Darren Fletcher took charge of two games for Man Utd and although he didn't win either of them, he did enough to mark himself out as someone the club must keep around.
Darren Fletcher deserves credit for his work at Manchester United last week(Image: )
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There was the slightest hint of a crack in Darren Fletcher's voice as he spoke for the final time as Manchester United's caretaker head coach. Although Fletcher had just revealed he had been told to report to Carrington on Monday morning, he would have known his time in the hot seat was up.
You could see how much it had hurt him not to be able to deliver a victory. A Premier League draw with Burnley and an FA Cup defeat to Brighton was the kind of ending Fletcher didn't deserve, and it pained him to come to terms with that.
"I've given it my best, and ultimately, I'm disappointed to not be able to win a game or to get a result," he said. "But I feel like there were some good things in there, created a lot of chances, shots, things like that.
"Ultimately, it wasn't enough. I am more disappointed than anybody really because I care for the club and I want the club to do well."
Fletcher was spoken of as a candidate for the job until the end of the season and spoke to chief executive Omar Berrada and director of football Jason Wilcox at Carrington. However, he always knew this was a two-game deal and that the powerbrokers preferred experience to see them through until the end of the campaign.
When Michael Carrick's appointment was confirmed, Fletcher was offered the chance to stay on the first-team staff but opted for a return to his role as head coach of the Under-18s. He has had a spell as technical director at Old Trafford and been on the coaching staff, but taking charge of the age-group side offers the chance to continue his development as a head coach.
And whatever the results last week, he has shown enough around Carrington and within games to suggest that he has a bright future in that department and that he is someone United should look to nurture over the next few years.
Certainly, the performance against Burnley was encouraging. United had 30 shots and drew a game they should have won handsomely. It was one of the best attacking displays they have produced all season.
Darren Fletcher
Fletcher was disappointed not to get a win during his two games in charge(Image: )
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Fletcher certainly spoke like a United boss and he carried himself with class and dignity. He was open and engaging in his press conferences, particularly his first one, when he made all the right noises and said all the right things. That he had switched by Sunday night to delivering a slightly harsher critique of the players and demanding they now step up showed he got the tone right when required.
One particularly memorable moment is the smile he flashed when told of comments he had made as a pundit in 2018, when Jose Mourinho was sacked and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer brought in as a caretaker. Fletcher has said, "They're almost writing off this season". As the quotes were read back to him, he could see what was coming.
“Good research, that! I was young and naive when I said that, wasn’t I?" he joked.
“That was my feeling at the time, and I was speaking in the context of probably being out of the game and not involved in it from the inside."
Fletcher handled a potential grenade with warmth and humour, and it was diffused with relative ease. It was a far cry from the fireworks that often emanated from a Ruben Amorim press conference.
But being sure-footed with the media and sounding like a United manager are irrelevant if you can't deliver. Strip away the results, and Fletcher's two dealings with United players marked out his ability as a man-manager.
First of all, he took Benjamin Sesko aside at Carrington on his first day in the job. He had no prior relationship with the £73million summer signing and wanted to get to know him, but he was aware his confidence needed a lift as well after two goals in 17 games under Amorim.
The Portuguese had been critical of Sesko at times and only days earlier had refuted a suggestion that his teammates needed to be better at finding his runs. Fletcher showed the 22-year-old videos of his movement and assured him the goals would come if that continues. He also contradicted Amorim and told the striker his teammates did have a responsibility to find him.
Fletcher got a tune out of Sesko, who scored three goals in his two games in charge(Image: )
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It came together immediately at Turf Moor, when Sesko scored twice and could have had more. He scored again on Sunday and a return of 13 shots in two games showed Fletcher had got him back on track and Carrick will be grateful for that.
Then there is Shea Lacey. Amorim had shown little desire to trust youth at Old Trafford, especially young attacking talents, and Lacey was restricted to six minutes off the bench despite being named as a substitute in eight games. In seven of them, he didn't get on, despite United chasing goals against Everton, West Ham, Wolves and Leeds.
Fletcher used the 18-year-old twice, for six minutes at Turf Moor and then for 27 against Brighton. He showed trust in a player he clearly rates and the instructions he gave him against Burnley resulted in a dazzling cameo in which he was unlucky not to score.
"I said to him, stay wide and go and do what you do, and he did that," Fletcher said. "I know he's gonna make an impact. I know he's creative. He's got goals in him. He's exciting, he's direct, he's fearless and he hit the crossbar and he had another shot so he had a really bright game.
"I'm pleased for him because there's a lot of injuries in recent years and he's not really got going with his momentum, but we know the talent that he's got, and he'll be a big part of Manchester United's future, I've no doubt it's about that."
It was exactly what Lacey needed to hear after being underused by Amorim and the confidence boost did the trick. Those examples show that judging Fletcher just on the results last week doesn't tell us the full story.