Butt Can't Wait For Clear Out Of Toon

Last updated : 15 May 2007 By Footy Mad - Editor

The 32-year-old midfielder admitted his new manager will inherit a dispirited changing room.

Rumours have been rife for months that Glenn Roeder was regarded as a joke figure by some of the players, and when Charles N'Zobra was seen using his mobile phone when he was sat in the dug out at Fratton Park, fans were asking questions.

Drawing a comparison, you watch the Mackem players in the dug out when Roy Keane walks the edge of the pitch. They act like choir boys. Yet at Portsmouth the players were using phones, joking and laughing, and acting like schoolboys on a day trip ... and we were losing 2-1!

Butt: "The majority of lads in the dressing room are good lads and good professionals, but there are a few who don't want to play for the club and the sooner he gets them sorted out the better.

"If players don't want to play for the club they should be got rid of as quickly as possible. I'm not normally one who will come out and slag my team-mates off but there are genuinely one or two lads in there who don't want to play for the club. We know that and the fans know that.

"I do feel there are a lot of players who give 100% the whole time and maybe they don't always do too well all the time, but there are others who have the ability and don't want to do well.

"Everyone will start from scratch, we'll have to prove ourselves to the manager, everyone will be in the same boat. I just hope he sorts one or two of the lads out.

"There's been a few chats about the new manager. We know there is going to be change and everyone is confident it's going to be Sam. If it's him it's definitely a good capture for the club. Hopefully he can come in and sort a few things out.

"I'd like to play for Sam. He's a no-nonsense man. Everyone has respect for him as a coach and he embraces the new things that come into the game. He looks forward at new things coming into the game and that can only be a good thing.

"He has taken Bolton high in the table, higher than perhaps they should be."

"If I'm honest, it's a season I'm glad to see the back of. We've had a lot of injuries and we've not played well, we've not played as we should do. Next season we can start afresh."