Concerns emerge over Jack Butland’s POTY Rangers Award

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Concerns emerge over Jack Butland’s POTY Rangers Award
Butland posing proudly with his award (Credit Rangers FC)

It is never a great look for a top football team when the goalkeeper wins Player of the Year, because it implies that he’s had to be at his best and he’s had to bail his club out a lot.

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That is accurate in Rangers’ POTY winner Jack Butland.

He’s been sensational, but that’s not that surprising given how good he obviously was in his Premier League days – Rangers need Premier League-level players and Butland is one.

You have to go back to 1989 for the brilliant Theo Snelders of Aberdeen for the last time a goalkeeper won POTY, in terms of in the SPL in general (it was the First Division back then).

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Butland is absolutely in line for it this season for sure, but we’d be stunned if he wins.

He has been great, of course, no one can deny that. He’s the best we’ve had for a very very long time – maybe not quite yet producing that McGregor ‘miracle save’ on the big occasion as Greegsy and indeed The Goalie could.

But he’s been close to it, and he’s been nearly faultless.

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But it does show Rangers’ season in context that he’s won the fan-voted POTY award ahead of Lundstram, Tavernier, Sima and Souttar. The competition, in fairness, wasn’t sensational.

Butland has needed to be great, but it’s just a bit of a indictment of Rangers’ overall season that he won the award by a landside – that he’s had to be that good this season.

As magnificent as Goram and McGregor were, they never won the SPL POTY awards, and even McGregor only won the club fan special award in 55, a season in which he, Tav and Davo all won such gongs.

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So he clearly earns it, deserves it, but it’s not a great look for Rangers’ defence and season in general that this is the case.

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