Jack Butland’s POTY Award is a distinctly important sign in the importance of Butland at the back. That is to say, it is the second year in a row that he has won that award and called into question so much of the criticism that Butland has received from Rangers fans, especially this season. That criticism is something that Ibrox Noise has strongly opposed throughout the campaign because without Butland, Rangers would be far, far worse off and would not be remotely in with a shout of winning the league.
The criticism of Butland
Fans are trying to find stats to dig at Butland with. One was about him having the highest level of conceded goals rate in the SPL. Of course, that does not seem to consider the fact that Rangers’ defence has been the most flimsy, to say the least, and it took until Djiga and Fernandez got together as a defence for a period before Rangers’ rearguard started looking a little more robust. Rangers’ defence earlier this season was absolutely atrocious. None of the partnerships worked and Butland was left to deal with pretty much everything himself, something even Rangers coverage has highlighted at times.
Parkhead heroics for Jack Butland’s POTY Award
He is the single only reason that Rangers won that astonishing victory at Parkhead earlier this season under Rohl thanks to a number of colossal saves. He was the winner of those three points. We would give that a lot less to Chermiti. But nevertheless, Butland’s victory in winning that gong is very important, as seen in moments like that masterclass performance.
Players know best hence Jack Butland’s POTY Award
Footballers know what makes a footballer. This is why Ibrox Noise has kowtowed toward Scottish players’ award of placing Emmanuel Fernandez in the team of the season. We would not necessarily agree based on what we see, but we have to respect their opinion. Footballers know the game. They know what it takes to be a footballer and the work that a player has to put in. Fans, mostly, with all due respect to them, are not the most educated and simply get emotional, even when broader analysis offers context.
Respecting the verdict
Consequently, Fernandez’s place in that team of the season for the Scottish Premiership is a big deal, and not that we are going to say necessarily that Ibrox Noise thought well deserved, but nevertheless, we have to respect the view of players who know an awful lot more about playing the game than we do. Consequently, Butland winning Rangers’ equivalent is a big deal as well, especially when compared with long term discussions like the goalkeeper debate.
While fans do not agree in part with Butland’s high rating by players, they have to accept that Rangers’ players and most professional footballers know more about the game than they do. Butland, for us, absolutely deserves this award. He has been, for us, the best player this season, something backed up by performance data on platforms like Transfermarkt.
Not by an absolute mile, but he certainly, for the first half of the season, was the difference between Rangers and sinking altogether. Yes, we were low in the league, but that was Russell Martin, heavily, and it was down to Butland that it did not continue. Once we had something akin to not Russell Martin in charge, things did start to improve, and that began under Steven Smith, not Danny Rohl.
Consequently, Jack Butland’s POTY Award is for us extremely deserved. It was voted for by the Rangers squad, and while it is not the best Rangers squad of all time, they are professionals, most of them are internationals, and they do kind of know what they are talking about, and they know how important Butland has been at the back. If only the fans universally did too.