It is almost 10 months since Jason Wilcox was in the line of fire when Ruben Amorim gave the explosive post-match news conference at Leeds that triggered his dismissal. Amorim was furious Manchester United's director of football had subtly advised him to change tactics for the previous game against Wolves. "I will do my job and every department, the scouting department, the sporting director, needs to do theirs," said Amorim.
Less than 24 hours after that chiding, Amorim was sacked, and the focus was on the part Wilcox played in that. This time Lisandro Martinez was doing the firing and had a target in mind. He might have got the job title slightly wrong, but there was no doubting who Martinez meant after the 2-0 loss to Atletico Madrid when he said: "I expect more from our technical director." There is no doubting either that Martinez knew what he was saying.
Working as a post-match interviewer for US broadcaster CBS, legendary former United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel tried to steer Martinez away from discussion about his old club's summer transfer window on four occasions. Each time, the Argentina defender refused to be deflected. "We don't have the best squad at the moment compared to other top teams," said Martinez.
"I'm not going to close my mouth. If we don't say the truth, nothing will change." During the summer, BBC Sport was told by dressing room sources the club needed to sign more players than the three - Andrey Santos, Youri Tielemans, Carlos Baleba - who eventually arrived, and it was "fairly obvious" where they needed to be - left-back and striker. Another source with extensive knowledge of the inner workings at Old Trafford describes the current situation as "a mess".
Man Utd defender Martinez issues scathing attack on board Quiz: Do you remember the big names who took aim at football club chiefs? Martinez said he felt it was important to speak out the way he did. Many United fans are delighted he went down that path, and the defender was highlighting inadequacies in the club's leadership structure.
However, there are a couple of other basic realities. The first is that Martinez's contract expires at the end of the season. United have the option to extend it by another year.
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