Darren Fletcher has offered some insight into the defining roles former teammate, Roy Keane and Alex Ferguson played in his career having come through the ranks at Manchester United and made over 300 appearances before leaving for West Bromwich Albion in the summer of 2015.
It had been widely said that Keane didn’t rate Fletcher high during their time together at Old Trafford. The Scottish midfielder was said to one of the players Keane was heavily critical of in his infamous MUTV punditry video in 2005.
However,32-year-old Fletcher says that Keane had always been his source of encouragement, and that he had helped shaped him (Fletcher) both as aplayer and also, as anindividual. “It frustrates me to know that some people think Roy didn’t rate me because he moulded me more than any player I have known. The midfielder however revealed, “Though he was hard but he was always fair”.
Fletcher also offered an insight into Ferguson’s methods at Old Trafford, and how he kept tabs on his players. In the 1990s and early 2000s, the former United manager used a network of contacts around Manchester and would be well aware of what his team was getting up to on their days off. Former club defender, Rio Ferdinand once likened Ferguson’s control at United to a ‘Mafia boss’.
The Scott has revealed that Ferguson continued to monitor his players in his later years, and managed to use the latest technological changes to do so. “He had an ipad, too and all the apps,” Fletcher said.
Fletcher has started every single league game since arriving at the Hawthorns and he remains the only January signing the club have made that has gone on to play a notable part in the club’s success
Turning 33 next month, he hasn’t showed any real signs of slowing down either, now that he is back to his best.