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Transpired he could survive losing against lower-league opposition. Survive losing a crucial continental showpiece against one of the worst Tottenham teams for many years. He withstood home defeats to West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, his rigid approach, undermining the team's best academy products, the 32% win rate, calling his team the worst the club has ever seen. But there was one adversary against whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to dance. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, like many a Premiership defender during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning 1994-95 season, the coach took on the executive and appears to have failed. Even the most distracted of readers will notice the paradoxical situation: a coach who frequently berated his squad for losing one-on-one duels crumbling when confronted by the white heat and formidable presence of a the Premier League’s most intimidating sporting directors.

In truth, this entire painful saga seems to paint the director in a whole new light. Perhaps it might have been easy, given his nine months of experience at Southampton, to view him as little more than a functionary in the United exoskeleton: a man who owed his position as much to his close relationship with his former boss Omar Berrada rather than any verifiable talent. How mistaken everyone was. By masterfully outmanoeuvring United’s feted manager, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless Dan Ashworth earlier, he has demonstrated as one of the sport’s true generals: a strategic mind that the club's competitors will now be justifiably concerned.

A Tactical Clash Over System and Philosophy

To illustrate, it was the director , after being involved in the leadership that appointed the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim originally, played a key role in attempting to convince him to ditch his beloved 3-4-3. Naturally, these pleas were resisted. But perhaps such directives carry more weight when issued by a man of a man the impeccable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, holder of international appearances and a contributor to a title-winning side decades past.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox might agree to outline his thought processes to the rest of us. Maybe one day questions may arise regarding why the coach is departing with a full payout, without any compensation reduction clause in place. But Jason Wilcox speaks rarely in public, for excellent reasons. The true intellectuals of this sport – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – simply operate at a level exceeding our prosaic understanding. 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 ready to comprehend it.

An Supreme Power Behind the Throne

But of course, by focusing our attention on the sporting director we are obscuring the real power behind the modern United throne. The director is, in reality, merely executing the directives of his ultimate line manager the billionaire owner, who in private has emphasized his preference for a four-man defense. It is reported, the owner has also suggested deploying the forward as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for United to adopt data science and metrics. Per reports, during a leadership summit early in his investment, he declared that the team's approach to football “will be determined in this room”.

After all, Sir Jim is a specialist in these intricate footballing stuff, drawing from his background in industry and yachting. Most importantly he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the wealthy are superior: more insightful, sagacious, strategically brilliant, simply superior. Whom else could one trust to oversee an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the construction of a new stadium that looks similar to an abstract design, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

The New Football Order: Directors Above Managers

This represents a shift we are increasingly seeing in top-tier of the game. Historically, teams mistakenly entrusted big footballing decisions to low-level employees such as coaches, scouts – even footballers. Maybe previously possible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with a philosophy and drive to join a club and see their vision supported to fruition. Yet how many companies have such individuals established? What number of mass redundancies have they managed? Far preferable to place the real power where it belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with impressive professional resumes. Better by far to decide the strategy by the directors and appoint a coach who can tailor their methods accordingly. If managers were once chefs, they have become more akin to delivery personnel: not creating the product, but still finally accountable 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 marketing it: the receptionist on the front desk, the visible figurehead for a club they have minimal power to influence. 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. A manager at Celtic sees his reputation ruined while the people who hired him live to blunder another day.

A Modern Corporate Game: Responsibility for the Coaches

And perhaps in a small way this is simply corporate governance in action: the elevation of a gilded elite who can never be wrong, whose decisions are always untouchable, whose errors can invariably be resolved by sacking without explanation. Hire the system coach and then fire him for playing too much 3-4-3. Hire the process guy and later discard them for taking too long. And most importantly show gratitude; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for your new summer signings, for the fact that the adults – however well qualified – are in charge.