When the draw for the second round of the Carabao Cup was made, Watford fans may have been forgiven for thinking they had been paired with a newly-formed club.

Although the tie is against Plymouth Argyle, the national media only seem to refer to ‘Wayne Rooney’s Plymouth’.

Of course, having an England legend in charge is bound to attract more attention than the average manager and, because he played with Tom Cleverley at Manchester United, Rooney has been the topic the press have been keen to talk about.

However, the chance of the pair of them both becoming coaches wasn’t something that entered conversation when they were both at Old Trafford.

“No I don’t think it did,” said Cleverley.

“Certainly for myself it wasn’t until I came back to Watford that I thought coaching was the route I wanted to go down.

“I’ve known it’s something that has been on Wayne’s horizon for many years having gone into Derby and clubs after that.

“It’s not something I would have said when he was in his mid-20s and I was in my early 20s that I thought we’d both end up being managers, but then I probably would have said the same about Michael Carrick as well.

“Plymouth had a fantastic result on Saturday given the two sendings off, and they certainly responded well to the heavy defeat on the first day of the season.”

If Rooney is the first question on the lips of colleagues from the nationals, then it’s almost always followed by one about the influence Sir Alex Ferguson has had on his former players as they move into coaching.

“We all take things from him, and a big one for me was when you go a goal down like we did against Derby, don’t change the way you’re playing,” said Cleverley.

“He always banged on about that: you don’t become a long-ball and desperate team, you keep trusting in what you’re doing.

“It showed on Saturday, and I try to take the best bits from all the coaches I worked with.

“Sir Alex, from a character and mindset point of view, was the best.”