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.
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.
Howe and Nagelsmann high on Man Utd's list if Carrick sacked End approaching for Carrick but Man Utd fans make clear who they blame 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. 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.
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.
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