Mike The Decision Maker

Mike Phelan talks about his rise up the coaching ladder from reserves coach to Sir Alex Ferguson's right-hand man...

When someone offers you an opportunity like this and tells you there’s nobody better out there to do the job, it’s a no-brainer. Your answer is, "Yes, of course I’ll do it." You want to be in the best position at the best football club.

It’s terrific to have been asked to become assistant manager. I’ve worked closely with the manager (Sir Alex Ferguson) for a number of years both as a player and as a coach so for him to hold me in that regard is very, very good and I hope to do the job justice.

I was really pleased when I got my first coaching job at United, reserve team coach (in 1999). I had just been dismissed by Stockport County and the manager brought me in totally out of the blue. I have made a slow progression from there but it's been the best progression because I’ve seen a lot of things and been able to do things my way a little bit.

There’s nothing really I need to change as assistant manager at the moment, everything’s going okay. If it’s not broken, why change it? It will just be an introduction of little bits of things over time. That could be performance-related, training-related… really it’s about decision making, that’s the opportunity the manager has given me, to make certain decisions about the playing side.

My decisions have consequences now. Before, when I was first-team coach, you’d have chats and I would put my opinion across but the bottom line is that the manager and Carlos would have that final decision. Now I’ve stepped up to the rank of being able to make decisions. It's something I look forward to doing.

The players know me - I have worked with them and even played alongside some of the seniors like Ryan Giggs - he was a young boy then! It’s just a case of getting to know the players on a slightly different side of the fence.

We have a fantastic group of players. And it’s a group that keeps changing. Over the years we’ve brought in numerous players from different parts of the world, so it’s evolved. The current players will give this club more success - they’ve had it already but they want more, they never rest. It’s just a case now of squeezing a bit more out of them from my point of view.

It isn't just the playing staff that evolves, the coaching staff changes too. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has joined us - he's got the responsibility of developing players now - and he's doing a terrific job so far. Rene Meulensteen came into the club as technical coach and he’s progressed. He's done the technical work and has set things in place and now he’s been rewarded by becoming first-team coach, a role he's more than capable of doing.

Together with the manager, the coaches feel as though we have a good team. We all have different qualities but the one thing we’ve all got is a massive feelgood factor about the club. We want to work hard, produce good players and see good football. We just want to gel together and make it a success.

I have ideas of what I want to achieve in the future. But the job I’ve got now is, for me, the second best job in the country. I’ve got a great manager to work under, he’s got fantastic experience and has won everything. I am grateful for the opportunity he has given me, to learn more and develop my career further.

Mike Phelan was talking to MUTV.