"Shoot," implored the away end. Darren Fletcher had been on the field at Villa Park for less than a minute and had taken his first touch as a United player in a little over a year. The fans were delighted to see him and there was more than a hint of a smile on the Scot's face as he calmly passed the ball sideways to Antonio Valencia.
Things looked grim for Fletcher for the two years before that comeback on Dec. 15, 2013. Being diagnosed with a degenerative virus had caused the midfielder to shed more than half his body weight at times and threatened his life, not just his career. To make it back from that deserved maximum respect.
At the start of this season, and under another new manager, United's current longest-serving player was made vice captain until the honour was recently passed to Michael Carrick. Fletcher remains the captain of Scotland, but his time is up at Old Trafford, with West Brom now ready to benefit from his services.
What is often forgotten now is the resistance that Fletcher's emergence was met with in his earlier years. Most men who line up in Manchester United's midfield are guilty of two unforgivable crimes: Firstly, that they are not Bryan Robson and secondly, that they are not Roy Keane, either. Fletcher was undoubtedly guilty as charged on both counts and that meant he spent a long time winning over the fans.
He is rumoured to have been one of the players lambasted in the MUTV interview that apparently cost Keane his United career. Shortly afterwards he scored the winning goal against Chelsea at Old Trafford in 2005. The significance of that goal cannot be overstated.
At the time, Chelsea were an imperious, indestructible force. They had broken several top-flight records in Jose Mourinho's first season in charge and most commentators rated United's chances of a victory as very slim.
Four years later, Fletcher's absence was blamed as a factor in United's defeat in the Champions League final to Barcelona. While that may be a rather fanciful reason for their loss in Rome, one wonders whether his bustling presence may have done more to upset the Catalans than Ryan Giggs and Park Ji-sung managed. After all, he was part of the team that shut them down in the 2008 Champions League semifinal.
The straight red card he received in the 2009 semifinal, with the game against Arsenal already won, was not eligible for appeal to UEFA because of a refereeing technicality. Only factual errors can be revised and as Fletcher had indeed fouled Cesc Fabregas, the ludicrously harsh penalty by the referee would stand.
But there will be no sour grapes from the Scot. Fletcher amassed to date 342 appearances for United and recently overtook Billy Meredith, the club's first genuine superstar, on the all-time appearances list. He has long surpassed other greats such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Norman Whiteside and Paul McGrath. It is not bad company to be keeping in the record books.
His honour roll is as impressive as they come, with five Premier League titles, an FA Cup, two League Cups, a Champions League and a FIFA Club World Cup. Perhaps even more impressively he was named in the 2009-10 PFA Premier League team of the season -- Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard were not.
Fletcher's success owes much to the virtues of hard work and determination. He was never as gifted as somebody like Giggs or David Beckham, but he was always prepared to put the work in. Those who described him as one of Sir Alex Ferguson's favourites were left eating their words as he beat out plenty of competition for a midfield spot.
Many came and went through the doors at Old Trafford, including David Bellion, Kleberson, Owen Hargreaves and the still-lingering Anderson. For various reasons, none has put together as impressive a CV as Fletcher, and none enjoys as much affection from the fans.
Darren Fletcher will go down as a decent solid pro, in the Gary Neville mould, who managed to overcome his detractors and win the lot on the way. Not bad for someone who was written off just a few short years ago. With Scotland on course for qualification to Euro 2016, don't put a final flourish past him.
This blog first appeared on ESPN FC on January 21, 2015.