It's fair to say Daniel Nardiello's footballing career has been a real rollercoaster.

Scouted by Manchester United as a youngster playing in Wolves' junior sides and district football in the Midlands, Nardiello was brought to Old Trafford in 1999.

The 5ft 11 striker was part of a squad that consisted of the likes of Paul Scholes, Roy Keane and David Beckham - his life had changed.

Nardiello struggled to make a real name for himself in what was a star-studded team, but nobody can take away the experiences and memories he attained playing for one of the biggest clubs in the world.

FLW Chief Editor Sam Rourke managed to catch up with the 35-year-old to talk about his interesting footballing career.....

A good place to start is talking about your time at Manchester United, where you started your career, as a young player at United, what was it like being managed by someone of the ilk of Sir Alex Ferguson?

You don't really appreciate what kind of position you are in at that age, as a kid I just took it in my stride and went to training every day, I didn't really think too much of it, it was my life and who I was playing for.

Looking back at it, working under Sir Alex Ferguson and actually seeing managers after, it makes you appreciate how lucky I was to be in the surroundings I was in.

Obviously, you were in a squad which contained some world superstars in football, what was it like being involved in a squad with such big name players?

Again, you just took it in your stride and looking back it was fantastic.

To say i've trained with the likes of Paul Scholes, Roy Keane, David Beckham, Gary Neville, all these guys, it's just a real proud thing for me, and I feel lucky to say I have done that.

Don't get me wrong, I wasn't really lively in the dressing room, you had to respect these players but I just took it in my stride, and that's the best way for a young footballer to be.

You couldn't be cautious to put in a tackle, not that I put in many tackles! You had to compete with these players and if you weren't doing what you were meant to be doing on the training field, you weren't meant to be there.

It was an amazing experience that nobody can take away from me.

What was Sir Alex like as a person? Obviously you hear lots of different perspectives on him in the media, but what was your take on him?

He was great, absolutely fantastic.

About a two and a half years ago, when I was still playing, I went to see a Hip specialist at a Manchester hospital and Sir Alex happened to be there.

He came over to me and started talking to me, as if he'd spoke to me last week, it was crazy.

He remembered who I was and it just shows the man he was, his attention to detail was amazing.

Don't get me wrong, he did give out a few rollockings in the changing room, I had one myself once against Stoke in a pre-season friendly, he gave me a talking to myself.

He knew what he was talking about and you respected what he said, yes he could have a go, but more often than not it was constructive and he always tried to help you.

After Man United, you went on loan to a couple of clubs, looking at your stats, Barnsley seemed to be one of the destinations where you had a fruitful spell, what was your experience like at Oakwell?

I loved it, it's one of my favourite clubs over my career and I had successful times there, we got promoted, got to an FA Cup semi-final, scored goals, had a great relationship with the fans.

The changing room we had at Barnsley was fantastic, I really enjoyed my time there.

They are one of the clubs I always look back on, Heckingbottom is the manager now there, someone I played with and is a friend of mine - I still have a connection with Barnsley and it's always good to see them do well.

What have you made of the Tykes' season so far? They are flirting with the relegation zone, do you think they've got enough to stay up?

I do, I think they've got the right man at the top to help them do it.

The fact that they're competing in the Championship over the last couple of years has been fantastic, especially when you look at the budget Barnsley have compared to a lot of other teams in the division.

It just shows how good Hecky and his backroom staff are doing at the moment and it's great to see, and I do think they;ll stay up.

Credit to the Barnsley staff and players, as they are competing with some big boys in that league.

Just a few personal questions for you now Daniel, who was the toughest opponent you faced in your career?

The hardest game I ever had was against Joseph Yobo at Everton.

He was fast, strong, powerful, competitive and not afraid to put a tackle in, he was just so tough to play against.

It was great as it was a really competitive game, but he was just so physical and strong, he had everything I didn't like playing against!

What has been the best moment of your career?

It's a tough one, when I made my debut for Wales, when I made my debut for Man United, when I got promoted with Barnsley, Rotherham and Bury were great.

If I had to pick one.... Cor it's a tough one!

I really don't know, all the ones I mentioned there were all fantastic years so I couldn't pinpoint just one.

We'll flip the coin now, what was the worst/lowest moment you've had in your career?

Probably the relegation with Exeter, the season before we finished just outside the play-offs in League One.

The following year we just struggled and the relegation was tough to take, obviously you don't want a relegation on your CV.

You learn a lot from that, and the following year I joined Rotherham and got promoted.

As a kid, was there anyone that you looked up to?

I absolutely loved John Barnes.

I'm more of a United fans nowadays, but John Barnes as a kid was an absolute legend and I loved him.

Being a Coventry fan growing up, there were a few Coventry players I liked, Mickey Quinn is probably my idol at Coventry.

If there was one bit of advice you'd give to young, aspiring footballers, what would it be?

The one thing I'd say is don't get put off by criticism and people's opinions, because you have to be mentally tough to be a footballer because the amount of c**p you get of certain managers and coaches, fans, you just have to ignore them and believe in yourself.

You have family and friends who will support you, so you just need to believe in yourself and you can achieve what you want.

Some of the best footballers I played with as a youngster at United, they were brilliant and I expected them to have flourishing careers, but the minute they get released or they got some criticism it goes to their heads.

You need to ignore the negatives and believe in yourself.

At the moment you find yourself in the finance industry, how did this come about? What made you choose to go that way?

I've always had a keen interest in my finances over the years.

It was mainly because in the football world there is a lot of schemes and cons going round from different companies.

As a young lad, I ended up losing £30,000 at 22/23, and at that age it hurt me, it was a lot of money and it made me take notice more of legitimate savings and pensions.

As a young lad you can make bad decisions, so i'm quite passionate about making sure this doesn't happen to other young footballers.

I don't limit myself to just working with footballers, but it's one of the main reasons I decided to work in this industry, I really enjoy the financial side of it.

Finally Daniel, did the thought of becoming a manager ever cross your mind at all?

Well some of the managers I've worked for in the past completely put me off it!

I did do my badges and did take up a couple of coaching roles, so in theory I could become a manager, but I don't think I was cut out for it to be honest.

It's a ruthless world, it's a bit cut-throat, as is being a footballer, so it's one side of football I didn't like, you're very much on your own and you have to have that belief n yourself.

I thought about it but i'd rather have the security in having a job that I know I can do and not have the stressed that these managers have.