'Fergie told me to do what I want, so I asked "Why am I not f**king playing?" That was when it went off' Nicky Butt on his EXPLOSIVE row with Sir Alex Ferguson

"For some reason, the manager always put me in the big games, but then I got to a point where I wasn't playing and it started to piss me off I accepted it if Keany and Scholesy were playing instead of me, because I knew they were better than me at the time. Then I felt people were playing instead of me who weren't as good as me."

"I get why the manager did it, he'd brought them in and had to give them an opportunity to play, but it didn't help me. I spoke to the manager and said, I want to go. I'll tell you what happened. My daughter was born in the January when we were going away to a warm-weather training camp. We were flying out on the Sunday, but my missus was booked in for a caesarean on the Monday."

Nicky Butt spent 12 years in Manchester United's first team, winning six Premier League titles, three FA Cups and one Champions League. Butt's playing time diminished during the 2003/04 season, which frustrated him. He accepted that Roy Keane and Paul Scholes were better choices but felt some other players were not as good as him, naming Eric Djemba-Djemba and Kleberson. Butt recognized the manager's need to give new signings opportunities but felt the situation harmed his prospects. He spoke to the manager requesting to leave and described a clash over staying home for his daughter's birth during a training camp.

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