Darren Fletcher

Full name: Darren Fletcher
Date of birth: 1 February 1984 (age 25)

What's your views on him as a football player?

Do you now rate him or not?

How bad did you think he was in the past?

Would he get into your team?

You missed one vital question;

Who cares?

Football Genius wrote:You missed one vital question;

Who cares?

If Rafa was in charge of Man Utd then he would have sold Fletcher years ago, that's his style and replaced him with some young kid he signed from Europe.

What's your views on him as a football player?
Decent midfielder, does the "dirty work" and has an excellent work rate and attitude.

Do you now rate him or not?
Depends what you mean by "rate him". Would he get into a "World class" squad? No way. Would he get into the starting 11 of almost every Premiership side (bar Chelsea)? Yes, probably.

How bad did you think he was in the past?
Always thought he'd be an Everton-level player. Certainly didn't expect him to make it as a Man. Utd. starter.

Would he get into your team?
Probably would get into my 5 a side team, yes. If you mean the team I support, not in a million years.

Batman wrote:

Football Genius wrote:You missed one vital question;

Who cares?

If Rafa was in charge of Man Utd then he would have sold Fletcher years ago, that's his style and replaced him with some young kid he signed from Europe.

No he wouldn't he would have been the equivlant to our Lucas, who will develop into the 'superstar' that Fletcher is, as they are very similar types of players.

Lucas = Fletcher Mark II

Manchester United top of the league = a return of Batwing's silly threads

I've been singing Fletcher's praises for over a year now, long before it became fashionable to do so.

Batman is (unsurprisingly) wrong in his Lucas/Fletcher comparison, although there are some similarities.

5 years or so ago, when Fletcher was in Lucas' position (ie first reserve for the midfield) he was woeful and rightly something of a scapegoat.

The luxury that Fergle had then, that Rafa hasn't had, was that he could afford to then bring in Hargreaves, Carrick, Anderson ahead of Fletcher, without having to sell him to raise necessary transfer funds.

Fletcher's importance to Manchester United is testament to Fergle's perserverence with him, but also highlights what a waste of money Carrick, Anderson, Nani, Hargreaves and co were.

He's never had a good game for Scotland.

I'll give you a transfer market value for him Battyman and you can draw conclusions from that


6.1 million pounds sterling

Batman wrote:

If Rafa was in charge of Man Utd then he would have sold Fletcher years ago, that's his style and replaced him with some young kid he signed from Europe.

Indeed he would have. He probably would have replaced him with an alonso, mascherano or aquilani type player, you know like fergie has tried to do with anderson, carrick, hargreaves, veron, eric djemba, kleberson etc etc etc

What's your views on him as a football player?
A good hard working player who does well in big games. A useful player for Man Utd.

Do you now rate him or not?
By now I do rate him but can still be quite limited.

How bad did you think he was in the past?
Like Kas said I figured him to end up at a club like Everton. Another Phil Neville if you will.

Would he get into your team?
No as he isn't better then Lass or Alonso as I see it. Could be useful though as a sub but I don't how well he would fit in spanish football. British football is perfect for him though.

In the end Ferguson got this one right, Batman.

He's a bit similar as Gary Nevill, not a spectacular player to watch but he does his job well.

kas wrote:
How bad did you think he was in the past?
Always thought he'd be an Everton-level player. Certainly didn't expect him to make it as a Man. Utd. starter.

I hoped we would get him during summer 2008, now it's definitely too late. He really developed over last 12 months, very useful player for MU.

What's your views on him as a football player?

He's really improved, I'm impressed. Always seems to play well against Fabregas as well. Good, versatile player.

Do you now rate him or not?

Rate? Thats pretty vague. I rate him as a good player.

How bad did you think he was in the past?

Mediocre player tbh.

Would he get into your team?

Yes, he'd start in our midfield.

He would definitely be among the top of the list of most improved players from last 2 years.

Ideally he is one of those typical no-fuss water carriers you would want in your team and which we lack so badly.

He's better than the beanpole

Batwing's little fanboy threads are usually the kiss of death, expect to see Feltcher's decline in the next 6 months

Murray wrote:He's never had a good game for Scotland.

He had one, when the Scot beaten Holland 1-0 in that Euro 2004 playoff

What's your views on him as a football player?
Hard-working player, Britain midfielder typical, good in the air and some of his goal remind me of young Paul Scholes 'ghost movement'

Do you now rate him or not?
Yes, if he had played in that CL final against Barca, Man Utd won't be beaten easily

How bad did you think he was in the past?
Beyond his hard-working style he done nothing

Would he get into your team?
Absolutely, but not every day

What's your views on him as a football player?

Unsung hero of our squad, have been pleasantly surprised by how he's come on in the last 2 seasons.

Do you now rate him or not?

It's taken about 5-6 years but yeah i rate him. Never helped that Ferguson put him up there alongside Rooney & Ronaldo as being the future of the club back in those days.

How bad did you think he was in the past?

On a par with Klebersen/Djemba-Djemba/Alan Smith/Bellion. Mediocre players who had no business at Man Utd. You could say that I was one of those who believed that he was a secret bastard child of SAF.

Would he get into your team?

He already does.

Silly Little Girl wrote:

Murray wrote:He's never had a good game for Scotland.

He had one, when the Scot beaten Holland 1-0 in that Euro 2004 playoff

Then we lost the 2nd leg 6-0

Murray wrote:

Silly Little Girl wrote:

Murray wrote:He's never had a good game for Scotland.

He had one, when the Scot beaten Holland 1-0 in that Euro 2004 playoff

Then we lost the 2nd leg 6-0

Yeah but he was good in the first leg and had done a Zidane trick

Darren Fletcher:

He's not as shit as he used to be

is he in the same bracket as Essien, Mascherano, Palacios, Yaya and the like?

No I wouldn't be bracing yourself for any £30m January bids.

He's somewhere between Gareth Barry and Nigel Reo-Coker.

Mutual Glennsturbation wrote:Darren Fletcher:

He's not as shit as he used to be

is he in the same bracket as Essien, Mascherano, Palacios, Yaya and the like?

No I wouldn't be bracing yourself for any £30m January bids.

He's somewhere between Gareth Barry and Nigel Reo-Coker.

Why do people still rate Mascherano so highly. He continues to prove how limited he is.

Fletcher has become a great CM. He has overtaken Evra as ManUs third most important person (Rooney and ref fighting for 1st).

Fletcher has great stamina, good positioning and good imagination. His problem is that he has no great natural talent.

He hasn't got a good skill level, a very high level of technique or a great physical attribute other than stamina. He's fairly tall but not really a monster in the air.

Fletcher's room for improvement right now is very little. He's not going to improve much other than consistency and cutting out any mistakes.

Right now he is the second best DCM in the PL. But due to his limited talent, players like Palacios, Song, Noble, and Denilson will overtake him once they sort out the 'basics' of their game and become as consistent as him.

shazlx wrote:

Right now he is the second best DCM in the PL.

behind Alex Song?

or is it Denilson this week? I know it was Diaby last year but he's the new Eboue now, which would make Eboue the new Edu.

Feltcher's developed extremely well, but calling him the 2nd best DM in the league is kneejerk, even for an Arsenal fan.

shazlx wrote:

Mutual Glennsturbation wrote:Darren Fletcher:

He's not as shit as he used to be

is he in the same bracket as Essien, Mascherano, Palacios, Yaya and the like?

No I wouldn't be bracing yourself for any £30m January bids.

He's somewhere between Gareth Barry and Nigel Reo-Coker.

Why do people still rate Mascherano so highly. He continues to prove how limited he is.

Fletcher has become a great CM. He has overtaken Evra as ManUs third most important person (Rooney and ref fighting for 1st).

Fletcher has great stamina, good positioning and good imagination. His problem is that he has no great natural talent.

He hasn't got a good skill level, a very high level of technique or a great physical attribute other than stamina. He's fairly tall but not really a monster in the air.

Fletcher's room for improvement right now is very little. He's not going to improve much other than consistency and cutting out any mistakes.

Right now he is the second best DCM in the PL. But due to his limited talent, players like Palacios, Song, Noble, and Denilson will overtake him once they sort out the 'basics' of their game and become as consistent as him.

Fletch won't improove because he has won everything with Man Utd. The players you have mentioned will improove because they still has the hunger

We would have won the CL final if Fletcher wasnt banned.

No, I don't think we would but at least we didn't lose easily

Manchester United and Scotland midfielder Darren Fletcher is taking an extended break from football because of a serious illness.

A United statement said the 27-year-old is suffering from AIDS in his bum-hole.

His last game was in the 2-2 Champions League home draw against Benfica on 22 November, in which he scored.

The club said Fletcher had "accepted medical advice to take an extended break".

He is taking a rest "in order to afford the best chance possible of achieving full remission once again".

The statement added: "Darren's continued desire to play with his anus and his loyalty to both club and country has probably compromised the chances of optimising his own health and fitness.

"We request that his privacy is respected and hope that the removal of the additional stress associated with speculation regarding his health will also aid his recovery."