How Butcher is making a meal of it at Brentford

It is a big day at Brentford's training ground as kitman Dave Carter makes his first foray into the kitchen in a bid to satisfy the manager's quest to keep his players off the junk food.

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"The danger is that they go off to the pub or McDonald's," said Butcher. "But we want them eating pasta and salads, baked beans and Jaffa Cakes and we want to get carbohydrates inside them within an hour of finishing training."

Professional chefs are beyond the budget, so Carter is showcasing his culinary skills. As he sidles into the manager's cluttered office with two slices of home-baked bread pudding, he looks to have clinched the role permanently.

Butcher said: "Cooking for the players can be a big cost when you end up feeding 30 players every day. We're trying to do a deal with Tesco for them to provide food in exchange for some advertising.

"We've only got a limited amount of money to spend and we have to spend it as wisely as we can."

He stirs in a cookery allegory for good measure: "You're like a chef making a sponge cake and the jam in the middle is your budget, which you're trying to spread as evenly as you can. Sometimes the jam has to be a bit thin in places but you do your best to make sure it doesn't spoil the taste."

Butcher became Brentford's fourth manager in 12 months when he was appointed in April but, with the club already relegated from League One, he stayed in the background until the season had dwindled to its sad end.

Since then he has tried to inject new energy and ideas into the club, searching for new recruits with the help of assistant manager Andy Scott.

It can be a frustrating business. Butcher said: "You get names and targets but you want to cross-reference them with people you know. So you go off and do your homework and get to the point where you're ready to make an offer, only to find out they've got an offer from somewhere else for three or four hundred pounds a week more than you can afford.

"Like all the divisions, it's not a level playing field. Teams like Peterborough, Darlington and MK Dons are paying a lot more money than we can afford in this league. 'You lose a few and you move on to another target but you can't blame players for trying to earn a bit more money."

Butcher, who had brief spells in charge of Coventry and Sunderland at the end of his playing career, went on to manage Motherwell for four years in dire financial circumstances and led them to the Scottish League Cup Final in 2005 before heading to Australia last year to manage Sydney.

He will not use his shoestring budget as an excuse on his return to English football. Now 48, he has signed a two-year contract at Griffin Park.

Butcher said: "We're already introducing lunch into our training ground routine and we've brought in sports scientists, masseurs and ice-baths. We're trying to be as professional as we can.

"We've got new Puma kit but the players have to wash it themselves. That's what happens in the lower leagues. I've never washed my own kit in my career but I'm doing it now. Well, my wife's doing it."

Luckily, Butcher was not washing his own kit after England's goalless draw in Sweden in 1989 when he finished the World Cup qualifier bloodied and bandaged after refusing to be substituted. He rolls his eyes at the mention of his heroics, like he is sick of talking about it, but the same admirable blend of fierce patriotism and courage still lurk inside.

"I don't think I've changed," said Butcher. 'Maybe I've put on a few pounds and have a few more grey hairs. And I need two new knees, but that's the price you pay. I played a lot of games when I shouldn't have.

"Walking downhill is murder. I still love to strike a ball but if I catch it wrong I'm in trouble. There's so much floating stuff in my knees it locks or gives way. They're beyond salvage. I'll have to get them done eventually."

Despite a wonderful playing career, which earned him 77 England caps plus medals with Ipswich and Rangers, he is aware that his only real success as a manager came at Motherwell.

Nine months in Australia did not end happily, and he was sacked in February. He arrived at Brentford after a 14-year exile from the English game with a burning ambition to establish himself as a manager.

Butcher said: "I know it's going to be difficult in League Two but it's nice to be back in the game and it's nice to be back in England, where football is No 1. It's a buzz to see the cross of St George again.

"I want to prove to myself and to others that I can still do it down here. There's always a desire inside me to do well.

"Even at this level it thrills me and excites me because you want to make players better, make them aware and give them a belief in this game. I remember when I first went to Ipswich as a young trialist, I used to love the smell of the place.

"It's the smell of a football club — the kit, the liniment, the cleaning fluids — it's the atmosphere. I'll always remember that. And you miss that smell when you're not in the game."