. Hire the project manager and then discard him for taking too long. And above all be grateful; for your modest season ticket price rises, for the latest summer signings, for the reality that the adults – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.