Butt: United’s old boys must adapt or move
Butt was back at his alma mater last season coaching the reserves when the wheels came off the club’s juggernaut in the aftermath of Alex Ferguson’s retirement.
Presiding over a decline that saw United finish seventh cost Moyes his job even before the campaign finished but the 39-year-old feels the manager was fighting a losing battle from the outset.
“Was it an impossible job? No, but close to impossible as you can get,” was the verdict of Butt.
“For David Moyes to come in and try to totally change the way Manchester United have been for 25 years, it wasn’t the right time.
“If it wasn’t David Moyes, it could have been (Ryan) Giggs, (Jose)Mourinho, (Pep) Guardiola. They would have had a massive job on their hands as well. Because you can change young players but it’s difficult to change older players — in my opinion.
“Just look at Rio (Ferdinand), Nemanja (Vidic), (Ryan) Giggs, (Robin) van Persie and (Wayne) Rooney. When you get to an age, you get set in your ways. And you think: “I like to do this, this, this and this.
“They probably didn’t accept change as well as the younger ones.”
Butt, who won six Premier League titles at Old Trafford during a 12-year playing career, can remain on the club’s staff under Louis Van Gaal but is holding off on a decision for now.
“I’ve spoken to (chief executive) Ed Woodward a few times and hebasically just said ‘look, you’ve got a job at the club, but we don’t know what it’s going to be and what do you want to do?’ I’ve not spoken to him (Van Gaal) yet but let Holland get the World Cup out of the way. We’ll then sit down in July.
“I’d like to stay because it’s a club that I love and I’ve been there all my life but I want to have a job that’s got a purpose. I don’t just want to be floating about doing nothing. I don’t want to go in there thinking ‘what am I going to do today?’ and twiddling my thumbs. You want to keep busy.”
During the intervening period before his showdown with Van Gaal, Butt will be cheering on the country he represented 39 times, as England begin their World Cup campaign.
The former midfielder likes the fact that, unlike previous major tournaments, realistic targets accompany this England squad, spearheaded by United’s Wayne Rooney.
“This time it’s refreshing really because I think, as an Englishman, it gets on my wick a bit that people say there’s pressure to do this and that,” he reasons.
“England haven’t won anything since 1966. What gives us the right to go to any tournament and win something? It’s false hope.
“There were always lots of better teams than us, even the time I was playing. At least with this squad players are thinking: ‘I don’t want to get dropped, I don’t want to get dropped’. We’ve not had that over the years, with players already having their positions and numbers on the back of their shirt. Sometimes you go totournaments and players know what number they’re getting.
“We’ve had players in the past sit out training and warm-up games because they know they’re going to play. That’s not right.”
Butt’s forthright manner mirrors that of the man he flanked for over a decade in the Red Devils’ midfield, Roy Keane. He speaks regularly with the Corkman and knows him well enough to predict that he won’t freely walk himself into a storm by taking the assistant manager’s job at troubled Aston Villa.
He said: “There’s a new owner to come into the club (and) he might get rid of Paul Lambert. Would that means his staff going as well?
“Personally I think Roy has got a good job with the Ireland team. He is with a manager he knows and likes, a good manager. He’s obviously a proud Irishman and he’s still a massive icon in this country. He is in a stable job and I know, from talking to him a few weeks ago, that he likes it. As for what anyone else thinks, if a job comes up that’s right for him, he’ll take it.”
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