Mike Phelan has admitted it would have been 'great' to be manager at Norwich City. 

The former City player and coach returned to Carrow Road as part of Neil Adams' backroom team in 2013 and was the bookmakers favourite for the role following his departure, only for Alex Neil to be handed the job. 

Phelan left soon after and went on to manage Hull before returning to Manchester United as assistant manager under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, but left prior to Erik ten Haag's arrival.

The City hall of famer is now a coach educator and returned to Norfolk for a masterclass at Wroxham FC on Tuesday evening. 

Asked about the events in 2014, Phelan revealed he would have loved to become Norwich's manager due to his feelings for the club and was prepared to take the role if he had been asked. 

"I suppose it could have been a possibility, yeah. You go in as an assistant, and you never know what happens," Phelan told the Pink Un. 

"Unfortunately, managers change quite rapidly nowadays - sometimes the opportunity comes to step up, and sometimes it doesn't. That is just the way the game is.

"Yes, I was prepared if that was to happen and it would have been great. It would have been terrific to do that at a club that I have a lot of feeling for - but that wasn't the be all and end all for me.

"I stepped away from Norwich again and went to Hull with Steve Bruce. He asked me to go there. We managed to be successful at Hull until the point that we weren't successful. That is football.

The Pink Un: Mike Phelan assisted Neil Adams for a brief period during his stint as Norwich City manager.Mike Phelan assisted Neil Adams for a brief period during his stint as Norwich City manager. (Image: Paul Chesterton/Focus Images Ltd)

"For me, it was about being here, applying myself here and getting to know and understand the club again. Delia was in charge, and her mum and husband were there - it hadn't changed in a way, and it felt like yesterday that I was back again.

"I had some interesting conversations along the way, but I thoroughly enjoyed my time under Delia, even though it was a short period of time, and I got a good response from the supporters.

"I had my foot in the door because I had played there and given three or four years of my life to Norwich and got better as a player. We both respected that." 

- Phelan was speaking to the Pink Un during a fleeting return to the county as part of a Norfolk FA Coaching Masterclass at Wroxham FC in association with Davies Sports