Darren Fletcher.

Originally Posted by Carrick

I remember a time when you used to be respected on internet forums :shakehead:

good point, i once saw him in an almost charles/'sers' sort of light

reminds me of a cross between tippers and el catafe atm

Originally Posted by Carrick

I remember a time when you used to be respected on internet forums :shakehead:

Was this when he had hair??

Originally Posted by Ether

Was this when he had hair??

i remember a time on ri he popped up with about 7 names of up and coming 'stars of the future'

barbosa, diaby and a few others. as usual whalefish knew about them all and agreed

Originally Posted by marlo

good point, i once saw him in an almost charles/'sers' sort of light

reminds me of a cross between tippers and el catafe atm

Where has that @#%&! gone?



N, F and T fall out of his keyboard?

Fair play to Jabbers tbh for admitting he was very wrong.

What did I say all along

Superb, the turn around is huge he use to be the ultimate scapegoat tbh. I'm actually gutted he'll miss the final because he will be missed, he is just what we need against Barca imo. I think it would have been a midfield of Carrick, Anderson and Fletcher.

He's certainly not World Class, but he's developed into a very decent player. Whoever mentioned he's great at the defined role but lacks a bit when being allowed to play is spot on. I was quite impressed with the analysis Hansen did last night, showed how discipline, awareness & enough nous will get you a long, long way in the game. There are so many chancers that think turning up & doing a round-the-world or an outside of the foot pass makes them the %@#$&!s that they end up stuck at some mid-table shite like Blackburn. Fletcher has certainly proven me wrong - I used to think he was dogshit. It's not difficult to think back 18 months, 2 years & the inability to tackle his way out of a wet paper bag, or the constant pirouettes & backward / sideways passing... (bonus points for remembering him pointing at something & then standing still) it just shows that playing consistently, in your right position & Fergie having the confidence in you can go a long way.

Who would benefit from that kind of time & nuturing in the current squad....? We're far too quick to write off players, all that %@#$&!s about 'Arsene knows' - he knows £#%&! all - Fergie knows, and the trophy cabinet proves it.

fletcher's passing is very very good, always has been from his reserve days. what has changed is his confidence. he performs a similar role with the ball to roy keane - unspectacular passes but important in setting the tempo. also one of the best tacklers in the squad - not as a one-on-one battler but simply as a player who is very hard to get past. time after time he forces opposition players to hold up the play and turn back, giving us time to get behind the ball and pick up the opposition. his defensive awareness off the ball is also very good - excellent at tracking runners and positioning himself to prevent the easy ball.

he's won a lot over but i still think he's underappreciated. he's got a lot more strings to his bow than most realise. imo.

He's the non world class player all the world class players are scared of playing against.

Originally Posted by Baron_van_Marlon

the inability to tackle his way out of a wet paper bag,

he used to get knocked off the ball by a light gust of wind.

MOTM yesterday.

I'm very much enjoying watching him atm.

Fletcher, Abidal and Alves all fail to get their bans over turned.

SSN

Saw his post match interview yesterday, and I must say he came across very well in it, gutted for the boy, but shit happens, I'm sure he'll be cheering his team mates on, him missing gives Ferie one less problem on picking the final 11.

having to use a different player as the team dog in Rome will affect preparations and selection. but Fletcher won't be overly missed apart from from that perspective. he does deserve to play though after filling the Hargreaves shaped hole pretty impressively for much of the season.