The keeper swears he’ll never get in the way of fans airing their views as Premiership and Europa League tables hurt to look at
You won’t find Jack Butland taking offence at the methods used by the Rangers faithful to voice their anger and frustration at the ways things have fallen apart this season.
But the big Ibrox keeper reckons his team-mates certainly should be feeling a personal sting when they look at the two league tables spelling out just how far they’ve tumbled.
A team that roared its way to the last eight of the Europa League last year now finds itself propping up the 36-team ladder having lost all four of their games so far.
And if a humiliating exit on the continent isn’t bad enough, things aren’t much better domestically with Rangers looking like also-rans, a huge 14 points adrift of Premiership leaders Hearts.
The state of disunion was summed up during Thursday’s 2-0 defeat to Roma as the furious fanbase took aim, quite literally, at Patrick Stewart and Kevin Thelwell.
Banners depicting the chief executive and sporting director in a sniper’s crosshairs certainly won’t win points for good taste.
But Butland opted not to point fingers at the punters who have paid through the nose only to be shortchanged by a squad that had £40million spent on it over the summer.
Instead, he reckons his colleagues in the Ibrox dressing room should be insulted by the lowly position they now find themselves at home and abroad.
Butland said: “We’re all aware that the banners have been there but we’ve also seen the amazing tifos that they’ve put up.
“There’s a balance to it but I’m not going to get involved in it.
“The fans pay their hard-earned money to pay to come and watch us. It’s never nice, we don’t want to be in this situation where there is that.
“Toxic is a very harsh word [to describe the atmosphere]. We’ve spoken about the word frustration, I know it’s one that we’ve said a lot.
“There is a lot of that because the fans expect more than what we’ve delivered.
“It’s certainly how I feel and I know the group feels as well. We definitely know we should be higher than where we are in the competitions.
“And the fans are entitled to their frustrations where they feel it’s been directed at us as players.
“Rightly so at times. But this is our group right now and this is what we need to move forward with.
“We’ve got a really big stretch of games now until January where I believe if we get things moving in the right direction and learn some of the lessons that we’ve had recently, we can make things a lot more positive than they feel right now.
“I think it’s an opportunity for us to do with this group is to prove a lot of people wrong.
“What happens and what the fans vent their frustrations at is completely up to them and we’ll never step in the way of that.”
But Butland admits it’s hard to get his head around the fall from grace that has seen Gers slide from quarter-finalists last year to favourites for the EL wooden spoon this term.
He said: “It’s difficult for everybody at the club.
“What we all hope to see compared to where we’re at is obviously what’s creating a lot of frustration, a lot of tension.
“There’s been a lot of changes, a lot of moving parts, a lot of new players. That’s no excuse, but it’s a reality.
“It’s something that we need to do better with, regardless of how that Europa League table finishes.
“We can’t accept where we’re at right now, regardless of what’s happened. It’s something that we need to take personally and something that we need to do better in the remaining four games and see where that takes us.
“Dwelling on it and putting fuel to the fire of the stats of it and how many we’ve lost and things like that is certainly going to bog you down.
“What we need to do is focus on the next one, focus on the next game in the league. When the next European game comes around, it’s a must-win if we want to advance in the competition.”
On the face of it, losing to Roma is certainly easier to stomach that the shock slip-ups against competition lightweights Genk, Sturm Graz and Brann.
But that’s not how Butland sees it.
“Playing against big sides like that, like we are ourselves, it’s a great opportunity to get a great win,” he said.
“I definitely don’t feel like it’s a game that we can accept and mark it down as one that we don’t deserve. We don’t believe in that.
“It’s an opportunity to have a fantastic European night at home, where we had great support from the fans and a great opportunity to get really good results.
“We didn’t manage to do that. For us, it’s about picking the group up as quick as we can and making sure that we go up to Dundee on Sunday and win.”
Away from Ibrox, few are expecting new gaffer Danny Rohl to propel this ragged outfit back into the title race.
But Butland doesn’t accept the fight is over – and reckons the fans are still up for the battle after being wowed by their giant Gladiator display ahead of the Roma clash.
He said: “I think the statement of the fans prior to the game yesterday shows that no-one’s given up on anything and they haven’t given up on their team.
“That’s certainly not how we feel. Your fans don’t go to that amount of effort to turn up with the tifos if they think it’s over.
“So as players, that’s something amazing to have. But we have to bring it.
“It’s a difficult time, but it’s one where you have an opportunity to stand up.
“The club’s always going to be under the microscope.
“It’s about sticking your chest out and getting on with it. That’s all we can do as a group. That’s the message. That’s all there is to focus on, ourselves.”
