Can The Butler Do It?

So, Bristol City have extended Tony Butler's loan contract for another month, and we are still none the wiser as to whether he is the (hold your breath) "commanding central defender" we have been looking for.

Thus far we have been presented with something of a mixed bag of performances and we now seem further away from  the answer to what he might bring to the team than we were after his first couple of games. The games against Tranmere and Northampton suggested that he was exactly what we'd been looking for. No goals conceded and five scored to boot. Butler's experience and ability to read the game alongside Matt Hill's pace, aerial ability and all round excellent game seemed to show that we had found two players whose styles complemented each other perfectly. "Sign him up", I thought, and I presume this feeling was echoed by others, though I may be wrong. We still needed to see him perform away from home, but all the indications were that this was a hurdle he would negotiate without too much difficulty. Then came Cheltenham....

Two goals conceded to Cheltenham from positions we would expect a commanding centre half to defend and another effort that hit the inside of the post which ended up being the turning point in an exciting game. Okay, we went on to win 3-2, but the first seeds of doubt were sown in the minds of many, and we needed another good performance from Butler to put our minds at rest. Oldham away was always going to be a difficult game, and I for one would have been satisfied with a point. Maybe we were in line for a point before Tommy's dismissal, but we went on to lose 1-0 as we all know, and the Butler jury was still out.

Not to worry I thought. Matt Hill didn't play in those games and with Matty back alongside Butler against QPR I felt quietly confident that our miserly defensive reputation could be restored. Hill and Butler had looked so accomplished alongside each other in the games in they played together at home that I felt we had every reason to be confident of a return to the form he displayed in the opening two games.

However, despite going 1-0 up early in the game, we once again showed our old defensive frailties and ended up going out with a whimper. 3-1 to QPR and no sign of a leader from the back who could breed assurance through the team. Okay, maybe we were just outdone by a better team, the loss of our striking pair damaged the team's balance massively and obviously the blame cannot be laid at the door of one man. But the certainty that Butler could be our new Shaun Taylor has dwindled, and now I am left wondering if he is the answer to our lack of command in this position.

Certainly I think the club has done the right thing in extending the loan. Danny is clearly not 100 per cent convinced yet and nor are many of us, so let's have a longer look at him and hope that we see a return to the form he showed in his first couple of games for us. The match at Port Vale, where he had a good game despite the scoreline, is a start - and the fact he wanted to play despite an injury shows he's made of the sort of stuff we want at our club.

Would his performance improve if we signed him on a longer contract and he could move and settle in the area? Maybe. It certainly can't help when you're living out of a suitcase and away from your family. Would he be helped if we took more of the chances we have been creating recently and took the pressure off the defence to protect level scorelines or narrow leads? Again it would surely help, and any defeat is the team's responsibility, not that of an individual.

For me, Chesterfield is the crunch game. We should win that if we have promotion ambitions and with the East End handed over to home fans and the improved atmosphere that this will provide I fully expect to see an assured victory that returns me to the belief that City can do well in this league and that Butler is a player we need in our team.

The other reason we need Tony Butler to be a success boils down to a simple question: "Who else is there?". If a player who helped West Brom to promotion from the First Division last season can't do a job for us, then who can? Maybe there is an element of his ability being dragged down to the level he is now playing at, but if this is the case then he needs to show that he can rise above it and impress his game on a match rather than being sucked down to the mediocrity of those around him.

To sum up, I would just like to say: "Please, Tony, be that commanding central defender we've been looking for. We need a new Shaun Taylor and you can, I believe, be that player. Be confident, take games by the scruff of the neck and show the team what it takes to put together a successful promotion challenge. You are more than capable of imposing yourself on this team - and, more importantly, this division - so do it and convince us and Danny. Then we will welcome you here with open arms. You may only be on loan and this may be affecting your confidence in taking a leading role within the squad, but for the sake of the younger players and for the sake of us, the supporters do it. And do it now."

edson

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