Butt Wants out

When this was brought up earlier in the season, I assumed that it was just talk. This looks more serious.

Although he is very good player, maybe it is time for him to move on. He is probably not going to be a regular starter anytime soon. If he can go somewhere else and get a fresh start, why not?

 

The Sun says we are asking for a £5million fee and claim Spurs, Everton and Birmingham are interested parties. While I'm sad to see Nicky leave, it makes sense for all parties involved. He is not going to push Keane out, and the way Phil is playing he has to be on the field. If we buy another front line striker and change formations Butt is knocked further down the ladder (since Scholes would move back to midfield).

 

To bad... Nicky Butt has been a favorite of mine for a long time.. my earliest memories of him being the Man United - Leverkusen matches a few years back in the champs league..

(hey, this was a long time before I got FSW)

I hope he goes somewhere and makes an impact.

Tottenham could really use the help I think.

 

This looks real - it appears he has handed in a formal transfer request.

This is a shame for Man U because he has always been a great squad player. No-one can blame him though for wanting first-team football regularly, a prospect which has gone south since Phil Neville has stepped up as a holding midfielder and the likes of Kleberson, Ronaldo, Fletcher into the Man U midfield.

The one issue I do have though is with the valuation. £5M is chickenfeed for a player of his abilities and experience. If we're being squeezed for approx £10M for Saha then Butt's fee has to be in the same ball-park

 

I am so saddend to hear that Nicky Butt has turned in a formal transfer request. I really hate seeing a local boy being pushed out by transfers that aren't even as good as him.

Nicky, you are a great footballer and a dedicated Red Devil. It is sad to see that you have to leave inorder to play first team ball. Butt was the first of the famed class of '92 to break into first team play and is always ready to give 110% when called upon. I didn't cry when Beckham left, but I will cry when you leave. If i had the choice, I wouldn't give 10 Klebersons for 1 Nicky Butt.

Good luck in your future and thank you for the 11 years of great service you gave to Manchester United and her fans.

 

Really?

I think Butt has handled the situation rather badly. Giving transfer requests in the middle of the season isn't really a "loyal" thing to do, particularly when he's been given his chances lately (and hasn't taken them all that well, save for that goal).

Kleberson has looked much, much better than Butt. He isn't quite the player on defense (though gives up fewer truly stupid fouls, as Butt does), but offers approximately 1,024 times more prowess going forward.

I see Kleberson's emergence as a really terrific compliment to Neville/Keane in the middle as one of the stories of the season.

Of course, his play on the right leaves much to be desired, but then... I couldn't even imagine how terrible Butt would be as an advanced winger.

 

I am saddened only in a sentimental way by this news...from a football perspective it seems to make perfect sense...

Besides this whole situation helped created one of the greatest 1-2 headline combinations I have ever seen: (from Manchesteronline.com)

"Ranieri's keen on Butt"

followed by

"United hit jackpot with Dong signing"

You can't make that up.

Priceless.

 

I think Butt hung around as long as he could. He talked with the manager several times about the situation, however, he wants to compete for a starting position in Euro 2004. I believe that is the main reason why he handed a transfer request in the middle of the season. Had this been January 2005 I think he would stick it out a few months.

As you were saying, Butt and Kleberson are totally different players. Kleberson is more like Scholes (however Scholes has the all around game). Butt compares to Phil, Keano and DJ2. I'd prefer to see Nicky out there instead of Phil, but Phil has been playing well so it's tough to keep kim out of the lineup.

I haven't been impressed with Kleberson as much as some other people. Granted, he has his moments, but he can not play defense or play on the right. I also think he has the same problem Diego has in that he can't link up with his teammates very well. He also seems to get tired at the end of matches. I thought he would get over after a few games, but he hasn't.

 

Even better, I think from the Sun. "United's got an itchy Butt"

I'll be sad to see him go as well. I have much more affection for home grown players than transfers. That being said, Butt, like Phil Neville, is a limited but reliable player. It will be interesting for England's next friendly whether Sven rates Phil above Butt now.

 

Off topic, but my all time favourite headline was in 4-4-2 magazine in the mid-late 90's for an article about 2 England keepers.

'Why women prefer Seaman to Flowers'

 

There was the line of "Gunners find Seaman release hard to swallow". I believe that was the greatest headline I have ever seen.

 

It's a sad day when a unique player and person such as Nicky Butt has asked for a transfer.

It's totally understandable, and he''s much too good at what he does to become the next David May of the midfield.

I wish him luck at wherever he goes, and I hope he gets a fair shot at making the Euro 2004 squad.

Thank you very much Nicky for the loyalty and commitment you've shown our club over the years and I wish you the very best.

 

Eh? I think Kleberson plays fairly well on defense. He's not very physical, which perhaps obscured the matter... but he marks fairly well and he's seldom out of position.

He's been played mostly in forward roles, but at the very least... his defense is much better than your ordinarly AMC (particularly Scholes).

He also endears himself to me by not committing many stupid, unnecessary fouls. Phil Neville does this much less than he used to, but Wes Brown and Nicky Butt drive me crazy this way.

 

Brown is our best tackler along with Keane, IMO.

Basically, Keane can't run box to box anymore, so P. Nev is a good defensive foil for Keane in the middle as they play better together than Keane and Butt do. Basically, the team is built like this:

Solid back line - especially up the middle.

Then you have Keane and his helper.

Then you have Scholes and Ruud providing options in front of goal.

Then we have Giggs on the left and Ronaldo on the right marauding down the wings, providing width.

I'm not sure what the team will look like in the next couple of years with Keano probably nearing the end, but I'm thinking we're planning on something like this:

------------Howard-----------
G. Nev/???--Rio--Silv--O'Shea
------------Djemba-----------
Ronaldo--Klebs-Fletch/Miller--Giggs/Robben
-------------Ruud---------

Or something along those lines.

 

Scholes is very solid defensively. Occasionally he is over aggressive or he mis-times a tackle but those are minor complaints.

 

Neville is better than Butt?? thats the bit i dont get.. i think of Butt as a MUCH better player than the likes of P Neville... its confusing he didn't play more with manyoo.. but then again, that wouldnt be the first suprise obviously~~~


if you lot would of sold him post WC '02, i think you'd get twice as much for him.. he was excellent~

 

I saw the the headlines, "Everton to grab Butt." a few weeks back.

Not sure if Everton, but still that was pretty funny.
And those Dick jokes...........

 

Well, Phil Neville got his chance when Butt injured his ankle and has been keeping Butt off the squad with his performances ever since. Believe me, it's surprising to us too, escpecially after Butt's World Cup. I think he's worth more than the paltry 5 mil being bandied about in the press as well.

 

im very disappointed, Nicky Butt was United through and through and consistently did well for United, with Phil Neville being a revalation in the centre of midfield it doesnt suprise me, but i always thought he would be one of the players that retires here. Im more disappointed with this than i was with Beckham leaving

 

You're having a laugh - Scholes can't tackle his way out of a paper bag. I can't remember the last decent tackle he did (thankfully this is less of a requirement now that he is playing in "the hole")

 

The recent transfer news has caused me to adopt Mr. Butt's name as my user i.d.

As relatively new Man Utd fan, I am amazed at SAF's ability to add new faces to the roster and continue to win. If you see games from 4-5 years ago, half the side has changed.

Maybe someday we will talk about the Class of '03 with Christiano, Kleberson, Howard, etc.

 

Motterman: I totally agree that Brown is an excellent tackler. But surely, you'd agree that he gives away a lot of inopportune fouls?

Scholes is my favorite player in the universe.... but... ummm... no.

Scholes's idea of good defense is to foul anybody who looks to be getting into a dangerous positions. He's pretty smart about it, tbh... good at making it look unworthy of a yellow card... and seldom does it in very bad positions.

 

I won't argue that Brown is as good a defender as Rio, and there are probably more than a few who are better in the EPL alone. He is faster than Rio though, tackles better, and often has better distribution. So, still a good central defender, but not as solid (or football smart) as Rio to be sure.