Ladies and Gentlemen, the Captain is Back!
Tomorrow’s Premier League match between Manchester United and Wigan Athletic will be worth watching for any fan of football, people, and perseverance. After taking ten months away from football to deal with a persistent intestinal problem, Scotland and sometime-Manchester United captain Darren Fletcher will at least be on the bench for Alex Ferguson’s side tomorrow. As I mentioned several weeks back, Fletcher has been training with Scotland in the lead up to World Cup qualification and his progress (getting into shape, putting weight back on, etc.) has been consistent enough that Sir Alex believes it’s time to bring Fletcher back into the fold at Old Trafford. Fletcher’s grit and industry have been missed by both United and Scotland (especially Scotland), but it is unclear what, if any role he will play in the remainder of Scotland’s qualification campaign. Given the status of Scotland’s campaign one could make a good argument that Fletcher might do well to concentrate solely on his club career. That being said, he could provide a great deal of inspiration to a Scotland side that has been sorely- SORELY- lacking in just that quality in recent matches. Either way, Fletcher is young enough that he could still be an international when World Cup 2018 rolls around, so if Craig Levein has any sense left in his head (I know, I know…) he’ll let Fletcher make the decision himself.
Welcome back, captain.
