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Tbecame clear the manager was able to withstand defeat by Grimsby. He weathered losing a crucial continental showpiece versus one of the worst Spurs sides in living memory. He could survive home defeats to West Ham and Wolves, finishing 15th, the tactical inflexibility, undermining some of the club’s best homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, calling his team the worst the club has ever seen. But there was a single opponent against whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to dance. You come at the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Unfortunately, similar to numerous Premiership right-back in Blackburn’s title-winning campaign, Amorim took on Jason Wilcox and seems to have failed. The most casual observer will notice the paradoxical situation: a manager who often railed at his players for losing individual battles succumbing in the face of the white heat and formidable presence of one of the Premier League’s most feared football executives.

And frankly, this whole painful saga appears to portray the director in a different perspective. It may have been easy, given his nine months in a similar role at Southampton, to view Jason Wilcox as little more than a functionary within the club's structure: a man whose appointment was due as much to his friendship with his former boss Omar Berrada rather than any demonstrable skill. How mistaken we all were. In brilliantly outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the unfortunate Dan Ashworth earlier, Jason Wilcox has demonstrated to be among the sport’s true generals: a strategic mind that the club's mid-table rivals will now be rightly wary.

The Strategic Clash Over Formation & Philosophy

To illustrate, it was the director who being involved in the leadership that appointed the rigid 3-4-3 advocate Amorim originally, played a key role in trying to persuade him to abandon his favored formation. Unsurprisingly, these entreaties faced pushback. But perhaps these judgements carry more weight when delivered from the mouth with the unimpeachable football pedigree he possesses, holder of international appearances and a role in a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time Jason Wilcox might agree to explain his thought processes to the rest of us. Maybe one day he might be asked why Amorim is departing with full compensation, with no compensation reduction clause activated. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks publicly, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals in football – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – simply operate at a level beyond our own mundane comprehension. Were he to speak, most likely we would perceive is a series of ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not quite equivalent to being ready to comprehend it.

The Ultimate Power Behind the Throne

But of course, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we are obscuring the true genius behind the club's current leadership. The director is, in reality, merely executing the directives of his ultimate superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has emphasized his preference for a back four. It is reported, Ratcliffe has also suggested playing Bryan Mbeumo in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to embrace data science and metrics. According to ESPN, during a leadership summit soon after his minority ownership, he announced that the team's approach to football “will be decided by this group”.

Ultimately, Ratcliffe is an expert in this technical footballing stuff, drawing from his previous experience in industry and sailing. Most importantly he remains incredibly rich, and it is known, the rich are superior: more insightful, sagacious, more tactically astute, simply better. Who else could one trust to manage an enlightened programme of austerity, the building of a modern arena that looks similar to an abstract design, the signing of Benjamin Sesko?

A Modern Football Order: Directors Over Coaches

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent in top-tier football. Historically, clubs foolishly delegated major sporting choices to subordinate staff like managers, talent spotters – players themselves. Maybe previously feasible for a young, visionary coach with a philosophy and energy to join a club and see their vision through to completion. But how many companies have these guys established? How many mass redundancies have they managed? Better by far to invest the real power where it rightly belongs: the executive class, the open-necked shirt brigade, the individuals with impressive LinkedIn profiles. It is wiser to determine the strategy by the directors and appoint someone who can tailor their methods accordingly. If coaches were once chefs, they have become more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not really responsible for the food, but still ultimately answerable should it be delivered poorly or leaks out of the box.

Nowadays, a coach's role has become not 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. Enzo Maresca leads a team of very young players into Europe and secures two medium-sized trophies, and effectively gets sacked for talking. Wilfried Nancy sees his reputation ruined whereas those individuals who hired him live to blunder another day.

A Modern Corporate Football: Accountability Only for the Coaches

And possibly on some microcosmic level this is simply neoliberalism at work: the elevation of a gilded elite who are infallible, whose choices are always untouchable, whose errors can invariably be resolved by sacking without explanation. Appoint the 3-4-3 coach and then fire him for using too much that system. Hire the project manager and then bin them for requiring too long. And above all show gratitude; for the incremental season ticket price rises, for the latest summer signings, for the reality that the adults – however well qualified – are in charge.