Darren Fletcher says he sought the blessing of his former Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson before taking interim charge at Old Trafford.
Fletcher will be in charge for Wednesday’s Premier League trip to Burnley following the sacking of Ruben Amorim and is likely to remain in the dugout for Sunday’s FA Cup third-round tie with Brighton.
He took the role after speaking to Ferguson, 84, who was at Elland Road for Amorim’s final game in charge, the 1-1 draw at Leeds, after which he gave the bombshell press conference that triggered his exit.
“I don’t like to make any major decisions without speaking to Sir Alex,” said the 41-year-old.
“I’ve got a really good relationship with Sir Alex, so I wanted to speak to him first and ultimately to get his blessing, to be perfectly honest with you. I think he deserves that respect.
“I wanted to run it by him and he echoed my thoughts. When you’re an employee of the club, it’s your job to do your best for Manchester United. It is something I try and live and believe every day, so it was comforting for me for him to say that.”
One of Amorim’s damning observations during his rant at Leeds was his belief that senior officials at Old Trafford pay too much attention to the observations of pundits, chief among them former captain Gary Neville.
Fletcher shared a dressing room with most of them and still counts them as friends.
As someone who was heavily criticised when he was breaking into the United team two decades ago, he feels it is something the current squad have to live with.
“You can’t ask them to go easier [on us] because they’re passionate guys, they have a right to their opinion and they’re really good,” he said.
“They’re engaging. They’re good to listen to. I enjoy listening to them. I had years of listening to them in the dressing room and used to sit and take it all in.
“The outside noise is difficult to deal with because those players have won everything.
“They’ve got success behind them and they’ve got trophies. It’s hard to criticise them back because they’ve got their medals on the table.
“But that’s what being a Manchester United player is. Get your head around it, learn how you’re going to deal with it, and embrace the challenge.”
Fletcher says a lack of spare time since stepping in means he has not had chance to speak to his squad individually.
Instead, he restricted his conversations to captain Bruno Fernandes and the new senior players. Fletcher has met with Matheus Cunha and Benjamin Sesko this week, having spoken to goalkeeper Senne Lammens last week. Bryan Mbeumo, United’s other major summer signing, has not had chance to speak to Fletcher as he is at the Africa Cup of Nations with Cameroon.
There has been no conversation either with Amorim, who gave Fletcher’s son Jack his debut last month and put his other twin Tyler on the bench for United’s past three games.
“I’ve reached out to him but not managed to make contact yet, which is understandable. He’s obviously got a lot on in his mind and I’ve been really busy,” Fletcher said.
“I’d love to because I had a good relationship with Ruben and he was great with me.
“But it’s important you move on very quickly. Football is a cruel game, so it’s important we tried to create a little bit of energy and a little bit of spirit. Hopefully there’s more of it again tomorrow.”
From academy to manager – Fletcher’s Man Utd journey
Fletcher made more than 300 appearances for Manchester United after arriving from Celtic as an 11-year-old in 1995.
After breaking into the first team in 2003, went on to become one of Ferguson’s most trusted midfielders.
Fletcher helped United win five Premier League titles, three Community Shields, the FA Cup, League Cup, Champions League and Club World Cup.
In total, the midfielder, who represented Scotland 80 times, pulled on the United shirt 342 times before leaving to join West Brom in 2015.
He would have had far more United appearances to his name had his career not been disrupted by the chronic bowel disease ulcerative colitis.
The former midfielder made just 12 first-team appearances during the 2011-12 season after being diagnosed with the illness in December 2011.
Speaking about his illness in 2014, Fletcher said he had initially been “very blase” about his diagnosis, which left him running to the toilet up to 30 times a day and “losing a lot of blood”.
He had surgery in January 2013 – which he says allowed him to return to a “normal life” – but at the height of his illness, he was barely able to leave his own home.
After leaving United in 2015, Fletcher continued his Premier League career with West Brom and Stoke City before retiring in 2020.
Since then, he has held a number of roles at United.
He initially returned to the club as the coach of the under-16s in October 2020, before spells as a first-team coach and then a technical director.
Last summer, he returned to the dugout to take charge of United’s under-18s on a permanent basis.
In recent years, though, the Fletcher name has become synonymous with United once again as his 18-year-old twin sons, Jack and Tyler, have taken their first steps in the professional game.
Jack, 18, is an England youth international and made his Premier League debut in December’s 2-1 defeat by Aston Villa.
Tyler, meanwhile, represents Scotland at international level and has been part of the first-team squad for United’s past three Premier League games.
Both players spent nine years at Manchester City’s academy before moving to Old Trafford in 2023.
If the Fletcher twins do feature at Turf Moor on Wednesday, they would join a exclusive group of sons to be managed by their fathers in the English top flight.
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