Jason Wilcox has been hailed as responsible for Rúben Amorim’s dismissal, following recent reports about a meeting between the two.
The bombshell news of Rúben Amorim’s sacking came as a huge surprise, even with his rage-filled press conferences leading up to the sacking.
The club had just come off a 1-1 draw against Yorkshire rivals Leeds United in the Premier League, which, in isolation, is not a bad result given the intensity of the rivalry; anything could happen.
Since Amorim’s exit, Darren Fletcher was promoted from under-18 boss to interim manager as the board focuses on finding a caretaker until the end of the season, with Ole Gunnar Solskjær and Michael Carrick both the favourites for the role.
In Fletcher’s first game in senior management, the club drew 2-2 to Burnley, and now set their sights on the FA Cup tie at Old Trafford against Brighton.
The argument between Wilcox and Amorim was “horrendous”
It has been well publicised about the days leading up to the sacking of Amorim, with an argument between the Portuguese manager and the director of football, Jason Wilcox.
It seemed inevitable that one day the former Sporting CP coach would leave, but no one expected it to be the day after the 1-1 draw against Leeds.
The Sun’s Samuel Luckhurst has published more details about the goings on of the argument.
According to Luckhurst, Wilcox billed himself as the “manager” and emphasised that Amorim was the head coach. While it is unclear whether the former Southampton director of football directly said this to Amorim, the former manager discovered the comments, which led to his outburst after the game at Elland Road, where he demanded to be labelled as the manager.
It is also reported that Wilcox stated to Amorim that he lacks the pedigree of other coaches.
One of Luckhurst’s well-placed sources said that the meeting was “horrendous” and that Wilcox was “out of order.” However, others disagreed and said that Wilcox was Amorim’s boss, so he should be able to give feedback.
INEOS facing greater scrutiny
The scrutiny being placed on the door of INEOS is growing week by week.
After the sacking of Dan Ashworth, it seems the next board figure that is under pressure is now Jason Wilcox. In October, during United’s three-game winning streak, the director of football was waxing lyrical about Amorim to MUTV, yet he still went on to sack him a few months later.
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With the interim manager till the season being the second managerial appointment in his tenure, it is imperative for his future at the club that he gets this right, along with the future permanent coach.
Fans have already begun to publicly share their distaste for the job Wilcox and INEOS have done so far, with the 1958 supporters group already voicing a vote of no confidence.
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