Sir Alex Ferguson has given his backing to Steve McClaren, praising his hunger and desire to learn, and said he is sure the new England coach would do well.
The pair were reunited at Manchester United's Carrington training ground yesterday, after working alongside each other at the club from 1999 to 2001.
Ferguson said: "Steve will do well, he has a fantastic group of players and he will get the best out of them.
"I used to think Jock Stein was the perfect age to be an international manager because he had all that experience. But, you see younger men like Frank Rijkaard and Marco van Basten making a success of it and I am sure Steve will do equally as well.''
Ferguson also recalled the early days in his relationship with McClaren at Old Trafford: "Steve was hungry and he wanted to learn. The progress he made with us was phenomenal. From the day he arrived he was always asking questions.''
The FA's Director of Communications Adrian Bevington outlined McClaren's intention to build close links with club managers.
Bevington said: "Steve made it very clear one of the first priorities was to strengthen the relationships with all the clubs, especially those with the core England players. He will spend time going round all the training grounds over the coming weeks and months.
"He started at Manchester United's Carrington where he met the England players and Sir Alex Ferguson. He was there for about four hours from 9am and he had lunch at the club before leaving and he will see them in action in Amsterdam.''
McClaren travels to Holland today to see United play Porto in the pre-season Amsterdam Tournament.