Just saw this on the BBC sport website Manchester United and Scotland midfielder Darren Fletcher is taking an extended break from football for health reasons. A United statement said the player, 27, has been suffering from ulcerative colitis, a chronic inflammatory bowel condition. The club said Fletcher had "accepted medical advice to take an extended break... in order to afford the best chance possible of achieving full remission once again." It added: "Darren's continued desire to play 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." Fletcher signed a new four-year deal with United in March, securing his place with the club until 2015. ............................................................................................................... Very sad news, hope he fully recovers from this illness.
Might explain his very poor performances. Wish him well in his recovery. Could be the news to force SAF to buy a CM in January.
Get well soon Fletch. Surely we will dip into the transfer market in Jan now? We seem to need a RB and a CM.
He's out on an extended break because of his ongoing health problems. I feel sorry for the lad, he's always reliable when he's selected and very loyal, he doesn't complain when he's not selected. he has been trying his best to get back to full fitness,he must be gutted to miss out playing at the champions league final for the third time. Hope he makes a speedy recovery and gets better soon, his experience is key to us.
Any excuse to get out of THursday nights; especially with Vidic out, he'd have to play centre half when Cleverly/Anderson fit
Piss off, you nonce. All the best to fletch. But as others have said, ferguson needs to open the chequebook now.
This. Hammer any more stupid comments and they'll be deleted and you banned from this site. Getting pissed off with your stupidity.
C'mon guys, we all wish him to get weell. But I am sure Fletch himself is cracking those gags too... and will get loads of gags when he comes back to the dressing room. Lighten up
Hmm, poor lad. I doubt he'll be ever play fulltime again, but might yet be able to make a weekly appearance and internationals. Bit like Ledley King. He'll be taking immunosuppressive medication that will make performing at full fitness near impossible. At the end of the day this is just football and your health and the rest of your life are far more important. On a different note though, SAF has to go back for Sneijder now though I would think.
Wish him a speedy recovery. Hopefully this means that at last, Fergie will look at our midfield with a bit more objectivity. It's good that he believed in the lad, but it was never meant to be. Scotland needs to take a long hard look at its coaching of youngsters before it starts to produce world class players again. Maybe Fergie could have some kind of advisory role with Scotland when he steps down from United. Now for heaven's sake, just buy a ****ing midfielder.
Wishing Fletch all the best on his road to recovery. This leaves us really stripped down in the middle of the park. Carrick and Gibson are the only fit CMs in the first team. I'm guessing Pogba is going to get some first team action in this next month or two.
I wonder if this is the same "virus" he had last year. Ulcerative colitis being a bowel problem and one of the symptoms can include lots of weight loss, easily mistaken for a virus. Bit worrying as it a recurring problem and pretty hefty surgery (removing the large intestine) is the only "cure". Have to wonder how much of an impact this is going to have on his career.
apparently none of this is true - he was just stopped driving on the hard shoulder and used fergies old excuse - cue messi jones to bar me or delete my comments - no humour allowed when it comes to united players
hammer, don't you know that humour is not permitted when dealing with united - they're a very sensitive bunch
