Manchester United: Darren Fletcher emerges a winner from a week of turmoil

One story told about Fletcher since then concerns a match at Liverpool, two weeks after he joined Solskjaer’s team.

Fletcher went into the managers’ box before the match for the first time and “everyone crowded around him”.

“He kept the room listening to his stories for 15 minutes,” a source who was there said.

“Humble” is a word used to describe Fletcher at the time.

Fittingly, this is the trait Fletcher mentioned when speaking about the youngsters at United’s academy on Friday.

After Jason Wilcox arrived at the club in the spring of 2024, Fletcher returned to the role of first-team coach under Erik ten Hag, but Amorim decided he did not need the Scottish coach, which many believe was a mistake.

Fletcher then took over the under-18s role, waiting for twin sons Jack and Tyler to grow beyond that age group before taking over in the summer.

Although he was not one of the superstars of Sir Alex Ferguson’s reign, the legendary Scot loved his compatriot for the simple way in which he went about his job.

Some feel that Fletcher’s suspension-related absence after being sent off in the semi-final against Arsenal was an important factor in United’s loss to Barcelona in the 2009 Champions League final, when they had no answer to Pep Guardiola’s rhythmic passing game.

Fletcher, father of the younger twins, as well as Jack and Tyler who have been brought into the first team by Amorim in recent weeks, are particularly comfortable about what comes next.

Publicly, the 41-year-old says he is happy to return to his role with the Under-18s, where he has helped develop promising youngsters, including England youth international JJ Gabriel and Jim Thwaites, who has earned rave reviews in a variety of midfield positions.

“I tried to prepare myself to be a manager,” Fletcher said.

“It’s something I always thought I might be good at or that I would enjoy doing it and enjoy the challenge of it.

“But at the same time I wanted to be really careful and make sure I was ready when that moment came.

“It’s not something I’d particularly like to do – life circumstances dictate that, and I’ve witnessed how difficult it can be as a coach for less than a week. There’s not a lot of time for football outside the home.

“But if I prepare myself and the opportunity comes one day, I know I will be ready. If not, it means staying on as coach of the under-18 team. I would be very comfortable with that because I will be helping develop players for Manchester United.”