🔗 Share this article

Iturns out the manager endured losing against lower-league opposition. Survive losing a crucial European final against one of the worst Tottenham teams in living memory. He withstood home defeats against West Ham and Wolves, a lowly league position, the tactical inflexibility, undermining some of the club’s most promising academy products, a poor winning percentage, calling the squad the worst the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed one adversary with whom Ruben Amorim would not be allowed to engage. You come at Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, like many a top-flight defender in Blackburn’s championship 1994-95 season, the coach came at the executive and seems to have missed. The most distracted of readers will notice the irony here: a manager who often railed his squad for failing in individual battles crumbling when confronted by the white heat and animal charisma of a the Premier League’s most feared football executives.

And frankly, this whole painful saga seems to paint the director in a whole new light. It may have been tempting, based on his brief stint in a similar role with the Saints, to regard Jason Wilcox as merely a functionary in the United exoskeleton: an individual whose appointment was due as much to his friendship with ex-colleague Omar Berrada rather than any verifiable talent. How wrong we all were. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless Dan Ashworth earlier, Jason Wilcox has proved himself as one of football's strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect of which the club's competitors are now rightly wary.

The Tactical Clash Regarding System & Ideology

To illustrate, it was the director , after being involved in the hierarchy that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim originally, was instrumental in attempting to convince Amorim to abandon his beloved 3-4-3. Naturally, these pleas met a certain resistance. However, these judgements carry more weight when issued from the mouth of a man the impeccable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of international appearances and a role in a title-winning side 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 walking away with full compensation, without any penalty clause activated. The director seldom speaks in public, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals of this sport – individuals such as him – function on a plane exceeding our prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, probably all we would hear would be ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not quite equivalent to being ready to comprehend it.

The Supreme Power Behind the Throne

But of course, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the true genius behind the modern United throne. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, merely executing the directives of his ultimate line manager the billionaire owner, who privately has made very clear his desire for a four-man defense. It is reported, the owner has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for United to adopt data science and metrics. Per reports, in an executive meeting soon after his investment, he declared that United’s style of play “will be decided by this group”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is an expert in these intricate football matters, drawing from his previous experience in petrochemicals and sailing. Above all he remains incredibly rich, and as we all know, the rich are superior: more insightful, more wise, more tactically astute, fundamentally superior. Whom else could one trust to manage a strategic plan of austerity, the construction of a modern arena that looks a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

The Modern Soccer Hierarchy: Directors Above Coaches

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels football. Historically, teams mistakenly entrusted big footballing decisions to subordinate staff like managers, scouts – players themselves. Perhaps it was once feasible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with a philosophy and drive to join a club and implement their plan through to completion. But how many businesses have these guys set up? What number of mass redundancies have they managed? Far preferable to place genuine authority where it belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with impressive professional resumes. Better by far to decide the tactics by the directors and hire someone who will adapt their methods to suit. If managers were formerly chefs, they are now more akin to delivery personnel: not really responsible for the food, yet ultimately answerable if it arrives poorly or fails of the box.

In the meantime, a coach's role is increasingly less about crafting the philosophy and more about selling it: the receptionist on the front desk, the visible figurehead for a club they have minimal power to change. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of very young players into the Champions League and secures domestic cups, and effectively is dismissed for speaking out. A manager at Celtic sees his standing damaged whereas those individuals who hired him live to blunder indefinitely.

A Modern Corporate Game: Accountability for the Few

And possibly in a small way this represents corporate governance at work: the rise of a gilded elite who are infallible, whose choices remain untouchable, whose mistakes can invariably be resolved by sacking without explanation. Appoint the system coach and then dismiss him for playing excessively that system. Bring in the process guy and then bin him for taking excessive time. And most importantly show gratitude; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for the latest player acquisitions, for the reality that the adults – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.