In a rare media appearance, for the in-house Inside Carrington podcast at the beginning of November, Wilcox explained how he deals with the intense stress and pressure of his job.

“My wife will know when I am bogged down with frustration,” he explained. “When I re-energise, I do it on my own. Me and the dog, walking.”

We don’t know whether the Wilcox family dog has been going out more than usual over the past few days, but it would be no surprise if its owner has needed to take a breath.

As a player, good enough to be a significant part of Blackburn’s title-winning team in 1995, Wilcox says he was loud and energetic, but, by his own admission, this was an ‘alter ego’ and he is naturally “a quiet guy”.

It is not quite two years since Wilcox joined Manchester United, initially as technical director, then as director of football following the swift departure of Dan Ashworth.

But Wilcox knows quiet is not a word associated with the club and, in the wake of Amorim’s exit and the search for a successor, he is in the spotlight.

He could have expected it.

In the overall structure at Old Trafford, once you have gone past the joint ownership of the Glazer family and Sir Jim Ratcliffe, the heavyweight figures of chief executive Omar Berrada, chief financial officer Roger Bell and the football club board, Wilcox is about as senior as it gets.

In addition to his in-house podcast appearance, there is one other extended chat with Wilcox that has been available for public viewing.

Despite it coming just days after the 3-0 defeat at Manchester City in September, he honoured a commitment to speak at the 40th anniversary dinner of United’s past players.

Club officials thought it was a private event and Wilcox’s Q&A session at Old Trafford would not be released. However, it was filmed and uploaded on to the internet.

The ‘news’ element was widely reported at the time, including by BBC Sport.

“I really feel it is not ‘will we win again?’ but ‘when we win again’,” he told the audience. “I just pray we get the opportunity to turn it round.”

Watching the full 13 minutes back, there is another snippet which Wilcox probably wishes did not exist as he talks, openly, about the difficulties of transitioning out of the regimented world of playing after a 17-year career, when he retired in 2006.

“I wanted to spend some time with my family, but then the phone stops ringing and you lose your identity,” he said.

“It is like coming out of the military. You belong to something, you have your routine, then you belong to nothing.

“I am a coach at heart. I am a coach inside even though I know I have a different job now. That is a strength in my role but it also causes me a bit of a problem because I always want to interfere in what the managers are doing.”