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Itranspired Ruben Amorim could survive a loss to lower-league opposition. He weathered losing a crucial continental showpiece against one of the worst Spurs sides in living memory. He could survive home defeats against domestic rivals, finishing 15th, his rigid approach, undermining the team's most promising homegrown talent, a poor winning percentage, calling the squad the worst the club has ever seen. Yet, there existed one adversary against whom the Portuguese coach was not permitted to dance. You come at the sporting director, you had better succeed.

Regrettably, like many a top-flight right-back during Blackburn Rovers' title-winning campaign, Amorim came at the executive and seems to have missed. The most casual observer will notice the paradoxical situation: a manager who often railed his squad for failing in one-on-one duels succumbing when confronted by the intense pressure and formidable presence of one of the Premier League’s most feared sporting directors.

And frankly, this whole painful saga seems to paint the director in a different perspective. Perhaps it might have been easy, given his nine months in a similar role with the Saints, to view him as merely a drudge within the club's structure: an individual whose appointment was due largely to his friendship with ex-colleague a fellow executive as any demonstrable skill. How mistaken we all were. By masterfully outsmarting the club's celebrated head coach, as he outmanoeuvred the hapless Dan Ashworth before him, he has demonstrated as one of football's strategic masterminds: a strategic mind of which the club's competitors will now be rightly wary.

A Strategic Clash Over System and Ideology

To illustrate, this was the director , after having been part of the hierarchy that hired the rigid 3-4-3 advocate the coach in the first place, was instrumental in attempting to convince him to abandon his favored 3-4-3. Naturally, these entreaties faced pushback. However, such directives carry more weight when issued by a man of a man the unimpeachable soccer background of Jason Wilcox, holder of three England caps and a contributor to a championship team from 31 years ago.

Maybe eventually he may be persuaded to explain his thought processes publicly. Perhaps at some point questions may arise regarding why the coach is departing with a full payout, without any penalty clause activated. The director seldom speaks publicly, and with very good reason. The true intellectuals of this sport – individuals such as him – simply operate at a level exceeding our prosaic understanding. If he ever did speak, probably all we would hear would be high-frequency signals and complex calculations. Desiring an explanation is not the same as being prepared to comprehend it.

An Supreme Power Behind Command

Naturally, in training our focus on the sporting director we overlook the true genius behind the club's current leadership. The director is, in reality, merely executing the directives of his superior Sir Jim Ratcliffe, who privately has made very clear his desire for a back four. It is reported, the owner has also proposed playing Bryan Mbeumo as a right wing-back. The owner is eager for the club to embrace analytics and metrics. Per reports, during a leadership summit soon after his investment, he announced that the team's approach to football “will be determined in this room”.

Ultimately, Sir Jim is a specialist in these intricate football matters, drawing from his previous experience in petrochemicals and sailing. Above all he is immensely wealthy, and it is known, the wealthy are superior: more perceptive, more wise, strategically brilliant, simply better. Who else could one trust to oversee a strategic plan of austerity, the construction of a modern arena that looks a lot like an abstract design, the signing of a new striker?

The Modern Football Hierarchy: Directors Above Coaches

This is a trend we are increasingly seeing at the elite levels football. Historically, clubs foolishly delegated major sporting choices to subordinate staff such as coaches, scouts – players themselves. Maybe previously feasible for a young, visionary coach with a philosophy and drive to go into an organization and implement their plan supported to fruition. Yet how many businesses have these guys set up? How many large-scale layoffs have they managed? Far preferable to invest genuine authority where it rightly belongs: the leadership tier, the casually dressed executives, the guys with impressive professional resumes. Better by far to decide the strategy by the directors and appoint someone who can tailor their methods to suit. If coaches were formerly chefs, they have become more akin to Deliveroo drivers: not really responsible for the product, but still finally accountable should it be delivered cold or fails of the box.

In the meantime, their job has become not about defining the vision and more about selling it: the receptionist of the operation, the visible figurehead of an organisation they have minimal power to influence. A coach at Chelsea takes a squad of very young players into Europe and wins two medium-sized trophies, and essentially is dismissed for talking. Wilfried Nancy finds his standing damaged whereas those individuals who hired him continue to make errors indefinitely.

The Modern Corporate Game: Accountability Only for the Few

And possibly on some microcosmic level this is simply corporate governance at work: the rise of a privileged overclass who can never be wrong, whose decisions are always untouchable, whose errors can always be sacked away without explanation. Appoint the system coach only to fire them for using excessively 3-4-3. Bring in the process guy and then bin him for requiring too long. And above all show gratitude; for your modest increases in ticket costs, for the latest summer signings, for the fact that the grownups – however well qualified – remain in control.