Man United director of football Jason Wilcox issues plea to Sir Jim Ratcliffe as chief lays out his plan to turn the club around in rare public appearance

Manchester United director of football Jason Wilcox has sent a not-so-subtle message to Sir Jim Ratcliffe and the club's ownership to get more time to turn things around. 

Defeat to Manchester City last Sunday ramped up the pressure on Head Coach Ruben Amorim, along with Wilcox and CEO Omar Berrada. 

Ratcliffe flew into Carrington for talks on Thursday where, among other things on the agenda, current form was discussed with United 14th in the Premier League table after four games. 

Amorim himself has called for patience and for context to be taken into account with some key injuries delaying his rebuild.

Now Wilcox, at a rare public Q&A appearance, has followed suit.  

'I just pray that we get the opportunity to turn it around and I really feel that it's not will we win again, it's when we'll win again,' Wilcox said.

Speaking at a gala dinner celebrating the 40th anniversary of the Association of Manchester United Players, Wilcox added: 'It has been a rollercoaster! I came in last April, around 18 months ago, and it's been a real challenge I can't lie.

'I thought the club was in a much better place than it was. We had no football identity, we lacked alignment between ownership, the CEO, football and the academy and we've just been working so hard behind the scenes.'

He added, in an interview shared by Man United the Religion's YouTube channel:  'The football club needed to go through a period of transformation without doubt. Forget the redundancies. The whole structure of Manchester United needed to change.

'It's really important we have a leaner workforce that provides accountability and responsibility... now we've got a platform to rebuild.'

There is palpable pressure being felt behind the scenes at Manchester United after a difficult start.

But there is also a sense that things have been moving in the right direction despite the results not fully attesting to that.

Amorim was asked on Thursday what he talked about with Ratcliffe and joked: 'He offered me a new contract!   

'No, it was a normal thing to show the support, explaining that it's a long project, which he has said many times.

'We spoke about normal things with Omar, Jason and him. It was a normal meeting and we had several.

'In this moment it's normal for you to pay attention to that. This is the football club with maybe more pressure than any other in the world and we want to win.'