00:00Thank you George. Good evening Darren. Lovely to see you. It must be a huge honour to be asked to lead
00:06Manchester United, especially with your affinity to the club. What have the last 24 hours been like for you?
00:12Yes, surreal. As you say, it's an amazing honour, I think, to be able to lead a Manchester United team.
00:20I don't even think it's in my wildest dreams that that was something that could potentially happen.
00:24I think even thinking about playing for the club and stuff like that, but to lead out a team is an amazing honour
00:31and something I'm really proud to do, not in the circumstances I expected it to happen.
00:35So that obviously is something that doesn't sit quite easy with me, but I've just to think of I've got a job to do
00:44and I've got to lead the team tomorrow and think of the great honour and pride in doing that.
00:48What conversations have you had with Jason Wilcox, Omar Barad, about how long you could be in charge for
00:54and maybe what that looks like going forward?
00:56Yes, so I've had a conversation and the focus was on this game and then we'll speak after the game.
01:02So it all happened very quickly on Monday morning. I had a game to prepare and a quick turnaround,
01:07training session to organise, speak to the players. So the focus has been, because of the quick turnaround
01:12from the Leeds game, the focus has been on the Burnley match and then we'll speak after the game.
01:15Because I think it's important that we give the Burnley match the respect and focus it needs
01:19to prepare the team in such a short space of time.
01:22Hi Darren. Obviously the natural question people will be asking is, do you want to stay on?
01:29Obviously you've done so many jobs this club, Dan's mentioned the affinities,
01:32would you like to try and earn the manager's job full-time?
01:36Honestly, it's not something I've thought about. I'm focusing on Burnley.
01:40I think that discussion's for after the game, as I said, there's been that much going on.
01:44It's all happened so quickly. All my concentration and efforts and thoughts are going into Burnley
01:49and I know that sounds like a generic answer, but it is what it is, yeah.
01:54What's the backroom team going to look like for you in this game, next game, however long it is?
01:59Yeah, so obviously Travis Binion, who leads the under-21s, who I started my coaching career with
02:04in the academy, who I've known for five years that I've been here.
02:07I actually couldn't ask for anybody better beside me than Travis.
02:09We've got such a close relationship, worked together for such a long time.
02:12Somebody I respect, somebody who I've learned a lot from.
02:15His assistant, Alan Wright, who newly joined the club as well.
02:18So the under-21 staff come and join me and Johnny Evans has come in to help as well.
02:24So somebody who's great association with the club, recently played, knows the players,
02:30comfortable in the environment and a familiar face for the group and the players as well.
02:33So those three will assist me for the game tomorrow.
02:36Darren, a lot's been said about Manchester United over the last few months.
02:40What is your feeling of where this club is?
02:43You obviously are the epitome of Manchester United.
02:47Is one of your tasks to reconnect it with its roots in a way?
02:53Well, for a game, it's to try and win a football match against Burnley.
02:56I think I've had a few different roles at the club.
02:59I'm obviously coaching the under-18s just now.
03:01My focus and energy every time I've been at the club in whatever role is always to do
03:05the best for Manchester United and try and help the club, help the people that I'm working
03:10with, the players, the staff, and try and do everything I can to help Manchester United
03:14be successful.
03:15And as we say, everyone expects Manchester United to be on the top and winning.
03:18That's the standard.
03:19That's what we all have to try and achieve.
03:20That's the standard that's set for everyone at the club.
03:23And I just do my best in whatever role I'm in to help make that happen.
03:27And in terms of the squad, obviously Ruben's had a lot of players missing.
03:33Are any of those players going to be back?
03:34Well, I think Ruben alluded to it.
03:36I think Mason and Bruno, I think they were pushing to play against Leeds.
03:40The decision was that they weren't quite ready, so they've trained, so they should be back
03:43in the squad.
03:44But they'll be on managed minutes as well and restricted minutes because they've obviously
03:48just returned to train.
03:49And so that's good news, especially the fact that obviously players who've been in good
03:53form, Mason Mount's form has been fantastic.
03:56And Bruno Fernandes, you don't have to speak about Bruno, he's the captain, he's the leader
03:59of the team.
03:59So to have them available for selection is obviously great news for me and for the players
04:05and for the club and for the fans.
04:07Darren, what are the chances that Jack and Tyler Fletcher get full debuts against Burnham?
04:14I'd be disclosing team information before the game and I'm not going to do that and give
04:18anything away.
04:19Look, for me, they were in the training group on Monday because that was already arranged
04:23before I got there.
04:24They've been in the squad recently, but obviously we've got a couple of players back from injury,
04:28so we'll assess that tomorrow.
04:30We still have to assess a couple of players tomorrow as well because of the short turnaround
04:33from games.
04:34So they're in the periphery squad, but whether they make the match squad, I don't know yet.
04:38Well, that remains to be seen.
04:39On a more serious note, what will your Manchester United look like?
04:42Well, hopefully it looks like a Manchester United team that represents a bit of me, I
04:50think, in terms of what I know is Manchester United.
04:55So I hope it resembles a Manchester United team that fans can be proud of, that I can be
05:01proud of.
05:01And I'm sure they will because I believe in the players.
05:03I think we've got good players and I think we've got players who care and I think we've
05:07got a lot of quality in that team.
05:08And I hope to give them a platform to go out there, to express themselves and to show
05:12that.
05:13And also to challenge them to, it's about them, it's not about me.
05:17It's their season, it's their careers, it's their opportunity.
05:20I'm here to help them, but they're the ones who have to cross that white line and go on
05:24the pitch and make it happen.
05:25So give them some responsibility to go and do that.
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