Paul Scholes and Nicky Butt continued their war of words with Manchester United’s Lisandro Martinez, with Butt telling the Argentine to “grow up” over his reaction to criticism.
After playing his part in United’s 2-0 win over City at Old Trafford, Martinez asked to speak to Scholes in person after he and Nicky Butt mocked the defender’s size before his match against Erling Haaland, with the midfielder suggesting he would “run with him”.
Scholes previously exchanged messages with Martinez on social media and gave the player his phone number, but said he “didn’t hear anything”.
However, it responds directly to Martinez’s comments about his latest edition. The Good, the Bad and Football On the podcast, Scholes’ co-host and former team-mate Butt said: “That’s a joke and it’s clear Haaland won’t actually bring Scholes in to play with him.”
“When someone is so upset about something they see in the media or on a podcast and comes out and says, ‘Come to my house,’ it makes me feel like a fucking adult.
“Literally, you shouldn’t be at a big football club if you’re so emotional about what someone says about you, because you’re going to feel that way for the rest of your United career.
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“When I played for United and Newcastle I got a lot of abuse, but the next week I got applause and applause. There are no personal issues between us and Martinez.”
Scholes praised Martinez’s play but said he still had some reservations about the 28-year-old.
“It energizes people,” he said of the criticism. “I think we should get some credit for Martinez’s performance on Saturday!”
But he warned: “He had a great game, but the game has a habit of coming and biting you when you start talking and screaming.
“My opinion hasn’t changed yet. I’m still not sure if we can win the league with him. He has to do it over a period of time. What he did on Saturday was great, but he has to do it over a period of time.”
Butt said Martinez’s reaction to their comments raised questions about his mindset.
Butt pointed to the experience he and the rest of United’s ‘Class of 92’ had gone through when Alan Hansen famously said in Match of the Day: “You can’t win anything with kids.” Butt, who was a teenager at the time, said it taught her how to deal with criticism.
“I was 18, not 26 or 27,” he said. “I didn’t want to leave the house for weeks, but you broke out and went and proved people wrong.”
