COMMENT: Jason Wilcox. If this new-look management team at Manchester United needed a public endorsement, they've just received one...
Wilcox's appointment as new technical director at United is a good move. Indeed, it's a great move. And the weight of his decision to leave Southampton and return to the Northwest cannot be understated.
Yes, there is the pull of United. The name. The resources. But Wilcox had left Manchester barely ten months ago to take the Saints job. From being Manchester City's long-time academy director. Overseeing this incredible build of the best youth production line in football. Wilcox left the then Treble winners to take up the director of football post at St Mary's. Southampton was effectively his club. He was in charge of the hiring. The firing. And all transfers. Wilcox could shape Saints as he saw fit. It was a platform for the former Premier League title winner to fulfill his potential.
And he was achieving. Winning. Saints, under Russell Martin, remain well-placed to earn instant promotion back to the Premier League. Indeed, knowing Wilcox, you fancy he would have his 'A' and 'B' summer shopping lists drawn up with an eye on Southampton's status come season's end.
So to go from where he was No1, to becoming one of many... it indeed says much about what those now in charge at United are saying behind closed doors.
Wilcox has been named new 'technical director' at United, effectively stepping in to succeed John Murtough after his departure. But it'll be a much more crowded chain of command. Jean-Claude Blanc. Ian Brailsford. Dan Ashworth. Omar Berrada. Even Jim Ratcliffe. There's going to be a lot more... let's say 'input'... Wilcox will encounter in his decision-making than he did with Southampton. So again, to give up that freedom - and responsibility - to return to Manchester does say a lot about the planning being put in place at United.
Was it the chance to work with Berrada, United's new chief exec, again that swayed him? An opportunity to bounce ideas off Ashworth? Or simply the project as a whole? We'll have to wait for Wilcox's first interview as a Manchester United man to learn of his motivations. But like with Berrada and Blanc, this is an excellent appointment by United. A best of breed arrival. And does promise good things for the future.
RATCLIFFE'S UNDERMINING
Whether that future includes the 114 year-old institution which is Old Trafford, well, the chances are appearing more and more slim.
Regulars of this column will know our growing doubts about several of Ratcliffe's recent moves. That United's co-owner will actually blank today's FA Cup semifinal is emblematic of his attitude towards the team and the manager.
Going into their tie with Mark Robins' Coventry City, Erik ten Hag - rightly - highlighted the injuries to key players his team has endured these past "18 months". But as much as that's been an issue, the manager would also have been well within his rights to discuss the undermining he's experienced from Ratcliffe.
Okay, for this column, choosing the London Marathon over Wembley is understandable - we'd always go with physical participation over spectatorship. But Ratcliffe's chosen absence is symbolic of his approach to the team and Ten Hag since his arrival. That the Dutchman heads into another crucial game on the back of another week of rumours about his position, with his players also now hesitating on new contract talks, is typical of the current state of the club. And among the reasons for all this uncertainty is the silence from Ratcliffe.
OLD TRAFFORD'S DEMOLITION PARTY
However, he's left us in no doubt where he stands on Old Trafford's future. Publicly, he's sat on the fence. But the make-up of the steering committee (or is that 'the demolition party'?), regarding the club's plans for the grand old stadium... well, there's really no need to read between the lines.
But this is a decision for the United fans of Manchester. Whether to keep and redevelop the stadium. Or flatten it and build elsewhere. Beyond the club's global support, it really is a decision for the locals. The generations of local families who have attended Old Trafford over it's 114 year-old history. That history. That heritage. Those generational links. If the locals want to see that disappear, then so be it...
But at the top end, effectively it's a stacked deck. Led by Sebastian Coe - the same Coe of the debacle that is West Ham's London stadium and that ridiculous running track (a good example of 'failing up'?) - Old Trafford has no champions on the panel. Indeed, the club is barely represented. Gary Neville, the former United captain, is on record saying he wants the stadium bulldozed. And the words of Duncan Drasdo, the CEO of the Manchester United Supporters' Trust, aren't exactly bullish about keeping the ground intact.
The remainder of the committee are basically local government officials. Again, as crazy as it sounds, United and Old Trafford are in the representative minority. This isn't Liverpool redeveloping Anfield. Newcastle and their plans for St James' Park. Nor Barcelona and the Nou Camp. From what we can glean, United will be a simple passenger in a greater city development. A shopping centre with a football pitch.
The question for United's local support is: Is that what you want?
