As the clocked ticked down during Manchester United’s 3-0 defeat by Bournemouth at Old Trafford on Sunday, the home fans made it clear what they thought about director of football Jason Wilcox.
Singing his name along with an obscenity, the message was brutal and to the point. It was sung by a majority of the United supporters, and on more than one occasion.
Advertisement
It came less than two weeks after United defender Lisandro Martinez had launched a blistering attack on the club’s hierarchy for not strengthening the squad, with a particular message for Wilcox.
“I expect more from our technical director,” said Martinez.
Pressure is growing on United boss Michael Carrick after eight games without a win – their worst run since 2015-16 – and two three-goal defeats in a week.
But focus is turning to Wilcox too.
Why is Wilcox under pressure?
Wilcox is a former England winger who won the Premier League with Blackburn in 1994-95.
He joined United in April 2024 – initially as technical director after 15 months in a similar role at Manchester City, where he had previously been in charge of the academy.
Advertisement
At City he worked with current United chief executive Omar Berrada and also Stephen Torpey, who was appointed United’s head of academy in August 2025.
When he arrived, it was said by United officials that Wilcox would work across all technical areas of the club to achieve “highest standards of performance” and would be answerable to the sporting director.
That changed the following December, when that sporting director – Dan Ashworth – was sacked amid a difference of opinion over who should replace Erik ten Hag as manager.
Ten months on, a poor series of results and dissatisfaction with transfer business has put Wilcox in the spotlight.
Advertisement
There are some who have sympathy with the position Wilcox finds himself in. The 55-year-old is not in charge of transfer budgets, which are set at a higher level.
Wilcox was also – obviously – not responsible for the injury Manuel Ugarte sustained playing for Uruguay at the World Cup, which wrecked a plan to sell the midfielder in the summer to bolster the transfer budget.
He, too, was powerless to prevent Barcelona backing out of a £26m deal to sign England forward Marcus Rashford.
Both issues affected the amount United could spend in the summer – both on transfer fees and wages.
Wilcox rarely speaks to the media, and a general lack of communication means we don’t know why United decided to focus exclusively on strengthening their midfield in the summer, rather than bring in competition at left-back for Luke Shaw and striking support for Benjamin Sesko.
Advertisement
With both players injured, that looks like a major error.
The general consensus is Carrick has been sold badly short, and Wilcox’s job title – and the fact he is often photographed with United’s new signings and quoted in official press releases – means he is being blamed.
Wilcox was pictured with £70m signing Carlos Baleba when he joined in August [Getty Images]
When has he had public backing?
Since arriving at United from Southampton, Wilcox has twice been given very public backing by his bosses.
On the first occasion – around Ruben Amorim’s recruitment as successor to Ten Hag – it was Ashworth who lost his job while Wilcox kept his.
Thirteen months later, when Amorim railed publicly against interference around United’s formation – identifying Wilcox as one of those responsible – the Portuguese coach went, and Wilcox remained.
Advertisement
Minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe is yet to offer his thoughts on the present crisis engulfing Old Trafford, but the United fans delivered their verdict loud and clear during the match against Bournemouth.
There are many reasons why United find themselves 16th in the Premier League and without a win in their past eight matches, but recruitment is one of the bigger ones – and for that, rightly or wrongly, Wilcox is getting the blame.
Is his media silence causing a problem?
Since joining United, Wilcox has given one extensive interview – to the in-house Inside United podcast in October 2025.
A month before that, he spoke at the 40th anniversary gala dinner of United’s past players’ association.
Advertisement
But he rarely speaks to the media – there are only a couple of instances in the past 12 months of him stopping for the briefest of chats with journalists when he walked past an area they were waiting in to speak to a United player after a game.
After the defeat by Bournemouth, Carrick was asked directly if Wilcox and Berrada should speak directly to supporters.
“It’s not for me to say who speaks and who doesn’t speak, when they speak, and how they speak,” said Carrick.
“I know my role here is to speak to you guys and represent the team and football club as best as I possibly can from this position.”
Advertisement
There has never been an opportunity to ask Wilcox about the parameters of his role.
But with Carrick’s situation as it is – his popularity intact and his status as a legendary figure at the club secure – the focus is moving to Wilcox.
United fans have made it clear they want him out – but does Ratcliffe feel the same?
