Point pleases Simpson

“If you look at the chances onMatch of the Day, people might ask how Manchester United didn’t win the game.”

 - Danny Simpson

26/11/2011 19:00, Report by Mark Froggatt

Former Manchester United defender Danny Simpson breathed a sigh of relief after helping Newcastle United cling on to a 1-1 draw with the Barclays Premier League champions.

The Magpies right-back, who made eight appearances for Sir Alex Ferguson’s side before departing in 2008, was magnificent on Saturday and played a huge part in frustrating the Reds during a frantic second half at Old Trafford, clearing a Javier Hernandez shot off the line in incredible fashion.

“It was just out of instinct,” Simpson recalled. “We had been watching tapes of Hernandez all week and have been watching his movement in the box. I saw the cross come in and managed to get back on the line, stick my foot out and I managed to clear it.

“I’m just glad we got a point because it was wave after wave of attacks in the last 15 minutes, but we managed to deal with it. We’ve been defending like that all season. It is something that we have been working on in training and it is nice when it pays off at a place like Old Trafford.”

Simpson also praised the efforts of team-mate Tim Krul, who pulled off a string of remarkable saves - including one from a point-blank Nemanja Vidic header - to prevent United netting a winner and securing all three points.

“He has been in top form all season and for me he has been one of the better goalkeepers this year," Simpson told MUTV. "He made some great saves and you need that when you’re in the back-four. Sometimes you can’t stop certain things so when you have got him in goal making saves like that, it is nice.

“If you look at the chances on Match of the Day, people might ask how United didn’t win the game. I can see why they do score late goals - they are so clever and have got players like Rooney. You don’t know whether you’re coming or going.

“The offside decision against Hernandez in injury time was a relief but we kept going and managed to deal with their threat.”

MUTV is the only channel in the UK showing the Newcastle match in full. The first broadcast is at midnight on Saturday, when the on-demand highlights also become available on MUTV Online.

source : Manutd

Butt targets management

16/11/2011 15:35, Report by Adam Marshall

"My ultimate aim is to be a manager. That's what I want to do, whenever that happens, but I don't want to just jump into a job, take it on and not be able to do it. I want to slowly get there and be ready for it."

- Nicky Butt

Former Manchester United midfielder Nicky Butt has revealed he is keen to move into management after calling time on his playing career.

The 36-year-old was was most recently with Hong Kong outfit South China but returned to England earlier this year and is currently taking his coaching badges. After hanging up his boots, the ex-England international is determined to learn from the best at Carrington as he looks to make his mark in the coaching world.

"I've started my badges now and am getting the hours in," Butt explained to ManUtd.com. "I'll get assessed in the next five or six months.

"I go to Carrington a lot and just watch, I don't really take any of the sessions. I watch what the coaches are doing and how they speak to the kids. Ask any player and the knowledge is in their head. The difficult part is getting the point across and doing it clearly. That is what I've got to learn.

"I've been fortunate to play for a lot of coaches who are great at projecting their voice and getting the point across. Steve McClaren, Carlos Queiroz, Brian Kidd and Eric Harrison... all were great coaches."

Showing the same attitude that made him such an influence on the pitch, Butt is clearly serious about his intention to remain in the game.

"I know for a fact management is what I want to do," he asserted. "Whether I'll be good at it is another thing. We'll see. There were rumours about Oldham [in summer 2010] and someone asked if I would be interested but I never was as it was too soon for me. I wanted to have a year away from it, spend time with my family and go away with the kids in the school holidays. It's been great but I think I feel now I'm ready to do something.

"The thing is you don't know what you want to be until you try it. After I quit football, I thought I'd try TV but I didn't like it. If I didn't try it, I would never have known. Gary Neville, I felt, was obviously certain to go straight into management but instead he's working as a pundit on Sky Sports and he's got a three-year deal there. So you never know what's around the corner for you. You've got to be prepared to get as much as knowledge as you can, with football or whatever it is you want to do, and see what comes of it."

As well as learning to be a coach, Butt is keeping busy in other aspects of his life.

"I'm still doing some of the ambassador work for United, going to places all around the world with the club's commercial partners," he told us.

"I'm also working for MUTV, spending a lot of time with my family and learning to ski - I was not able to do that before when I was a player.

"There are a lot of things I'm able to do now but my ultimate aim is to be a manager. That's what I want to do, whenever that happens, but I don't want to just jump into a job, take it on and not be able to do it. I want to slowly get there and be ready for it."

source: Manutd