In your situation, I would follow his order exactly, do the minimum and let him be the firefighter.

I wouldn’t follow a non-technical manager if I have a choice. I tried it once, it’s a shitty experience. It’s hard to build trust between us. He simply didn’t trust/understand what I said. There were always a pair of eyes watching me. The conversation and management overhead is very high.

I probably wouldn’t hire them if I were the boss. They don’t add value to the project much.