Is everybody still ‘thronging around’ Darren Fletcher after that defeat?

Manchester United are dispensing with one interim manager and getting ready to appoint another who has the Ronaldo seal of approval.

There’s also some absolute nonsense about Ayden/Angel Heaven…

‘Life moves fast at Manchester United ,’ writes the BBC ‘s reluctantly dedicated Manchester United man Simon Stone on Sunday.

Damn right. It was literally only one day before when Stone was telling us that ‘Darren Fletcher has emerged as one of the big winners from a week of turmoil at Old Trafford’.

Not sure a man who was given a two-game audition for the interim Manchester United job and drew the opener against Burnley to entirely rule himself out while making obsequious comments about Sir Alex Ferguson could be considered a ‘winner’, even before FA Cup defeat to Brighton basically ended United’s season .

But let’s not let football results get in the way of the Stone propaganda; Mediawatch very much enjoyed a level of sycophancy usually only reserved for United caretaker managers when talking about Sir Alex:

One story told about Fletcher from that time relates to a game at Liverpool, two weeks after joining Solskjaer’s team. Fletcher went into the directors’ area before the game for the first time and “everyone just thronged around him”. “He kept the room listening to his stories for 15 minutes,” said a source who was there. “Humble” is a word used to describe Fletcher at the time.

People ‘thronged’ around a famous former footballer, ladies and gentlemen. What a man. What a winner.

Literally one day later and Stone was reduced to claiming that ‘Fletcher genuinely hopes for the best’ for Manchester United now. A hero until the very end.

It’s over four years since Cristiano Ronaldo tweeted about Michael Carrick after his last spell as caretaker manager. So of course in January of big 2026:

Michael Carrick has Cristiano Ronaldo’s seal of approval as he emerges as favourite for Man Utd interim manager job – The Sun .

Cristiano Ronaldo’s true feelings on Michael Carrick as next Man Utd manager decided today – Daily Express .

Can you give your ‘seal of approval’ for an unforeseen set of circumstances over four years ahead of time? Just for sh*ts and giggles, we would love to see Ronaldo tweet that he has changed his mind, actually; Carrick was a bit sh*t at Middlesbrough.

While the players still at Manchester United dealt with yet another defeat, Barcelona loanee Marcus Rashford was winning his first trophy (ish) away from the club.

That’s wonderful news for Rashford himself but also for the Mirror and their commitment to sh*thouse reporting.

Marcus Rashford showed true colours in new footage after win over Real Madrid

Ah, now we see what he is really like thanks to this ‘new footage’.

Marcus Rashford claimed his first trophy with Barcelona on Sunday night but took time out to wander over to the Real Madrid bench to recognise his opponents.

He only went and shook some hands, folks. More as we get it.

But Mediawatch particularly liked this line…

Rashford’s Sunday couldn’t have been more different to that of his parent club, who were dumped out of the FA Cup by Brighton with their season’s trophy ambitions all but over.

All but? Is the Premier League title still a stretch target?

This is some half-arsed nonsense from The Sun :

MANCHESTER United starlet Ayden Heaven has moved into the former home of Sir Alex Ferguson – despite making just 17 first team appearances. The 19-year-old defender is risking the “hairdryer treatment” from Sir Alex after renting out the Cheshire mansion he shared with Lady Cathy before her death in October 2023.

Now this might well be true if Heaven was renting it from Sir Alex Ferguson, but we’re not sure the “hairdryer treatment” is appropriate for the mis-use of a house you used to own. One quick Google search would have told somebody at The Sun that Ferguson no longer owns the house.

Which does rather the dilute the strength of The Sun’s ‘source’…

A source said: “Ayden knows the house belongs to Sir Alex so will be on his best behaviour. The last thing he wants to do is upset United’s greatest ever manager. He is a sensible lad and has his mum living with him too to help him focus on his football. “It just shows how much young footballers get paid that Angel can move into Fergie’s old home having only made a handful of appearances. “Hopefully his United career is as successful as Fergie’s was living in that house.”

Not Sir Alex’s house. And he’s not called Angel. It’s almost like it’s all absolute nonsense.