Manchester United fans chanted the name of director of football Jason Wilcox, followed by an expletive, as the clock ran down in the 3-0 home defeat by Bournemouth at Old Trafford on Sunday. Wilcox watched the match alongside chief executive Omar Berrada, and the chant was sung by a majority of the home supporters, on more than one occasion.
It came less than two weeks after United defender Lisandro Martinez launched a blistering attack on the club’s hierarchy for failing to strengthen the squad. He had a specific message for Wilcox: “I expect more from our technical director.”
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.
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. At City, he worked with current United chief executive Omar Berrada and with Stephen Torpey, who was appointed United’s head of academy in August 2025.
When Wilcox arrived, United officials said he would work across all technical areas of the club to achieve the “highest standards of performance” and would be answerable to the sporting director. That changed the following December, when 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 run of results and dissatisfaction with transfer business have put Wilcox in the spotlight. Some observers have sympathy for his position. The 55-year-old does not control the transfer budgets, which are set at a higher level. He was also not responsible for the injury Manuel Ugarte suffered playing for Uruguay at the World Cup, which wrecked a plan to sell the midfielder in the summer and bolster the transfer budget. He was likewise powerless to prevent Barcelona backing out of a £26m deal to sign England forward Marcus Rashford. Both issues reduced how much United could spend in the summer, on both transfer fees and wages.
Wilcox rarely speaks to the media, and the lack of communication means nobody outside the club knows why United focused almost exclusively on strengthening their midfield in the summer rather than adding competition at left-back for Luke Shaw and striking support for Benjamin Sesko. With both players now injured, that looks like a major error.
The general view is that Carrick has been sold short, and that Wilcox’s job title, along with the fact he is often photographed with new signings and quoted in official press releases, has made him the target. He was pictured with £70m signing Carlos Baleba when the midfielder joined in August.
When has he had public backing?
Since arriving from Southampton, Wilcox has twice received very public backing from his bosses. The first time, around Ruben Amorim’s recruitment as Ten Hag’s successor, Ashworth lost his job while Wilcox kept his. Thirteen months later, Amorim publicly railed against interference in United’s formation and named Wilcox as one of those responsible. Amorim left the club, and Wilcox stayed.
Minority owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe has yet to offer his thoughts on the crisis at Old Trafford, but the fans made their verdict clear during the Bournemouth match. United sit 16th in the Premier League and have not won in their past eight matches. There are many reasons for that, but recruitment is one of the bigger ones, and for that, rightly or wrongly, Wilcox is taking the blame.
Is his media silence causing a problem?
Since joining United, Wilcox has given one extensive interview, to the club’s in-house Inside United podcast in October 2025. A month before that, he spoke at the 40th anniversary gala dinner of United’s former players’ association. Otherwise, he rarely speaks to the media. In the past 12 months, there have been only a couple of occasions when he stopped for a brief chat with journalists as he walked past an area where they were waiting to speak to a player after a match.
After the Bournemouth defeat, Carrick was asked directly whether Wilcox and Berrada should speak to supporters. “It’s not for me to say who speaks and who doesn’t speak, when they speak, and how they speak,” Carrick said. “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.”
Wilcox has never been asked publicly about the parameters of his role. With Carrick’s position under scrutiny, though his popularity remains intact and his status as a legendary figure at the club is secure, the focus is shifting to Wilcox. United fans have made clear they want him out. The open question is whether Ratcliffe feels the same.