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Turns out he was able to withstand losing against Grimsby. Survive losing a crucial European final versus one of the worst Spurs sides for many years. He withstood home defeats to West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, an unwavering system, undermining the team's most promising homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, labeling the squad the worst the club has ever seen. But there was one adversary against whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to dance. You come at Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, like many a Premiership right-back during Blackburn Rovers' championship 1994-95 season, Amorim came at the executive and appears to have missed. Even the most casual observer can see the irony here: a coach who frequently berated his squad for failing in individual battles succumbing in the face of the intense pressure and formidable presence of a England's top division's most feared football executives.

And frankly, this whole painful saga appears to portray the director in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been tempting, based on his nine months in a similar role with the Saints, to regard him as little more than a drudge within the club's structure: an individual whose appointment was due largely to his close relationship with his former boss Omar Berrada rather than any demonstrable skill. How mistaken everyone was. By masterfully outsmarting the club's celebrated manager, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless a previous executive before him, Jason Wilcox has proved himself as one of football's true generals: a strategic mind of which United’s competitors will now be justifiably concerned.

The Strategic Clash Regarding System and Ideology

For example, this was Jason Wilcox who having been part of the leadership that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach in the first place, was instrumental in trying to persuade him to abandon his beloved formation. Naturally, these entreaties were resisted. However, these judgements hold greater authority when issued by a man with the unimpeachable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of international appearances and a contributor to a title-winning side decades past.

Perhaps in time he may be persuaded to outline his thought processes publicly. Perhaps at some point questions may arise why Amorim is walking away with a full payout, with no compensation reduction clause activated. The director speaks rarely publicly, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers of this sport – men like him – function at a level beyond our own mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, most likely we would perceive would be high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Wanting is not quite the same as being ready to comprehend it.

An Ultimate Power Behind the Throne

Naturally, in training our focus on the sporting director we overlook the real power behind the modern United throne. The director is, in reality, simply carrying out the directives of his ultimate line manager Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has emphasized his preference for a back four. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for United to embrace data science and analytics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit early in his minority ownership, he announced that the team's approach of play “will be decided by this group”.

After all, Ratcliffe is a specialist in these intricate football matters, drawing from his previous experience in petrochemicals and yachting. Above all he remains immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the rich are the best of us: more perceptive, sagacious, strategically brilliant, fundamentally better. Whom else could one trust to manage a strategic plan of cost-cutting, the building of a new stadium that appears a lot like an abstract design, the signing of a new striker?

The Modern Soccer Hierarchy: Directors Over Managers

This is a trend that is becoming prevalent at the elite levels of the game. For decades, teams mistakenly entrusted big footballing decisions to low-level employees like managers, talent spotters – even footballers. Maybe previously feasible for a young, visionary coach with a philosophy and energy to join an organization and see their vision through to completion. But how many businesses have these guys established? How many mass redundancies have they managed? Far preferable to place genuine authority where it belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. Better by far to decide the strategy in the boardroom and appoint someone who will adapt their methods accordingly. If managers were once chefs, they have become more akin to delivery personnel: not really responsible for the product, yet ultimately answerable should it be delivered poorly or leaks out to meet standards.

Nowadays, a coach's role has become not about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the front-facing representative of the operation, the public face of an organisation they can do little to influence. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of very young players into Europe and secures domestic cups, and essentially gets sacked for speaking out. A manager at Celtic sees his standing damaged while those individuals who hired him live to blunder another day.

A Modern Corporate Game: Accountability Only for the Coaches

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this is simply corporate governance in action: the elevation of a gilded elite who are infallible, whose decisions are always sacrosanct, whose errors can always be sacked away without justification. Appoint the system coach and then dismiss him for playing too much 3-4-3. Bring in the process guy and later discard them for requiring too long. And above all show gratitude; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for your new summer signings, for the fact that the grownups – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.