One player sure of a far from welcoming reception from the Celtic support on Saturday, when Dundee United visit Celtic Park, is United defender Calum Butcher.
Butcher you’ll remember was the player who committed that horrendous challenge on David Turnbull in Celtic’s 3-0 win at Tannadice, one deemed worthy of only a yellow card by in the news referee Don Robertson, but one the player eventually received a retrospective three-match ban for.
That challenge and suspension was already on the back of previous red card picked up after being sent off for an incident with Aberdeen’s Christian Ramirez, in fact so poor is Butcher’s disciplinary record the player only returned to action for United for the first time since his ban in their midweek win over Ross County.
So, Lessons learned after a period of introspection for Calum Butcher? Not a bit of it. Instead, 30-year-old Butcher may feel he’s too long in the tooth for changing his aggressive ways now.
As quoted in Scottish Sun it seems Butcher has served his time but there was no sign of behavioural changes ahead, or indeed any regret at all.
“Will I change? It’s how I play — on the edge of the game. I don’t want red cards because it’s not ideal, but it’s just the way I play and always has been. I was disappointed with how the Celtic one was dealt with on the back of my previous red.
“But I won’t change how I play the game. It is how I play and it’s when I’m at my best. If I change, you won’t get the real Calum Butcher.”
Well, we certainly saw the real Calum Butcher at Tannadice, a player who clearly struggled to contain Celtic and instead resorted to on field violence as a form of retribution to make up for his own inadequacies.
Don Robertson was the referee who deemed Butcher’s tackle a yellow card and the same lenient punishment for Alloa’s Mouhamed Niang following his shocker of a tackle on Yosuke Ideguchi, in Celtic’s Scottish Cup fourth round win last weekend – and another challenge expected to receive retrospective punishment.
Thankfully Robertson won’t be the referee on Saturday, possibly just as well, as his vision remains impaired if his missing of a clear penalty for Livingston at Ibrox on Wednesday is anything to go by.
Instead, perhaps our players may be offered some form of professional protection when Euan Anderson dishes out the cards this weekend, and it seems Anderson may need to keep a watch on Calum Butcher, as it seems he may have carried out his punishment but lessons learned seem harder to comprehend.
Niall J
