Nicky Butt fears Manchester United have abandoned a model Sir Alex Ferguson used to help deliver success during his time as manager, amid recent departures among club staff.
Ineos have changed the structure at Manchester United since Sir Jim Ratcliffe became co-owner of the football club, to move away from a manager-led model to a best-in-class sporting department.
The Glazers persisted with a business-heavy approach for years, but Ratcliffe has introduced experienced football executives like Omar Berrada and Jason Wilcox to the club, after the pair impressed in their previous roles at Man City.
Furthermore, there has been a greater emphasis on signing young talent in the transfer market. Director of Recruitment, Christopher Vivell, is believed to be playing a big role in helping the scouting department identify the best players.
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While there have been several appointments since the arrival of Ratcliffe, there have also been plenty of redundancies and departures. The biggest shock in recent times came as Jonny Evans decided to step away from his role as Head of Loans and Pathways, despite taking the job just six months ago.
Newly appointed academy director Steve Torpey will take over Evans’ role as Head of Loans and Pathways while United seek a long-term replacement.
Photo by Ash Donelon/Manchester United via Getty ImagesNicky Butt concerns about Man Utd culture
Evans isn’t the only former United player to leave the club in recent times.
It is also understood that former defender Phil Jones is no longer helping to coach the youth teams, which he had been doing while working on his coaching badges.
Nicky Butt, who spent 12 years in United’s first team after graduating from the academy, knows a thing or two about returning to the club and becoming a member of staff.
Butt worked with the academy for years after retiring, but he now features regularly on podcasts, including a new episode of No Tippy Tappy Football with Sam Allardyce. He gave his view on the reduction of former players in various roles at United.
“It’s easy for me to sit here as a former Man United player and say this is not right,” Butt said.
“It’s not my prerogative to tell the powers that be how to do things. But, I do believe Man United is a different kettle of fish, it’s not only a football club, it’s an institution.
“You need people in the background to know what the club is like. So when things are going bad for certain people, they just put their arm around them and say, ‘This is what we do, we stick together’. The only problem I’ve got with the football club is that they’re losing that.
“I don’t know why they [Evans and Jones] have left, but it doesn’t look great, especially when they’re doing as bad as they are. Surely they’re the type of guys you want to stay.
“Sir Alex’s model was always wanting to keep old players around, and put them in certain levels with what they want to do. That’s changed over the years, and it’s down to the fact that the owners who have come in don’t believe in that. The philosophy behind that institution, you have to have people around who know the football club.”
Interestingly, Butt referenced Sir Alex Ferguson, who is the only manager he played under as a first-team player at United.
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Ferguson leaned on former players during his time at Old Trafford, such as Brian Kidd and Mike Phelan, and Butt believes Amorim should take a page from the Scot’s book.
While Darren Fletcher is mentioned by Butt, the former Scotland international is the leading coach of the U18s, so he is not going to be working with Amorim on many first-team matters.
Man Utd first team coaches 2025
United’s coaching staff has been led by Amorim since November 2024.
Amorim’s arrival led to the departure of many coaches, including Ruud van Nistelrooy, who had been brought to the club by Erik ten Hag.
There are five key figures in Amorim’s backroom staff, including:
Carlos Fernandes (assistant head coach)Adelio Candido (first team coach)Emanuel Ferro (first team coach)Jorge Vital (first team goalkeeping coach)Paulo Barreira (physical performance coach)
Other staff members include Michael Sansoni and Ben Parker as chief analysts.
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