Fri Dec 30, 2005 11:23 am
[quote="wfc_2uk] Oh yes the famous Mr Butler thats gone on to win many major championships. :lol:
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wfc_2uk, that is a truly ridiculous statement, on a par with Diddy P the other day, when he said if Roper was the decent player that we were saying, he'd have played for England.
You don't have to win major championships - any championships - or get selected for an international side, to be a good player. We ruined Martin Butler as a Walsall player, and yes I'm not afraid (nor proud either) to admit that I was one that gave him stick back then. On reflection, he was moved around from position to position, used as a utility player, rarely played in his rightful position, and consequently we rarely saw the best of him. So he left, we were all well chuffed.
Next time I saw him, he came to Bescot as a striker for Cambridge, it was a cup game - probably LDV or the equivalent back then. He was electric, so direct, so much pace, he was 20 times the player that he had ever been for us. I was so impressed, I could hardly believe it was the same guy. He was the best player on the pitch by a mile, but somehow we scraped a lucky 1-0 win - not much changes !
He went on to be a VERY successful striker, I admire him greatly for that, and I for one will NEVER slag him off when he plays against us. I have to applaud his attitude too. Who can forget the day he played for Rotherham in that crucial final game of our relegation season, he could have sunk us in that game, but faced with only Jimmy to beat, he stopped, turned, dillied and dallied - absolutely without doubt he knew the consequences of scoring that goal, and couldn't bring himself to go on and put the ball past Jimmy into the net. He took the wrath of Ronnie Moore on the touchline too. He could easily have scored, he knew it, Ronnie knew it, we all knew it - but despite all that the Walsall fans had done to him years before, he still cared too much to finish us off. Tell you what, that day Martin Butler went way up in my estimation, and I'll argue the point with anyone who comes on here slagging him off.
I'd have loved to get him back here two or three years back when he was leaving Reading, but I guess he wouldn't have come.
Anyway, I've gone off subject, forgive me for that but Martin Butler is a player I have a lot of time for. No he didn't win a load of medals, but he's still had a successful career by any standards, and the same might one day be said of Daryl Taylor and a number of our youngsters who we - the fans - may hound out of Bescot, only to see them come back and haunt us when other clubs, other managers, get the best out of them in a way that Merson hasn't a clue how to do !
As has been said above, criticise players when they are played in position, while match fit, and still don't perform, but right now the tinkerman is coming up with so many bizarre team selections, playing so many players out of position, that it's totally unfair to blame those players - I mean, Craig Pead, left back, doesn't play well and WE criticise HIM, not the manager. Sometimes I think our judgement can be as bad as his!