🔗 Share this article

Iturns out Ruben Amorim could survive losing against lower-league opposition. Survive a decisive continental showpiece versus one of the worst Tottenham teams in living memory. He withstood home defeats to domestic rivals, a lowly league position, his rigid approach, laying waste to the team's best homegrown talent, the 32% win rate, labeling the squad the worst the club has ever seen. But there was one adversary with whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to engage. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, similar to numerous Premiership right-back in Blackburn’s championship campaign, Amorim took on the executive and seems to have missed. Even the most casual observer will notice the paradoxical situation: a manager who frequently berated his squad for failing in one-on-one duels crumbling in the face of the white heat and formidable presence of one of England's top division's most intimidating football executives.

And frankly, this entire painful saga appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a whole new light. It may have been easy, given his brief stint in a similar role at Southampton, to regard Jason Wilcox as merely a functionary within the club's structure: a man whose appointment was due as much to his close relationship with his former boss Omar Berrada rather than any verifiable talent. How mistaken we all were. In brilliantly outsmarting the club's celebrated head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate Dan Ashworth before him, he has proved himself to be among the sport’s strategic masterminds: a strategic mind that United’s competitors are now justifiably concerned.

A Strategic Conflict Regarding Formation and Philosophy

For example, this was the director who having been part of the leadership that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist the coach originally, played a key role in attempting to convince him to ditch his favored 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these pleas faced pushback. However, these judgements hold greater authority when delivered by a man of a man the impeccable soccer background he possesses, holder of international appearances and a contributor to a championship team decades past.

Perhaps in time he might agree to outline his thought processes publicly. Maybe one day he might be asked regarding why the coach is departing with full compensation, without any penalty clause in place. The director speaks rarely in public, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals in football – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – function at a level beyond our own mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, most likely all we would hear is a series of ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not the same as being ready to comprehend it.

The Ultimate Power In Command

But of course, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the true genius behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, after all, merely executing the commands of his superior the billionaire owner, who privately has emphasized his preference for a back four. It is reported, the owner has also proposed deploying the forward as a right wing-back. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to adopt data science and metrics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit early in his investment, he declared that United’s style to football “shall be determined by this group”.

After all, Ratcliffe is a specialist in these intricate footballing stuff, leveraging his previous experience in petrochemicals and sailing. Above all he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the wealthy are superior: more insightful, sagacious, more tactically astute, fundamentally better. Whom else could one trust to manage a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the construction of a new stadium that appears similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of a new striker?

A Modern Football Order: Executives Over Coaches

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent in top-tier football. Historically, teams mistakenly delegated major sporting choices to subordinate staff like managers, scouts – players themselves. Perhaps it was once feasible for a young, visionary coach with a philosophy and energy to go into an organization and implement their plan supported to fruition. But how many businesses have these guys set up? How many large-scale layoffs have they managed? Better by far to invest the real power where it belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with impressive professional resumes. Better by far to determine the strategy in the boardroom and hire someone who can tailor their offering to suit. If managers were formerly chefs, they are now more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not really responsible for the product, yet ultimately answerable if it arrives cold or fails to meet standards.

Nowadays, their job is increasingly not 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 wins two medium-sized trophies, and effectively gets sacked for talking. Wilfried Nancy finds his reputation ruined whereas those individuals who hired him live to blunder indefinitely.

A Modern Corporate Football: Accountability for the Coaches

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this represents corporate governance at work: the rise of a privileged elite who are infallible, whose decisions remain sacrosanct, whose errors can invariably be sacked away without justification. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach and then fire him for using too much 3-4-3. Hire the project manager and then bin him for taking too long. And above all be grateful; for your modest season ticket price rises, for your new player acquisitions, for the reality that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – are in charge.