Darren Fletcher's role as technical director at Manchester United has been tweaked following managerial and staff changes.
Fletcher officially rejoined United as a coaching staff member on January 4 and watched matches from the press box with the analysts, but then became the club's inaugural technical director on March 10.
The former United manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer said Fletcher could speak to prospective targets and help 'sell' the club to them. Club sources confirmed Fletcher would attend recruitment meetings and provide expertise on the direction of the squad, monitoring the development of academy graduates on the fringes of the first-team.
Suddenly, Fletcher appeared in the dugout for Solskjaer's last match as manager in the 4-1 thrashing at Watford and he flanked Michael Carrick during his three matches as caretaker manager. Fletcher has retained the role under interim manager Ralf Rangnick.
On the fans' forum held on December 8, a supporter asked why Fletcher 'appeared to be giving tactical instructions from the bench' at Vicarage Road and whether 'giving in-game instructions to players is part of his role'.
A United spokesman said Fletcher provides support to the first-team coaching team, including on matchdays, even though Fletcher has participated in training sessions all season.
The United football director John Murtough explained: "A key part of Darren Fletcher's role is [provide] support to manager and coaching staff, including helping RR (Ralf Rangnick) get his views across.
"He has a combination of on-field expertise with an understanding of the club. He is also involved in long-term planning, eg. around academy and player transition to senior squads."
On the season, Murtough commented: "It’s certainly been a turbulent period since we last met in September. We were all feeling optimistic at that time about the strong start to the season.
"There were grounds for confidence that we were going to continue building on the progress we saw in the prior two seasons. After the promising early-season results, things went off plan.
"As a club, we felt Ole had earned the right to be given the chance to turn things around, but didn’t get a reaction after the international break, and the Watford game made it clear change was needed.
"It’s early days but there were positive signs in the Palace game and there's still lots to play for this season in the Premier league, FA Cup and Champions League. By bringing in Ralf, we can now take time to run a thorough process for our next permanent manager.
"Recruiting a manager is one of the most important decisions a football club makes, so we want to do it in a careful and considered fashion. We have an agreement with Ralf to stay on for a further two years in a consultancy role – allowing us to continue drawing on his expertise and advice to support our longer-term goals."
