It is not as if Rangers do not have an potential short-term solution to their Jack Butland problem staring them directly in the face.
The Rangers goalkeeper made yet another ‘bad mistake’, to quote a furious Barry Ferguson, as Hibernian became the fifth team in a row to walk away from Ibrox with a victory, albeit Fenerbahce’s 2-0 triumph counted for little thanks to an eventual penalty shoot-out defeat.
Butland’s spot-kick heroics set up a Europa League meeting between Rangers and Athletic Bilbao this week.
That, however, is starting to feel more and more like that last throes of a man in terminal decline. The former England international gifted Hibs the lead when Dylan Levitt’s speculative long-range strike snuck under his body on another deflating Saturday afternoon in Glasgow.
So, with many Rangers fans clamouring for Liam Kelly’s inclusion from Thursday onwards – and as Ferguson promises big ‘changes’ ahead of that Athletic clash – has the previously imperious Jack Butland simply made one mistake too many?
Rangers told to drop Jack Butland but Andy Halliday fears Liam Kelly is not trusted
Andy Halliday certainly thinks so.
The former Rangers midfielder saw Butland spill the ball straight at the feet of Luke Armstrong as his Motherwell side claimed an unexpected 2-1 victory at his old stomping ground.
Halliday would most definitely back the return of his ex-Motherwell teammate Kelly to the starting XI. But, having been dropped to the bench despite a six-game unbeaten run with him between the sticks around the turn of the year, the question is whether Ferguson trusts Kelly enough to parachute him back into the team for the run-in.
“I think [it’s time to drop Butland] now. I think [his struggles have gone on] too long now,” Halliday says. “It’s probably five, six, seven errors he’s made in the last few months.
“It’s not even where you’re saying ‘I am expecting a goalie of his standard to save it’, it’s just bad mistakes. The difference in him from last year… He was the best goalie in the league last year by a country mile. This year, he’s struggling.
“It looks as if he’s not no confidence. It’s probably better for him to come out.
“Liam came in for six games and they went unbeaten. He kept three clean sheets. They beat Celtic, they beat Aberdeen, they were clearly doing well. It’s not as if he came in and done poor. So they don’t trust him to come in and get a run.
“[But] based on what Barry Ferguson said after the game, I think Jack Butland will come out.”
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Rangers on historic run of five successive Ibrox defeats
While Celtic were pretty dreadful in January’s 3-0 loss at Ibrox, barely mustering an attempt let alone one on target, Liam Kelly was a commanding presence in the Rangers goal.
Halliday, meanwhile, feels that his old employers can have no real complaints as a historic run of home defeats rumbles on. With Athletic to come on Friday, things could yet get worse before they get better.
“That’s five home defeats in a row and they have deserved to lose every one,” Halliday sighs. “I watched the game when [St Mirren] beat them at Ibrox. They deserved to beat them.
“We [Motherwell] deserved to beat them at Ibrox, Hibs deserved to beat them. It’s not even as if they are battering teams, missing chances, and the teams are nicking a set-piece or something. They’ve scored one goal in the last five games at Ibrox.”
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