Mike Phelan Says He Bossed Manchester United for 5 Years Under Sir Alex Ferguson

Mike Phelan claims he bossed Manchester United during the latter years of Sir Alex Ferguson's tenure, "albeit with the title of assistant boss."

As reported by Ian Ladyman and David Sneyd of the Daily Mail Online, the Red Devils' former employee is looking to take the step into management, even though he believes he has fulfilled this role in everything but title already:

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With the way things have gone, my first thoughts are to be the boss, yeah. It’s the progression for me now.

That’s what I’ve been doing for the last five years, albeit with the title of assistant boss.

He [Ferguson] was the head of the establishment, there’s no doubt about it and rightly so. He didn’t get to where he’s got through not being a big decision maker but he’ll be the first to admit that a lot of people played their part in that.

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Phelan has been without management or coaching work since Ferguson's retirement and the subsequent appointment of David Moyes, who decided to bring his own backroom staff with him to Old Trafford.

He is currently a pundit on Irish television station Setanta Sports and also spends his time talking football across the radio stations of England's North West, per the Mail Online report.

Rene Meulensteen, Phelan's former United colleague, has endured a hugely different experience since Moyes showed him the door.

Originally selected for the manager's job at Russian outfit Anzhi Makhachkala, he was sacked after just 16 days due to a change in the club's spending policy, per Telegraph Sport.

Meulensteen was recently hired as head coach at Martin Jol's Fulham—reported by the club's official website—so Phelan can also expect to have a strong chance of receiving work inside the sport in the near future.

Ferguson's former assistant has enough experience to guide a team on his own, but he suggests he may suffer to get away from the typecast of playing an understudy, per Ladyman and Sneyd's report:

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Now I’m going out into the big bad world of football and people who are looking for managers, coaches, whatever, probably don’t know me as me. They know me as Mick Phelan the assistant manager at Man United.

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It will be extremely interesting to see where Phelan ends up. Now spreading his wings as a solo act, the experienced professional is sure to attract plenty of interest from a range of clubs across the current season.

Should he prove a roaring success, more weight will be applied to his claim that he bossed United during Ferguson's final seasons.

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