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Tbecame clear Ruben Amorim could survive losing against lower-league opposition. He weathered a decisive European final versus one of the worst Spurs sides for many years. He could survive home defeats to West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, an unwavering system, undermining the team's most promising academy products, the 32% win rate, calling his team the worst in Manchester United history. Yet, there existed a single opponent against whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to dance. You come at Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, like many a top-flight right-back in Blackburn’s title-winning campaign, the coach took on the executive and appears to have missed. Even the most distracted of readers can see the paradoxical situation: a coach who often railed his squad for losing one-on-one duels succumbing in the face of the intense pressure and animal charisma of a the Premier League’s most intimidating football executives.

And frankly, this whole painful saga appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. It may have been tempting, based on his nine months in a similar role with the Saints, to regard Jason Wilcox as little more than a functionary within the club's structure: a man whose appointment was due largely to his close relationship with his former boss Omar Berrada as any demonstrable skill. How mistaken we all were. In brilliantly outsmarting the club's celebrated manager, just as he bested the unfortunate Dan Ashworth earlier, he has demonstrated as one of the sport’s true generals: a strategic mind that the club's mid-table rivals are now justifiably concerned.

The Tactical Conflict Regarding Formation & Ideology

To illustrate, this was the director , after having been part of the leadership that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach in the first place, was instrumental in attempting to convince Amorim to ditch his favored formation. Naturally, these entreaties faced pushback. However, these judgements hold greater authority when delivered from the mouth of a man the impeccable football pedigree he possesses, a veteran of international appearances and a contributor to a title-winning side decades past.

Maybe eventually he might agree to outline his reasoning publicly. Perhaps at some point he might be asked why Amorim is walking away with full compensation, with no compensation reduction clause activated. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks publicly, for excellent reasons. The real thinkers in football – men like him – function at a level beyond our own prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, most likely we would perceive is a series of ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not quite the same as being ready to comprehend it.

The Supreme Authority Behind the Throne

Naturally, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the real power behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, merely executing the commands of his ultimate superior the billionaire owner, who privately has emphasized his desire for a back four. According to reports, the owner has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo in a wing-back role. The owner is eager for the club to adopt data science and metrics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting soon after his investment, he announced that the team's approach of play “will be decided in this room”.

After all, Ratcliffe is an expert in these intricate footballing stuff, drawing from his background in industry and sailing. Most importantly he remains incredibly rich, and as we all know, the wealthy are superior: more perceptive, more wise, more tactically astute, fundamentally better. Whom else would you trust to manage an enlightened programme of austerity, the construction of a modern arena that appears a lot like an abstract design, the acquisition of a new striker?

A New Football Hierarchy: Directors Above Managers

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing in top-tier of the game. Historically, teams mistakenly entrusted major sporting choices to low-level employees like managers, scouts – players themselves. Perhaps it was once feasible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with ideas and energy to join an organization and implement their plan supported to fruition. But how many businesses have such individuals established? How many large-scale layoffs have they overseen? Better by far to place genuine authority where it belongs: the executive class, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with impressive professional resumes. It is wiser to determine the strategy by the directors and hire a coach who can tailor their offering accordingly. If managers were once chefs, they have become more akin to delivery personnel: not creating the product, but still ultimately answerable if it arrives poorly or fails to meet standards.

Nowadays, their job is increasingly less about defining the vision and more about marketing it: the receptionist 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 the Champions League and secures domestic cups, and effectively gets sacked for talking. A manager at Celtic finds his standing damaged whereas the people who hired him continue to make errors indefinitely.

A Neoliberal Football: Responsibility Only for the Coaches

And perhaps in a small way this is simply neoliberalism in action: the elevation of a privileged overclass who are infallible, whose choices remain sacrosanct, whose errors can always be resolved by sacking without justification. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach and then fire him for using excessively 3-4-3. Hire the process guy and later bin him for requiring too long. And above all be grateful; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for the latest summer signings, for the fact that the adults – however well qualified – are in charge.