Nicky Butt has told Manchester United defender Lisandro Martinez to ‘f***ing grow up’ as their public row escalated on Monday.
Butt and Paul Scholes joked on their podcast ahead of United’s derby win that Martinez’s battle with Erling Haaland was such a mismatch that the 6ft 5in Man City striker would pick up the 5ft 9in United defender and throw him in the back of the net.
But after Martinez helped to shut out Haaland in the 2-0 win, the Argentinian defender criticised the pair for comments and challenged them to visit his house to repeat them face-to-face.
‘Honestly, [Scholes] can say whatever he wants,’ Martinez said. ‘I told him already, if he wants to say something to me, he can come to me wherever he wants. To my house, wherever. I don’t care.’
And despite praising Martinez for his performance, the war of words looks no closer to ending as the United heroes branded the Argentinian ‘precious’ on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast.
Butt said: ‘For me, we talk like lads in a pub having a conversation. It’s tongue in cheek.
‘I think when people get so upset about someone in the media or on a podcast … saying “come to my house”, it’s like f***ing grow up.’
Scholes admitted that they could ‘possibly have worded it better’ but added: ‘You’re at Man United, probably the biggest club in the world. At some point, you are going to take some criticism. You’ve got to deal with that.’
Butt continued: ‘If you’re going to get so emotional about someone saying something about you and react like that, you shouldn’t be at a big football club.’
‘I’m telling you now he’s gonna get that for the rest of his career at Man United. You’re going to get get your ups, you’re going to get your downs. I got so much c**p when I played at Man United and Newcastle but then the next week you get applauded.’
Butt added that he has ‘no personal issue’ with Martinez and that he was glad to see him perform well against City, but reminded the Argentinian that those are the standards expected at United.
Scholes then revealed that he and Martinez had previously exchanged Instagram messages, where the United defender said he had ‘lost all respect’ for Scholes after comments he previously made.
‘We exchanged messages on Instagram quite some time ago,’ Scholes said. ‘He wasn’t happy with something I said in the past. It wouldn’t have said this normally but he’s come out and said stuff so why not.
‘He said he’d lost all kinds of respect for me. As Nicky said two minutes ago, you’re at Man United, probably the biggest club in the world. At some point, as we did as players, you are gonna take some criticism. You’ve got to deal with that.’
‘He’s had one brilliant game,’ Scholes added. ‘When you start talking or shouting your mouth off, this game has a habit of coming and biting you back on the a**e.
‘I haven’t changed my opinion yet. I’m still not sure that you can win a league with him. He’s got to do it over a period of time.
‘What he did on Saturday was brilliant, yes, but you’ve got to do that now over a period of time to show you can win the league. They’ve got a big game at Arsenal on Sunday, so let’s see what happens.’
Scholes also says he has previously sent Martinez his phone number and hasn’t been contacted by him after the defender urged them to see him face-to-face.
‘I’m 50 years of age, I’m not going knocking on someone’s house saying “can we have a chat”,’ Butt added.
‘It’s just ridiculous… and if you’re going to get that precious you better be s**t hot every week.’
Scholes and Butt both laughed on their podcast last week when Butt said: ‘Haaland would pick Martinez up and run with him. It’ll be like, you know, when you see a dad after school running down the road with a little toddler. That’s what it’d be like.’
Scholes added: ‘He’d score, then throw him in the net!’
On the latest episode, Scholes said he would use any criticism he received as a player as ‘fuel’ rather than ‘answering back’.
Butt added: ‘At Newcastle, when I had a bad time up there, I got so much stick. I did get people knocking at my door when my kids were in the house and throwing things at my windows, but I didn’t go out crying, that’s my job.
‘I’m a professional footballer, I get paid a lot of money to go and perform day, week in, week out.’
Butt also said he ‘feels really bad’ about the fallout from the comments but insists it ‘wasn’t personal’.
‘It was just a tongue-in-cheek chat about physicality,’ he explained. ‘The amount of c**p I’ve got on social media… just ignore it.’
‘But if we’re going to move on from this, I hold my hands up. He was brilliant on a day, well done. Every single one of them was, so no one’s more happy than me,’ he added.
Their former team-mate Rio Ferdinand weighed in on the comments made by Butt and Scholes as he believes the pair had, in fact, made the row ‘personal’.
‘It’s not beef, I think it’s being made out to be beef,’ he told Rio Ferdinand Presents on Monday. ‘This week I think there has been some stuff that has probably been just over borderline, personal.
‘I have spoken to Martinez a few times, online and in person, and he is someone who just wants to do well, win, get back to the standards Man United were at. He is eager to see that that looks like.
‘He has even invited me to go to the training ground, go and get a coffee – he is a sponge. The way he plays is the way I feel he is – he is an honest character and a good sort to have in the changing room.
‘He is within his rights, if something gets on his nerves… he has come out and said it. The way it has been taken I think needs some context. He is not saying, “Come and meet me anywhere and we will have a tear up” – he is saying, “Let’s have a conversation face to face is you have an issue”.
‘We are talking about a World Cup winner here, he knows how to win. I had a conversation with him after the game and he was quick and clear – we have a standard now and need momentum. What I would say is, when you are talking about people, if you feel you can say the same thing in front of them, then it is fair game.’
