A war of words between Lisandro Martinez and former Manchester United duo Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt has dominated the headlines in recent days. It all begs the question of what Sir Alex Ferguson would do if any of his players were targeted with the same levels of personal criticism from ex-players.
It was an incredible weekend at Old Trafford as Manchester United beat Man City 2-0 in Michael Carrick’s first game back as head coach.
Having been installed as head coach until the end of the season, just four days ahead of the 198th Manchester derby, Carrick recorded an unexpected win over City to end a four-game winless run across all competitions for the Red Devils.
Bryan Mbeumo’s opening goal came from a thrilling counter-attack. It was reminiscent of some of the goals that were scored by great United teams in the past.
Michael Carrick is off to the PERFECT START at Man Utd, and he wants more!
Why do you think it went SO RIGHT for Carrick against City?
United were the better team throughout the game and had three goals overruled by VAR. The three points were secured in the 76th minute when Patrick Dorgu converted a cross from substitute Matheus Cunha.
But in the wake of a big win for United, the headlines have been dominated by comments made by former players.
Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes are products of Sir Alex Ferguson’s protective shield
Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes were called out for mocking Lisandro Martinez before the Manchester derby.
The pair were previewing the derby clash when Butt claimed Erling Haaland would “pick Martinez up and run with him” like “a dad at school running down the road with a little toddler.”
Scholes joined in on the joke, too, adding that Haaland would “score and throw him [Martinez] in the net”.
Anyone who had done a bit of research on Martinez and Haaland wouldn’t have been surprised when the Argentine World Cup-winner bullied the Norwegian striker in the latest derby.
For instance, Haaland has now failed to score in six of the seven matches he’s faced Martinez.
However, instead of apologising for their personal dig at Martinez, Butt and Scholes have doubled down.
Martinez reacted to the comments by telling the pair to come “to my house” for a face-to-face discussion, but Butt and Scholes have since used the latest episode of The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast to hit back at the 5 ft 9 centre-back.
Butt argued that his personal dig at Martinez was simply “tongue in cheek” and that he should “grow up” rather than letting comments made on podcasts get to him.
In response, Scholes referenced former United midfielder David Beckham, stating that he never fought back against media scrutiny.
Butt referred to his own playing career and dealing with criticism, adding: “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 plaudit, and you get clapped at.”
Who are you backing in Paul Scholes and Lisandro Martinez’s war of words?
Paul Scholes and Lisandro Martinez have reignited their feud after the Manchester derby…
Having come through the ranks at United in the pre-social media era, Butt and Scholes seem to have a distorted view of today’s landscape and the intense scrutiny modern players face.
It is worth reminding Butt and Scholes that Sir Alex Ferguson protected all of his players, especially members of the Class of 92, which proved vital not only for United’s success but for their individual growth during their formative years.
The point here is, Ferguson wouldn’t have stood for any ex-United player taking cheap shots at his players in the media. He was infamous for banning journalists from press conferences when he felt they crossed a line, even though in some cases the material in question reflected positively on United.
Can you imagine Bryan Robson making personal insults about one of Ferguson’s players when he hung up his boots in 1994, or Eric Cantona, after he retired in 1997? It didn’t happen.
The reality is that Ferguson would have shut down any ex-player taking potshots at his team. His legendary press conference bans proved he would protect his players at all costs, regardless of whether the media coverage was fair or even complimentary.
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Gary Neville provides insight on how Sir Alex Ferguson protected young players
Six years ago, Gary Neville revealed how Ferguson prevented Giggs and other young players from speaking to the media.
Neville was asked by Graeme Souness what Ferguson told United players about talking to the media, when the former club captain said: “If you remember, particularly in the early years of Ryan Giggs, he didn’t let him speak. He managed him completely for a period of years thinking that the media would try and stitch him up.
“If you remember at the time there was a very aggressive approach in the 80s, early 90s towards players. If you think about Paul Gascoigne, how they would treat Graham Taylor with England. If you think about the attacks, David Beckham after the 1998 World Cup.
“There was a great mistrust between the media and players at that time and Sir Alex Ferguson protected his players, his young players enormously. So in terms of just being allowed to do an interview, it would always be done with someone the manager would trust.
“We would never let Ryan or David Beckham or a young player go into an interview room with a group of tabloid journalists and say ‘go on in you go’. He would never allow that. He would maybe allow them to go and speak to a trusted journalist, a trusted person in the media or in broadcast at an arranged time where he had pre-screened the questions.
“He wouldn’t expose his young players, so Haaland just seems to be going out there doing all the interviews after the game which I think is something to be commended. And ultimately Sir Alex had a very different approach in those early years.”
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