Having been through a similar experience when he was at Hibs two years ago Terry Butcher yesterday expressed empathy with Mixu Paatelainen and suggested that the Dundee United board have got it wrong in sacking their manager.
The former England and Rangers captain was at Hampden to help promote this month’s Scottish Cup final and said he is enjoying his break from day to day management, but the timing brought him back to one of his darkest days in the game when he departed Hibs just six months after taking charge of an already struggling side.
Describing Paatelainen’s situation as “a bit of déjà vu,” since he had been at Tannadice only since October, Butcher reckoned the best thing for Dundee United would have been to allow the Finn to complete the job he has been doing.
Read more: Dundee United could hit downward spiral and not return for years, says John Rankin
“There's no-one in a better position because he knows the league, he knows the players, he knows what's out there. It's about bringing in players, allied with the core of players that he has,” said Butcher who suffered another sacking earlier this season just months after taking charge of Newport County.
“He's had to work with them for some time, (so) he knows them better than any new man coming in. You can see from outside what players are like but once you're inside you know exactly what they're like.
“He's in the right position to say 'this is what we're going to do'. There's going to be cuts and budgetary things, obviously that invariably happens when you get relegated.
“It was disappointing when you speak to players and release them and you’ve got a strategic plan that you’re working to which is never allowed to grow and develop.”
However Butcher also acknowledged the football reality that the manager is invariably in the front line, not least when supporters are directing so much criticism at the chairman as was the case when Rod Petrie was under fire from Hibs supporters in 2014 and is again now, with supporters staging protests outside Tannadice demanding Stephen Thompson’s departure following their last home match 10 days ago.
“It takes a very brave board to look beyond relegation and say ‘How can we come back from this?’ You would have to ask them if they want to deflect the blame but that’s what it looks like,” said Butcher.
“You always know from a manager’s point of view that if the chairman or board are getting stick then that invariably filters down to you and action is taken. You try not to get anywhere near that position but sometimes that doesn’t happen.
“I’m not moaning about it, that’s what happens. That’s football. At Hibs I moved players on at the end of the season which was very hard but I felt it was right for the club. I’d already gone down that road and then I was released after I’d cleared the decks.”
'Terry Butcher was speaking at a William Hill media event. William Hill is the proud sponsor of the Scottish Cup.'
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel