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Itranspired he was able to withstand losing against Grimsby. Survive an important continental showpiece against a particularly poor Spurs sides for many years. He withstood home defeats to domestic rivals, finishing 15th, his rigid approach, undermining the team's best academy products, a poor winning percentage, calling his team the poorest the club has ever seen. But there was a single opponent with whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to dance. If you challenge Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Regrettably, similar to numerous Premiership defender during Blackburn Rovers' championship campaign, Amorim came at the executive and seems to have missed. The most casual observer can see the irony here: a manager who often railed his squad for losing individual battles succumbing when confronted by the intense pressure and animal charisma of a England's top division's most intimidating football executives.

In truth, this whole painful saga appears to portray Jason Wilcox in a different perspective. It may have been easy, based on his brief stint of experience at Southampton, to regard him as little more than a functionary within the club's structure: a man who owed his position largely to his close relationship with his former boss a fellow executive as any demonstrable skill. How mistaken we all were. In brilliantly outsmarting the club's celebrated manager, just as he bested the hapless a previous executive earlier, Jason Wilcox has proved himself to be among the sport’s strategic masterminds: a tactical intellect of which the club's mid-table rivals will now be rightly wary.

A Tactical Clash Over Formation & Philosophy

For example, it was Jason Wilcox , after having been part of the hierarchy that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist Amorim originally, played a key role in attempting to convince him to ditch his beloved 3-4-3. Unsurprisingly, these pleas were resisted. But perhaps these judgements hold greater authority when delivered by a man with the impeccable football pedigree he possesses, holder of international appearances and a role in a championship team decades past.

Perhaps in time he might agree to explain his thought processes publicly. Perhaps at some point questions may arise why Amorim is walking away with full compensation, with no penalty clause activated. The director 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 prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, probably we would perceive is a series of ultrasonic blips and four-dimensional whirring. Desiring an explanation is not quite the same as being prepared to comprehend it.

The Ultimate Power Behind the Throne

But of course, in training our focus on Jason Wilcox we overlook the real power behind the club's current leadership. The director is, in reality, merely executing the commands of his ultimate superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who in private has made very clear his desire for a back four. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also suggested deploying the forward in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to adopt analytics and metrics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting early in his investment, he declared that the team's approach of play “shall be determined by this group”.

After all, Ratcliffe is an expert in this technical football matters, leveraging his background in petrochemicals and yachting. Above all he is incredibly rich, and it is known, the rich are superior: more insightful, sagacious, strategically brilliant, fundamentally better. Who else could one trust to manage a strategic plan of austerity, the building of a modern arena that looks similar to someone’s leftover knitting, the signing of a new striker?

A Modern Football Order: Directors Over Coaches

This represents a shift that is becoming prevalent in top-tier of the game. Historically, teams mistakenly entrusted big footballing decisions to subordinate staff like managers, talent spotters – players themselves. Maybe previously feasible for an up-and-coming, innovative manager with ideas and drive to join a club and implement their plan through to completion. Yet how many companies have these guys established? How many mass redundancies have they overseen? Far preferable to place genuine authority where it belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the individuals with the jaw-dropping LinkedIn profiles. Better by far to decide the strategy by the directors and hire a coach who will adapt their methods accordingly. If managers were once chefs, they are now more akin to delivery personnel: not really responsible for the food, yet finally accountable should it be delivered poorly or fails to meet standards.

Nowadays, their job is increasingly not about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the receptionist on the front desk, the public face of an organisation they can do little to influence. Enzo Maresca takes a squad of literal children into Europe and secures domestic cups, and effectively gets sacked for speaking out. A manager at Celtic sees his reputation ruined whereas those individuals who hired him continue to make errors another day.

A Neoliberal Game: Accountability Only for the Coaches

And perhaps on some microcosmic level this is simply neoliberalism in action: the elevation of a privileged overclass who can never be wrong, whose decisions are always untouchable, whose mistakes can always be sacked away without explanation. Appoint the system coach only to fire them for using too much 3-4-3. Bring in the process guy and later bin him for requiring too long. And above all be grateful; for the incremental increases in ticket costs, for the latest player acquisitions, for the reality that the adults – however well qualified – are in charge.