Sports
Nicky Butt Continues Lisandro Martinez Feud With New Comments
Nicky Butt has continued his ongoing feud with Lisandro Martinez, telling the Manchester United man to ‘grow up’. The defender appeared to make a gesture aimed at the club icon after the Manchester derby and then also spoke about the Englishman’s recent criticism to the press.
The Red Devils came away with an impressive 2-0 win over rivals Manchester City in the Premier League, allowing a rare moment of joy in a season which has largely been disappointing. The victory came in Michael Carrick’s first game as interim manager, having taken over from Ruben Amorim.
Ahead of the game, Butt and Paul Scoles made disparaging comments about Martinez, but the defender was able to respond on the pitch, helping his team keep a clean sheet and pick up all three points.
What Has Been Said In Nicky Butt Feud With Lisandro Martinez
The issue originated on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast. Scholes said: “There’s every chance he [Haaland] will target him [Martinez], of course he will.” To which Butt damningly replied: “Haaland would pick Martinez up and run with him. It would be like when you see a dad at school running down the road like that with a little toddler, that’s what it would be like.”
Seemingly in repsonse to this, Martinez could be seen making a ‘too much talking’ gesture with his hands in response to the comments – as seen in the footage below.
Following the win, the Man Utd star was asked directly about Butt’s criticism, and shot back, saying: “I told him already, if he wants to say something to me, he can come to wherever he wants, to my house, wherever, I don’t care. And I think for me, I respect the relations when they want to help the club because everyone can talk on the television, but when you see [them] here face to face, no one says anything in your face.
“So for me, I don’t really care what they say. I just put the focus on my performance, the performance of the team, and I give everything to this club until my last day.”
Scholes then responded online, saying: “Someone’s had a good game, was really happy for you.” Regarding the open invite to his house, the pundit added: “Tea, no sugar, please.”
Butt seemed annoyed by the very fact that Martinez had even reacted to his words at all. On the most recent episode of The Good, The Bad & The Football, he refused to ease up on the feud, firing back:
“We’re not on Sky [Sports] doing commentary on a game, it’s tongue in cheek. It’s quite obvious that Haaland is not going to pick him up and run with him it’s figure of speech.
“I just think when someone gets so upset about someone in the media or a podcast saying something about him, to come out and start saying, ‘they can say what they want’ and ‘come to my house’. F***ing grow up”
“If you are going to get so emotional about someone saying that about you, you shouldn’t be at a big club. He will get that at the rest of his career at United, there will be ups and downs.
“You get your ups and downs, and I got so much crap when I played at Man United and Newcastle, but then next week you get your plaudits, and you get clapped at. There is no personal issue with Martinez and us. None.”
Man Utd Star is ‘Owed an Apology’ After Putting in ‘Elite’ Performance vs Man City
After his performance against Manchester City, fans believe he is owed an apology for the pre-match criticism.
Paul Scholes Leaks Private Message From Lisandro Martinez
Adding to more fuel to the flames, Scholes then revealed that Martinez had actually sent him a private message in the past. It came after Scholes publicly criticised the defender in the past, sparking an angry message on Instagram. Scholes said:
“Look, we exchanged messages on Instagram quite some time ago. He wasn’t happy with something I said about him in the past. I can’t remember what it was. He said he’d lost all respect for me. I wouldn’t normally say this, but he’s come out and said stuff, so why not?”
It’s no suprise to learn that, per ESPN, Man United are internally unhappy with Scholes and Butt’s comments about Martinez. The club reportedly believe ‘it was an attempt to mock’ the player, rather than offer constructive analysis during a difficult period.
Seeing as this leaked Instagram message proves the pair have clashed before, perhaps there was indeed something more personal and mean-spirited about Scholes and Butt’s most recent comments.
Fans online were far from impressed with Butt and Scholes’ unwillingness to let things slide. One wrote: “Mate these guys clearly haven’t read the room, digging themselves a deeper hole.”
Another added: “It is high time our so-call legends watch what they say about players, it was so awful, imagine a day to Manchester derby, our legend was saying negative things about our player, it’s so wrong.”
A third called out the hypocrisy: “So you’re allowed to say whatever you want, but the moment you’re answered back, you get rattled.” While a fourth put: “Nicky still on this ? I thought he’s gonna apologise.”
Another wrote: “How does someone become this SHAMELESS??”, before a final supporter summed up the mood, noting: “How is he doubling down on this, some of our club legends are actually embarrassing.”
