Jason Wilcox - Director of Football

Andycoleno9 said:
In 5 weeks he managed to sign one player by activating release clause and sell nobody.

Yeah, you can spin it how you want but SO FAR he is not doing good job.
Click to expand...

Haha so true, and when/if Mbeumo arrives it will be for the same fee Brentford asked for 3 weeks ago.

But United have plenty of time and only a few minor issues to fix with the fantastic squad that just finished 15th.

Nothing to worry about, Wilcox and the INEOS crew have it all under control. :rolleyes:
 
Vidooq said:
It's not like he has prime Ronaldo ready to be sold. Every single player that we are trying to move has high salary, issue with the manager or only wants transfer to a specific club/ league. Rashford only wants Barca, Sancho wants to stay in Europe top 5 leagues, Garnacho wants only PL club, Antony loves to go to Betis. Some of these players are unsellable, so who has he sold is not a parameter I would take into account when judging him.
Click to expand...
Oh, come on. These excuses are really over the top. You can use those excuses for every single player in every single club.
It is literally his job to find a way to make a deal. And he had a lot of time to prepare himself for this window.

Garnacho is young player, on normal salary, with big potential and with 20 years old he is already proven player basically.
Antony had a pretty good season. Rashford is good player in his prime. Malacia is cheap. Hojlund is still rated outside PL because of his age.

And with every day we are more and more short with options. Clubs who were interested are slowly buying other players.
 
Andycoleno9 said:
Oh, come on. These excuses are really over the top. You can use those excuses for every single player in every single club.
It is literally his job to find a way to make a deal. And he had a lot of time to prepare himself for this window.

Garnacho is young player, on normal salary, with big potential and with 20 years old he is already proven player basically.
Antony had a pretty good season. Rashford is good player in his prime. Malacia is cheap. Hojlund is still rated outside PL because of his age.

And with every day we are more and more short with options. Clubs who were interested are slowly buying other players.
Click to expand...
Agreed. What do these people do during the season if they need to find solutions during the window? They don’t do any groundwork at all.

It’s funny. They peddled this nonsense during the winter that they aren’t spending a penny so that they have the summer window sorted.
 
RuudTom83 said:
Haha so true, and when/if Mbeumo arrives it will be for the same fee Brentford asked for 3 weeks ago.

But United have plenty of time and only a few minor issues to fix with the fantastic squad that just finished 15th.

Nothing to worry about, Wilcox and the INEOS crew have it all under control. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
Spot on. Inefficiency at its best
 
Andycoleno9 said:
Oh, come on. These excuses are really over the top. You can use those excuses for every single player in every single club.
It is literally his job to find a way to make a deal. And he had a lot of time to prepare himself for this window.

Garnacho is young player, on normal salary, with big potential and with 20 years old he is already proven player basically.
Antony had a pretty good season. Rashford is good player in his prime. Malacia is cheap. Hojlund is still rated outside PL because of his age.

And with every day we are more and more short with options. Clubs who were interested are slowly buying other players.
Click to expand...
Apart from selling them off cheap, what do you suggest to speed up the sales? Do you think other clubs don't know they are available? Why would they rush to buy when they know we are desperate to offload?
 
Leftback99 said:
Apart from selling them off cheap, what do you suggest to speed up the sales? Do you think other clubs don't know they are available? Why would they rush to buy when they know we are desperate to offload?
Click to expand...
Guy is paid millions for that. What do i need to suggest? Am i DoF? How other clubs manage to sell? How City, Liverpool, Chelsea .....every summer manage to sell and buy players quickly and for good price?
 
Leftback99 said:
Apart from selling them off cheap, what do you suggest to speed up the sales? Do you think other clubs don't know they are available? Why would they rush to buy when they know we are desperate to offload?
Click to expand...

I do understand your point, you can't really sell if no-one wants to buy - however we have made excuses for the hierarchy for the last 10+ years. This summer feels exactly like past summers, dithering over transfer deals while our competitors get deals done quickly and efficiently. Struggling to sell players who should be in some level of demand.

I genuinely want to be proved wrong but so far this feels exactly like every other summer for the last decade.
 
Andycoleno9 said:
Guy is paid millions for that. What do i need to suggest? Am i DoF? How other clubs manage to sell? How City, Liverpool, Chelsea .....every summer manage to sell and buy players quickly and for good price?
Click to expand...

Because teams actively want their players, Malacia has hardly played and didn't do well on loan, Rashford and Sancho largely the same except they are extraordinary wages do I need to go on to compare our players to other teams is asinine.

Also Chelsea probably have a load of players they want to sell but can't haven't yet Sterling and othera
 
RuudTom83 said:
Haha so true, and when/if Mbeumo arrives it will be for the same fee Brentford asked for 3 weeks ago.

But United have plenty of time and only a few minor issues to fix with the fantastic squad that just finished 15th.

Nothing to worry about, Wilcox and the INEOS crew have it all under control. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
Are you talking about the director of football negotiations Matt Hargreaves here?
 
Grizzly B said:
I do understand your point, you can't really sell if no-one wants to buy - however we have made excuses for the hierarchy for the last 10+ years. This summer feels exactly like past summers, dithering over transfer deals while our competitors get deals done quickly and efficiently. Struggling to sell players who should be in some level of demand.

I genuinely want to be proved wrong but so far this feels exactly like every other summer for the last decade.
Click to expand...
From the "Woody is a superman" fans to the Murtogh hagiographers to the new regime apologists - some things have been a constant. Every summer for the last 12 summers we had apologists asking us to suggest the job the top hierarchy should be doing. It's ridiculous.

So far under his stewardship we have overpaid for a technically inferior LWB, signed a player at his release clause and seems like will bend over to Brenford for another purchase.

On the sell side there is hardly any movement. Last summer's genius "Obligation to buy" deal turned to be a big fat whopper.
 
The guy can’t win. If there’s articles about how he’s been decisive in transfers and players choosing us it’s ‘PR’. But I guarantee if you read that about any other DoF at another club you’d all be moaning about how we never have people that can do that.

Maybe wait until the end of the window before wetting yourselves.
 
Solius said:
Maybe wait until the end of the window before wetting yourselves.
Click to expand...

I'm not quoting the first part of your post because I actually agree with it.

On the quoted part - this line (or a variation of it) gets thrown around every summer, we're told to be patient that deals will get done and players will get sold. I think it's fair to say that every window has been average to poor in terms of the players we have bought, the prices paid and the execution of the transfer (so many sagas). I think most expected better this summer, but so far it doesn't feel any different.

Argument could be made that is has never been more critical for the manager to have to bulk of his new players in before pre-season. If we start poorly the manager will go and we have to start all over again with a new manager, and potentially write another season off.
 
RuudTom83 said:
Haha so true, and when/if Mbeumo arrives it will be for the same fee Brentford asked for 3 weeks ago.

But United have plenty of time and only a few minor issues to fix with the fantastic squad that just finished 15th.

Nothing to worry about, Wilcox and the INEOS crew have it all under control. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...
Maybe to people who have no clue how transfer fees are structured.
 
elmo said:
This reeks of the PR shit we’ve had under Woodward and Judge.

Less articles and more transactions would be better.
Click to expand...
Nothing much has changed there
 
RuudTom83 said:
3+ weeks of negotiations to get the fee split up into 4 payments and instead of 3...high praise indeed! Go Team!
Click to expand...
Putting aside that reductive tone, even if that were the bare minimum we achieved (it won't be and none of us know how complex these things are) that would still be good. What difference does it make as long as he's in for pre-season?
 
Solius said:
The guy can’t win. If there’s articles about how he’s been decisive in transfers and players choosing us it’s ‘PR’. But I guarantee if you read that about any other DoF at another club you’d all be moaning about how we never have people that can do that.

Maybe wait until the end of the window before wetting yourselves.
Click to expand...

I agree. Whilst is frustrating when things drag out, I do feel like we’re moving in the right way for a change. And there’s going to have to be a hell of a lot of brinksmanship on our end this summer to reverse the belief that we’re just a club that’ll cave and pay up. But hopefully going forward clubs will get the message. Short term pain for long term gain.
 
pocco said:
I agree. Whilst is frustrating when things drag out, I do feel like we’re moving in the right way for a change. And there’s going to have to be a hell of a lot of brinksmanship on our end this summer to reverse the belief that we’re just a club that’ll cave and pay up. But hopefully going forward clubs will get the message. Short term pain for long term gain.
Click to expand...
It's going to take years to shake that. Unfortunately the media will perpetuate any myth around it even if we start walking away from deals. We did that with Branthwaite last summer and nobody gave a shit :lol:
 
RuudTom83 said:
3+ weeks of negotiations to get the fee split up into 4 payments and instead of 3...high praise indeed! Go Team!
Click to expand...
Why does it matter that it's taken three weeks? It's not like we're competing with another team for his signature, he's made it clear to all parties that he only wants to join United. And it's not holding up other deals as we're waiting for sales before going after other targets.
 
Solius said:
The guy can’t win. If there’s articles about how he’s been decisive in transfers and players choosing us it’s ‘PR’. But I guarantee if you read that about any other DoF at another club you’d all be moaning about how we never have people that can do that.

Maybe wait until the end of the window before wetting yourselves.
Click to expand...
Getting most of transfers done before season starts is also very important. The goal, especially in our case, is that you have team prepared for start of PL. When players are bought late (after pre-season) they need more time to adapt which often ends in a way that you don't have them available for August games.
 
Andycoleno9 said:
Getting most of transfers done before season starts is also very important. The goal, especially in our case, is that you have team prepared for start of PL. When players are bought late (after pre-season) they need more time to adapt which often ends in a way that you don't have them available for August games.
Click to expand...
Of course it is. Mbeumo will likely be done before pre-season let alone the season starting. I'm sure we're working hard on trying to sell too but the high wages are an issue for a lot of clubs and we want to become better at selling so we need to balance that and not just accept the first offers that come through the door. It's a complicated process so I don't think we can judge at least until we see what kind of team we have around late July.
 
Solius said:
Putting aside that reductive tone, even if that were the bare minimum we achieved (it won't be and none of us know how complex these things are) that would still be good. What difference does it make as long as he's in for pre-season?
Click to expand...

If you are happy with the time every deal seem to take then great.

Personally I would prefer it was either done quickly or United pivot and move onto other targets. If United drag every deal out for 3-4 weeks then we can all get excited for another mid-table battle next season.
 
RuudTom83 said:
If you are happy with the time every deal seem to take then great.

Personally I would prefer it was either done quickly or United pivot and move onto other targets. If United drag every deal out for 3-4 weeks then we can all get excited for another mid-table battle next season.
Click to expand...
I think it's a matter of perception at times too. People always claim we drag deals on and every other club works quickly, but it's hardly ever the case. Every other club's fans basically think their team do the exact same thing. It's because we monitor it so closely that it feels like it goes on forever. It's not even July 1st yet and we've nearly signed two of the best players (outside the top teams) in the league last season. A whole month to go for sales and other buys. Sometimes you have to play the long game with certain deals. Clubs get desperate, more keen to sell/buy, etc...

It's never just as simple as snapping up all your targets early on. We don't know what goes on behind the scenes, maybe sometimes players ask for a week to make their decision? And the club agrees to respect it and not push too hard? Maybe the agent causes problems? Selling club want a replacement first? There's so many factors at play.
 
Last edited:
I have a lot of sympathy for Wilcox, who I think is in a difficult position. None of the problems he is facing have been created by him:

- Servicing the Glazer debt impacts upon our spending power.
- We have still spent a fortune, badly, and this is now being realised with our precarious FFP/PSR position.
- SJR has made it clear that he is tightening the purse-strings, as evidenced by cutbacks, redundancies etc.
- The poor quality/unsuitability of players bought in the previous regime.
- The contracts stupidly handed out to players we are now trying to sell makes their sale less likely.
- Antony might go, but the demands of Sancho and Rashford are making life difficult. Garnacho and even Casemiro are sellable but there seems a reluctance to leave. Malacia is peanuts in comparison to the above.

And yet for many on here these problems are down to Wicox. By all means judge him a bit more accurately at the end of the transfer window, but bear in mind the constraints under which he is working.
 
Last edited:
Andycoleno9 said:
Oh, come on. These excuses are really over the top. You can use those excuses for every single player in every single club.
It is literally his job to find a way to make a deal. And he had a lot of time to prepare himself for this window.

Garnacho is young player, on normal salary, with big potential and with 20 years old he is already proven player basically.
Antony had a pretty good season. Rashford is good player in his prime. Malacia is cheap. Hojlund is still rated outside PL because of his age.

And with every day we are more and more short with options. Clubs who were interested are slowly buying other players.
Click to expand...

How do you suggest we sell Rashford to Barcelona, for 40m pounds, when they are not focused on him and he does not want to go to another club? BTW, I have zero interest in defending Wilcox. Garnacho almost publicly announced that he is not in the plans of the manager, but we value him at 70 million pounds? Sancho has no intention of lowering his salary.

Antony, I believe we will sell.
 
He is doing good guys, we all know we have to wait until 1st of July to beat PSR rules, but looks like he is doing all the back ground work and ready to make few signings before the pre-season. I am feeling very positive this time.
 
Grizzly B said:
Struggling to sell players who should be in some level of demand.
Click to expand...
Which of our players would you deem in-demand? Their stock has never been lower for these players, bar Antony and maybe Garnacho, but that 70m price tag will push away a lot of people, and people are shocked that there are no interested parties willing to cash in on them. I'm primarily talking about Rashford and Sancho, just to be clear.
 
Solius said:
It's never just as simple as snapping up all your targets early on. We don't know what goes on behind the scenes, maybe sometimes players ask for a week to make their decision? And the club agrees to respect it and not push too hard? Maybe the agent causes problems? Selling club want a replacement first? There's so many factors at play.
Click to expand...

Of course nothing ground breaking about what you are saying, plenty of valid reasons why a deal takes longer...But I'm not going to praise United for taking since June 5th to negotiate a deal for Mbeumo.

But this in not solely on Wilcox, I'm venting more at INEOS and the whole department.
 
If he was deeply involved last summer in recruiting Zirkzee, Ugarte and, to a lesser extent, de Ligt, then it's not great. But the recruitment of Yoro and Heaven is something we've not seen from the club in years and years. I just hope he is aware of top teams requiring a midfield that works like a midfield.
 
Hyper-fixating on the performance of a DOF on a deal by deal or, even worse, a week by week basis, is pointless.

Judge him at the end of the coming season, when we can see not only all the players we brought in, but how good they actually were. If Mbeumo, Cunha or anyone else we buy turn out to be totally the wrong players for us, its immaterial when or how we got them. And if they drag us back into CL contention, no-one will care that it took 4 weeks rather than 3 to seal the deal.

Hell, how about we judge him over 3 seasons instead? Then we can judge not only how good he is at building a first 11, but how good he is at installing some sense of continuity in the squad over time, minimising the amount of deadwood and developing all these youngsters we're buying? Which is after all exactly why we wanted a DOF in the first place.
 
What has changed really? We are still slow on the transfer market, we are not selling our cast offs and we are going for predictable signings
 
It's fair enough to question decisions but I don't know how anyone in here has the required knowledge to understand whether he or the rest of the new structure are doing a good job or not, comes across like people are just looking for someone to point a finger at.
 
Rodgerzzz said:
It's fair enough to question decisions but I don't know how anyone in here has the required knowledge to understand whether he or the rest of the new structure are doing a good job or not, comes across like people are just looking for someone to point a finger at.
Click to expand...
Spot on
 
Vidooq said:
Which of our players would you deem in-demand? Their stock has never been lower for these players, bar Antony and maybe Garnacho, but that 70m price tag will push away a lot of people, and people are shocked that there are no interested parties willing to cash in on them. I'm primarily talking about Rashford and Sancho, just to be clear.
Click to expand...
But he is the one who put that price on Garnacho. How is that excuse?
There are 3 parties involved in every transfer. Buyer, seller and a player. Every side has their desires and a point of good negotiator is to find a best way to make a deal.

For example Sancho; we want straight deal of 25 mil. Sancho wants full wage. Juve and Napoli are prepared to pay 25 mil but not full wage. So, DoF's job is to negotiate about that difference.
 
Andycoleno9 said:
Guy is paid millions for that. What do i need to suggest? Am i DoF? How other clubs manage to sell? How City, Liverpool, Chelsea .....every summer manage to sell and buy players quickly and for good price?
Click to expand...
Which unwanted players on large contracts have they managed to sell quickly?
 
Andycoleno9 said:
Guy is paid millions for that. What do i need to suggest? Am i DoF? How other clubs manage to sell? How City, Liverpool, Chelsea .....every summer manage to sell and buy players quickly and for good price?
Click to expand...
Buy and sell for a good price?

A bit like how Chelse sold Lukaku, Sterling, Chilwell really well right?

Or how City managed to sell Kalvin Phillips ?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.