It seems that Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, Mike Phelan and one or two others aren’t the only vestiges of the Sir Alex Ferguson era left at Man United.
Although he won’t be working with the first team, at least not initially, former player, Darren Fletcher, has re-joined the club to work with the U16 side.
The Scot has had some time out of the game, but clearly thought it was the right time to return, and where better than at the club where he made his name.
“I needed a bit of a break away from it [football],” he said to the official Man United website.
I think the transition from playing to the other side has been difficult. All your focus is on being a player, day in and day out, and you miss being a player.
I think I needed that period to step away a little bit and took my time to come away and accept not being a player anymore, moving onto my coaching badges, and this is the early stages of doing it.
[…] I’ve got a bit of spare time in the evenings and I thought there’s nothing better than doing something at United and giving a bit back, working at the Academy.
It’s a club that means a lot to me, so it ticks both boxes really. It allows me to get my coaching badges done and give a bit back to the Academy kids.
At 36, Fletcher is working towards getting his coaching badges, and by working with United’s youth, it will allow him to do just that in an environment that is familiar to him.
The players will be able to gain first-hand knowledge of what’s required of them if they want to progress to eventually become a first team star, so in many respects the arrangement is a win win.
Moving forward, whose to say that Fletcher won’t get the opportunity to work with the senior side at some point.
As a well-respected figure at the club, it would make perfect sense.