Darren Fletcher shrugs off talk of Man Utd job as he prepares team for Burnley

By Simon Peach, Press Association Chief Football Writer

Interim head coach Darren Fletcher says it is beyond his wildest dreams to be leading Manchester United but insists he has not given any thought to replacing Ruben Amorim moving forward.

It has been a whirlwind few days at Old Trafford, where the Portuguese’s heated meeting with director of football Jason Wilcox on Friday triggered a series of events that ended up with Monday’s sacking.

Under-18s boss Fletcher has been temporarily parachuted into the United hotseat and will take charge of his first senior game in Wednesday’s Premier League trip to Burnley.

“It’s surreal,” said the interim boss, who made 342 appearances for the Red Devils and has worked in a variety of different roles for them since 2020.

“It’s an amazing honour to be able to lead a Manchester United team. I don’t even think it’s in my wildest dreams that that was something that could potentially happen.

“I think even thinking about playing for the club and stuff like that, but to lead out a team is an amazing honour, and something I’m really proud to do.

“Not in the circumstances I expected it to happen, so that obviously is something that doesn’t sit quite easy with me.

“But I’ve got a job to do, and I’ve got to lead the team tomorrow, and think of the great honour and pride in doing that.”

Fletcher is expected to remain in charge for Sunday’s FA Cup third-round tie against Brighton as United consider their options.

The Press Association understands former boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and ex-coach Michael Carrick are under consideration for the caretaker role.

Asked if he was interested in the job beyond this interim spell, Fletcher said: “Honestly, it’s not something I’ve thought about.

“I’m focusing on Burnley. I think that discussion is for after the game.

“There’s been that much going on, it’s all happened so quickly. All my concentration and efforts and thoughts have gone into Burnley and I know that sounds like a generic answer but it is what it is.”

Under-21s lead coach Travis Binnion and his assistant Alan Wright are working alongside Fletcher, as is former United defender Jonny Evans having recently left his role as the club’s loans manager.

They have had precious little time to work with the group ahead of the trip to Turf Moor, where Fletcher’s formation and style will be of great interest.

“Hopefully it looks like a Manchester United team that represents a bit of me and what I know is Manchester United,” Fletcher said.

“So, I hope it resembles a Manchester United team that fans can be proud of, that I can be proud of, and I’m sure they will because I believe in the players.

“I think we’ve got good players, and I think we’ve got players who care, and I think we’ve got a lot of quality in that team.

“I hope to give them a platform to go out there, to express themselves and to show that and also to challenge them.

“It’s about them, it’s not about me. It’s their season, it’s their careers, it’s their opportunity. I’m here to help them.

“But they’re the ones who have to cross that white line and go on the pitch and make it happen, so give them some responsibility to go and do that.”

United will be boosted at Burnley by the return of Bruno Fernandes and Mason Mount having been without eight first-team players for Amorim’s final two matches.

“I think Mason and Bruno were pushing to play against Leeds,” Fletcher said.

“The decision was that they weren’t quite ready, so they’ve trained, so they should be back in the squad.

“But they’ll be on managed minutes because they’ve obviously just returned to training, so that’s good news.”