Contrived to get the old fellow to go ahead (7)
I believe the answer is:
managed
'contrived' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'the old fellow to go ahead' is the wordplay.
'the old' becomes 'aged' (I've seen this before).
'fellow' becomes 'man' (fellow can mean a man).
'to go ahead' says to put letters next to each other.
'aged' after 'man' is 'MANAGED'.
'to get' is the link.
(Other definitions for managed that I've seen before include "Coped" , "Ran, administered" , "Supervised (staff)" , "Contrived" , "Controlled, was in charge of" .)