🔗 Share this article

Iturns out Ruben Amorim endured a loss to Grimsby. He weathered a decisive European final against one of the worst Spurs sides for many years. He withstood losing at home to domestic rivals, a lowly league position, an unwavering system, laying waste to some of the club’s most promising homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, calling the squad the worst the club has ever seen. But there was a single opponent against whom the Portuguese coach would not be allowed to dance. You come at Jason Wilcox, and you best not miss.

Unfortunately, like many a top-flight right-back in Blackburn’s championship campaign, the coach came at the executive and seems to have missed. Even the most distracted of readers can see the irony here: a manager who often railed at his players for losing one-on-one duels succumbing in the face of the white heat and formidable presence of a England's top division's most intimidating football executives.

And frankly, this whole painful saga appears to portray the director in a whole new light. It may have been easy, based on his nine months of experience with the Saints, to regard him as little more than a functionary within the club's structure: a man whose appointment was due as much to his close relationship with ex-colleague a fellow executive rather than any verifiable talent. How wrong everyone was. By masterfully outmanoeuvring the club's celebrated manager, just as he bested the hapless Dan Ashworth before him, he has demonstrated as one of the sport’s true generals: a tactical intellect that the club's mid-table rivals will now be rightly wary.

The Tactical Clash Over System & Ideology

For example, it was Jason Wilcox who having been part of the leadership that hired the 3-4-3 fundamentalist 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 issued by a man of a man the impeccable football pedigree of Jason Wilcox, a veteran of international appearances and a contributor to a title-winning side from 31 years ago.

Perhaps in time he might agree to outline his reasoning to the rest of us. Maybe one day questions may arise regarding why the coach is walking away with full compensation, with no compensation reduction clause in place. But Jason Wilcox seldom speaks publicly, and with very good reason. The real thinkers of this sport – individuals such as Jason Wilcox – function at a level beyond our own prosaic understanding. Were he to speak, probably all we would hear is a series of ultrasonic blips and complex calculations. Wanting is not equivalent to being ready to receive.

The Supreme Power Behind Command

Naturally, by focusing our attention on Jason Wilcox we overlook the true genius behind the club's current leadership. Jason Wilcox is, in reality, simply carrying out the commands of his superior the billionaire owner, who in private has made very clear his preference for a four-man defense. According to reports, Ratcliffe has also proposed deploying the forward in a wing-back role. Ratcliffe is keen for the club to adopt data science and analytics. According to ESPN, in an executive meeting soon after his investment, he announced that the team's approach to football “will be determined in this room”.

After all, Sir Jim is an expert in this technical footballing stuff, leveraging his background in industry and sailing. Above all he is immensely wealthy, and as we all know, the rich are superior: more perceptive, more wise, strategically brilliant, fundamentally better. Who else could one trust to manage an enlightened programme of cost-cutting, the building of a new stadium that looks a lot like someone’s leftover knitting, the acquisition of Benjamin Sesko?

The New Soccer Hierarchy: Directors Above Coaches

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels of the game. Historically, teams mistakenly delegated major sporting choices to subordinate staff such as coaches, scouts – players themselves. Maybe previously feasible for a young, innovative manager with a philosophy and drive to go into a club and implement their plan through to completion. Yet how many businesses have these guys set up? How many large-scale layoffs have they managed? Better by far to place the real power where it belongs: the leadership tier, the open-necked shirt brigade, the guys with the jaw-dropping professional resumes. Better by far to determine the strategy in the boardroom and hire a coach who will adapt their methods accordingly. If coaches were formerly chefs, they have become more like delivery personnel: not really responsible for the food, yet ultimately answerable should it be delivered poorly or fails of the box.

In the meantime, a coach's role has become less about crafting the philosophy and more about marketing it: the receptionist on the front desk, the public face for a club they can do little to change. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of very young players into the Champions League and wins two medium-sized trophies, and effectively is dismissed for talking. Wilfried Nancy finds his standing damaged while those individuals who hired him live to blunder another day.

The Modern Corporate Game: Accountability Only for the Few

And perhaps in a small way this is simply corporate governance at work: the rise of a gilded elite who are infallible, whose choices are always sacrosanct, whose errors can always be sacked away without explanation. Appoint the system coach and then dismiss them for playing excessively 3-4-3. Bring in the process guy and then discard them for taking too long. And most importantly be grateful; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for your new player acquisitions, for the fact that the adults – regardless of their expertise – remain in control.