Did Nicky Butt Allude To Trouble at United?

NewGlory

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The Atlantic published a long interview with Nicky Butt: https://theathletic.com/2869800/202...ystem-fell-behind-and-learning-from-mourinho/ (sorry, you need a subscription). Among other things he was asked about why he left in March. Nicky spent 10 years as coach, academy head and first team player development head. These are very key roles. His departure was somewhat unexpected. In explaining the departure, Nicky talked about him not seeing what was next at United and that frustrating him, but he also mentioned something more odd, and pointed:

This time, I was getting irritated about some of the stuff going on at the club. I felt irritable within myself. I needed to change. Most people don’t leave Man United unless they have something lined up. I had nothing lined up. I just knew my personality, how I react to things and that it was time to leave.
What do you think he meant by "some of the stuff going on at the club"?
 

stevoc

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Apparently he wasn't happy at Mick Phelan's apparent reluctance to wear shorts these days, Nicky just didn't think it was right seeing him in trousers.
 

NewGlory

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p.s. a lot has been said here to question the quality of United coaches. Butt has something to say about that, too. He highly praised McKenna:

Kieran McKenna is a coach who came from Tottenham. He was a breath of fresh air, a very good coach. He’s on it. He didn’t get to the top of football (as a player) so his next thing was, “I’m going to be the very best coach I can be.” He’s very, very, very good.
I would guess, Butt can tell a good coach from a not so good one? :) He didn't have to say anything if he didn't mean it. It wasn't like he was asked about current coaches.
 

Dr. Dwayne

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The Atlantic published a long interview with Nicky Butt: https://theathletic.com/2869800/202...ystem-fell-behind-and-learning-from-mourinho/ (sorry, you need a subscription). Among other things he was asked about why he left in March. Nicky spent 10 years as coach, academy head and first team player development head. These are very key roles. His departure was somewhat unexpected. In explaining the departure, Nicky talked about him not seeing what was next at United and that frustrating him, but he also mentioned something more odd, and pointed:



What do you think he meant by "some of the stuff going on at the club"?
This?

 

Daengophile

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The first team has more coaches than National Express and not one of them fitted with directional assistance
 

Demaw

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More lie sour grapes I'd say with missing out on the top job. Needed a change and interesting no one else reached out for him.
 

devilish

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More lie sour grapes I'd say with missing out on the top job. Needed a change and interesting no one else reached out for him.
If the current coaching setup + manager were suddenly available then I very much doubt that any of the big clubs would want them.
 

led_scholes

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Didn't he have some troubles with the law? Maybe he didn't feel supported. Or maybe because he lost the promotion or maybe he knew about the ESL. Who knows..
 

Bubz27

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I heard a rumour they wanted to start calling him Nick Butt instead of Nicky Butt. Didn't go down too well apparently.
 

Counterfactual

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Pretty obvious he felt overlooked for promotion from other article quotes...

He told The Athletic : “I went to head of first-team development. From there, I couldn’t see where my next step was.”

“As a player, I saw people I thought I was better than — in fact, I knew was better than — playing rather than me and that made me miserable.”

“I was getting irritated about some of the stuff going on at the club. I felt irritable within myself. I needed to change. Most people don’t leave Man United unless they have something lined up. I had nothing lined up.”

“I just knew my personality, how I react to things and that it was time to leave. I didn’t know where my next step was at the club.”
 

wolvored

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In all walks of life we dont see eye to eye with work policy and sometimes someone gets promoted in front of you, your role gets changed for the worse etc You then make a decision, stick it out or move and in ex footballers shoes you can afford to just walk away. Shit happens!
 

Brophs

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I heard a rumour they wanted to start calling him Nick Butt instead of Nicky Butt. Didn't go down too well apparently.
They started to call him Buttman and made him wear a full leather suit to training. Or so my sources tell me.
 

ivaldo

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Pretty obvious he felt overlooked for promotion from other article quotes...

He told The Athletic : “I went to head of first-team development. From there, I couldn’t see where my next step was.”

“As a player, I saw people I thought I was better than — in fact, I knew was better than — playing rather than me and that made me miserable.”
Hmmm. Did Nicky Butt allude to Fergie being a poor judge of ability?
 

InfiniteBoredom

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Hmmm. Did Nicky Butt allude to Fergie being a poor judge of ability?
Probably about this episode

However, on 13 February 2006, Butt walked out on his manager and former Manchester United teammate Steve Bruce, after finding out Bruce placed his son Alex Bruce in the squad ahead of himself, and was later fined two weeks wages.[6] After Birmingham were relegated from the Premier League, Butt returned to Newcastle who were being managed by Glenn Roeder.[7]
Handed in a transfer request to go to Newcastle too, didn’t remember the circumstances of his departure but it did seem odd, we were playing the brother Djembas and Kleberson in midfield during those years.
 

Sky1981

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p.s. a lot has been said here to question the quality of United coaches. Butt has something to say about that, too. He highly praised McKenna:



I would guess, Butt can tell a good coach from a not so good one? :) He didn't have to say anything if he didn't mean it. It wasn't like he was asked about current coaches.
Problem is you have to be alot better than mckenna to be his judge.

Put me in the same room with moyes I'd probably think he's a genious
 

TwoSheds

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Probably about this episode



Handed in a transfer request to go to Newcastle too, didn’t remember the circumstances of his departure but it did seem odd, we were playing the brother Djembas and Kleberson in midfield during those years.
He was pretty much done by the time he left. Hardly stood out anywhere afterwards.
 

TwoSheds

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Problem is you have to be alot better than mckenna to be his judge.

Put me in the same room with moyes I'd probably think he's a genious
"Un, dos, tres times..."

I don't think you would.
 

CG1010

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Problem is you have to be alot better than mckenna to be his judge.

Put me in the same room with moyes I'd probably think he's a genious
Not if you have played under bunch of excellent coaches as a player and also been exposed to a wide array of coaches that came with LVG and Mourinho's time.
 

Tom Cato

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p.s. a lot has been said here to question the quality of United coaches. Butt has something to say about that, too. He highly praised McKenna:



I would guess, Butt can tell a good coach from a not so good one? :) He didn't have to say anything if he didn't mean it. It wasn't like he was asked about current coaches.
No he can't, but Redcafe absolutely can, 100%
 

InfiniteBoredom

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He was pretty much done by the time he left. Hardly stood out anywhere afterwards.
I think Fergie was also a lot more ruthless during those years than he did later on. Brown, O'shea, GNev, Fletcher who admittedly got rotten luck, Anderson, 34/35 years old Giggs and Scholes were all players who wouldnt have survived the man who axed Stam, Keane and Ruud.
 

dinostar77

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He probably told Ole to play VDB, to which Ole laughed and said "I just want to ruin the dutch lad's career. Fred can give away goals, penalties and score own goals every match, but I will NEVER drop him "

Nicky Butt realised Utd were doomed under the one dimensional, limited ability, limited capacity manager and thought I'm out of here.
 

captaincantona

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p.s. a lot has been said here to question the quality of United coaches. Butt has something to say about that, too. He highly praised McKenna:



I would guess, Butt can tell a good coach from a not so good one? :) He didn't have to say anything if he didn't mean it. It wasn't like he was asked about current coaches.
Don’t get these types of posts. So because Nicky Butt says Kieran McKenna is a good coach then that means he is a good coach?

People have eyes. Kieran McKenna has been a first team coach at Utd for 4 years during which, other than counter attacking football, Utd have played some of the slowest and uninspired football at any time in our history. I don’t care what anyone says because I have watched every single game myself...every one...and if he is a very very very good coach then I am sure we would have seen some evidence of that on the pitch. We haven’t. Maybe he is responsible for our counter attacking shape I don’t know...

Maybe he has great ideas and can’t get them across, maybe he is Nicky Butts mate, Maybe he is being held back too so Nicky Butt identifies with him and felt the need to big him up. Who knows?

What I do know is that a lot a lot of fans point toward metrics, goals scored, league finishes etc. When talking about this coaching team saying- “we must be good because of (x)”...now we’re are saying he must be good because someone who saw him coach says he is good?

How about just watching football? Any football fan of a decent age knows when they see a well drilled team. We are not a well drilled team, we have not been well drilled for a long time and our manager/coaches are solely responsible for that. Nicky Butts opinion on one of our coaches does not make me reconsider anything- I’ll just keeping watching the games.
 

justsomebloke

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The Atlantic published a long interview with Nicky Butt: https://theathletic.com/2869800/202...ystem-fell-behind-and-learning-from-mourinho/ (sorry, you need a subscription). Among other things he was asked about why he left in March. Nicky spent 10 years as coach, academy head and first team player development head. These are very key roles. His departure was somewhat unexpected. In explaining the departure, Nicky talked about him not seeing what was next at United and that frustrating him, but he also mentioned something more odd, and pointed:



What do you think he meant by "some of the stuff going on at the club"?
What he says is that "I didn't see what my next step was". In other words, he's talking about not seeing a further career path for himself at United. Trying to figure out what he means by "some stuff going on", well, that's hard.....
 

justsomebloke

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He probably told Ole to play VDB, to which Ole laughed and said "I just want to ruin the dutch lad's career. Fred can give away goals, penalties and score own goals every match, but I will NEVER drop him "

Nicky Butt realised Utd were doomed under the one dimensional, limited ability, limited capacity manager and thought I'm out of here.
Yeah, that's why he spends a whole paragraph talking about how happy he was Ole was appointed, how he thinks the club is improving and how he thinks Ole is doing a great job.
 

Tom Van Persie

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I think Fergie was also a lot more ruthless during those years than he did later on. Brown, O'shea, GNev, Fletcher who admittedly got rotten luck, Anderson, 34/35 years old Giggs and Scholes were all players who wouldnt have survived the man who axed Stam, Keane and Ruud.
Giggs and Scholes were still very good players at 35. No way he would've ever got rid of them two. Keane was only axed because he became a big problem off the pitch.
 

Real Name

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He probably told Ole to play VDB, to which Ole laughed and said "I just want to ruin the dutch lad's career. Fred can give away goals, penalties and score own goals every match, but I will NEVER drop him "

Nicky Butt realised Utd were doomed under the one dimensional, limited ability, limited capacity manager and thought I'm out of here.
I think you're the only one who got that from Butt said. Or you read what you wanted to read despite being completely wrong.

He expected a promotion, didnt get one and left.
 

stevoc

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Pretty obvious he felt overlooked for promotion from other article quotes...

He told The Athletic : “I went to head of first-team development. From there, I couldn’t see where my next step was.”

“As a player, I saw people I thought I was better than — in fact, I knew was better than — playing rather than me and that made me miserable.”

“I was getting irritated about some of the stuff going on at the club. I felt irritable within myself. I needed to change. Most people don’t leave Man United unless they have something lined up. I had nothing lined up.”

“I just knew my personality, how I react to things and that it was time to leave. I didn’t know where my next step was at the club.”
Sounds like Nicky thought he could solve our central midfield problems.
 

justsomebloke

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Don’t get these types of posts. So because Nicky Butt says Kieran McKenna is a good coach then that means he is a good coach?

People have eyes. Kieran McKenna has been a first team coach at Utd for 4 years during which, other than counter attacking football, Utd have played some of the slowest and uninspired football at any time in our history. I don’t care what anyone says because I have watched every single game myself...every one...and if he is a very very very good coach then I am sure we would have seen some evidence of that on the pitch. We haven’t. Maybe he is responsible for our counter attacking shape I don’t know...

Maybe he has great ideas and can’t get them across, maybe he is Nicky Butts mate, Maybe he is being held back too so Nicky Butt identifies with him and felt the need to big him up. Who knows?

What I do know is that a lot a lot of fans point toward metrics, goals scored, league finishes etc. When talking about this coaching team saying- “we must be good because of (x)”...now we’re are saying he must be good because someone who saw him coach says he is good?

How about just watching football? Any football fan of a decent age knows when they see a well drilled team. We are not a well drilled team, we have not been well drilled for a long time and our manager/coaches are solely responsible for that. Nicky Butts opinion on one of our coaches does not make me reconsider anything- I’ll just keeping watching the games.
You mean why shouldn't every armchair manager just rely on his own enormous expertise and instead pay attention to the opinion of someone who, in contrast to himself, has professional credentials and have actually worked with the coach in question on a daily basis?
 

InfiniteBoredom

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Scholes was done for a good 2 years before his first retirement, Giggs held up his scoring record in consecutive PL seasons and had the odd good games in 11/12 and 12/13 but were also not an important member of the squad at this point save for his experience.

It worked for him as he regretted selling Stam too soon and came to value experience more, and results held up, but the younger Fergie wouldn’t have moved a 37 year old inside to play midfield for CL knockout matches.
Giggs and Scholes were still very good players at 35. No way he would've ever got rid of them two. Keane was only axed because he became a big problem off the pitch.
 

Jeppers7

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Yeah….apparently Murtough is an Everton fan and has brought in a lot of his cronies into the club. Getting rid of a lot a United family along the way. There’s much unhappiness around the academy and a feeling that the new regime are jobs for the boys.