Jacob's (snakes and) Ladder

[Carl Sagan]

I considered putting this into the "Our next manager" thread but decided it would be lost, and I'm curious what people think of Butterfield's season of DCFC Snakes and Ladders. @HantsRamposted (p.87) of that thread got me thinking with his comment:

Quote

 

Prior to the match on the Saturday I cannot recall anyone slagging the selection given what we had available. 

A few alternative suggestions were put forward eg baird at cdm but without any strident advocacy. 

 

I think that's because the team picked itself. Wassall/Rednapp had worked themselves into a corner leaving us only three fit midfielders in Hughes, Bryson and Butterfield, so it was a no-brainer that they would play the first leg and most important game of the season against Hull. Yet Butterfield was overlooked for an unfit Johnson who had missed the previous 7 matches with a reasonably serious knee problem and must have been so far from fitness he hadn't even made the bench against Ipswich during the week before. That came right out of left field and ended up costing us big time.

Wassall's odd justification was that he had to play Johnson because he'd scored two goals against Hull (when he had been fit). Yet this completely ignored him having Butterfield at his disposal who had scored both goals against Hull in the away fixture. Why not Jacob, who despite limited opportunities since his transfer has scored 8 (mainly brilliant) goals in 30 starts which is a very respectable return? Why not Jacob, who is clearly very skillful, tidy, two-footed player - the type of skillful midfielder who might be desired for the Derby way?

It seems the high watermark of his Derby time was scoring both at Hull, where he reached the highest point on the board. Even then he was very undemonstrative on the pitch, not celebrating like a normal footballer and people on here comment that he doesn't smile. Clement's sacking was probably a very big snake for him taking him sliding down to near the bottom of the midfield hierarchy, as Wassall doesn't seem to have fancied him at all. Or is that because the other midfielders are more demonstrative and Wassall, as a very inexperienced coach, finds it easier to leave him out?

One of my friends is a Huddersfield fan and she said, "Promise me you'll look after Jacob Butterfield (and his little beard)" when he signed. I'm not sure we have. The inflated transfer fee was the fault of our recruitment department, not him. But if the coaching staff had demonstrated a little more faith in him, might he have had more chance to live up to it.

I would far rather we keep Butterfield than Johnson, who doesn't appear to have the same technical ability as the rest of the squad. I do think we need to reduce our midfield numbers, but the way to maximize revenues while keeping Hughes is probably to hope Jeff has a brilliant Euros and is snapped up for a bargain £10m as a result. And that Norwich will take Bradley back for their Championship campaign...

Where does Jacob stand with the rest of you in the snakes and ladders of the Derby midfield?

[Wolfie]

@SaintRam, can I borrow your meme?.

[SaintRam]

2 minutes ago, Wolfie said:

@SaintRam, can I borrow your meme?.

Go for it 

[manxramselly]

Definitely should be top of the ladder pre season,he would be a massive loss.

[needles]

He's alright, shows a few good moments, but if we could get half our money back I'd snatch their hands off.

[ITSD]

He'd be my second choice for one of the midfield positions, behind Will Hughes. The other for me would be one of Bryson and Hendrick.

I would certainly keep hold of Butterfield, think he's definitely a good player in the championship.

If I was the manager I'd struggle to see a place for Johnson, and I'd probably move him along.

[Rampage]

Butterfield is an excellent player. Why complain about what he supposedly cannot do? He was hopefully signed for what he can do. I thought that he was often made the scapegoat by being subbed when things were not going well. Usually not his fault in my opinion.

What went wrong this season? - not dropping players when they were not working hard enough to keep pressure on the opposition is one possibility There are many others and I do not have a definitive answer.

[needles]

2 minutes ago, Rampage said:

Why complain about what he supposedly cannot do?

Because he doesn't deliver what he can do more than 1 in 3, and what he can't do leaves us exposed. A team needs to be set up around him and there's no way we'd do that when Will Hughes is twice the player in the same situations.

[Carl Sagan]

I had a look on youtube and a Barnsley fan (where Butterfield began) has actually put together his 2015/16 highlights. Nice introduction from Chris Powell. I would say this video would be an awful lot better if it was 4 minutes long rather than 11, but it does recall some of his good moments in a Rams' shirt this season:

 

[Rampage]

34 minutes ago, needles said:

Because he doesn't deliver what he can do more than 1 in 3, and what he can't do leaves us exposed. A team needs to be set up around him and there's no way we'd do that when Will Hughes is twice the player in the same situations.

I suspect that he is doing pretty much what he did at his last Club. He took time to settle because he was being asked to play a different game, not because he was no good. More of a scouting issue in my opinion.

[cannable]

11 minutes ago, Carl Sagan said:

I had a look on youtube and a Barnsley fan (where Butterfield began) has actually put together his 2015/16 highlights. Nice introduction from Chris Powell. I would say this video would be an awful lot better if it was 4 minutes long rather than 11, but it does recall some of his good moments in a Rams' shirt this season:

 

It's his step-dad, that.

[Carl Sagan]

3 minutes ago, cannable said:

It's his step-dad, that.

Seriously? I presume you mean the guy who posted the video rather than Chris Powell! 

[Posh Ram]

Butterfield/Hughes/Thorne would be the best midfield 3 imo, with Bryson on the bench to impact games late on and Guy and Hanson getting a fair bit of game time as well.

[cannable]

2 minutes ago, Carl Sagan said:

Seriously? I presume you mean the guy who posted the video rather than Chris Powell! 

Yeah! The one that broke the news on the Barnsley forum that he wouldn't be at Huddersfield much longer.

[toddy]

Butters is a class act, he's a battler and he's got a sweet shot on him!

[Carl Sagan]

10 minutes ago, cannable said:

Yeah! The one that broke the news on the Barnsley forum that he wouldn't be at Huddersfield much longer.

Cheers - I'd forgotten about that. Good to see him sticking up for his lad.

[jono]

We have an interesting midfield in the forward positions .. Interesting in that it can be quite hard to pin down their strengths. Leaving out Hughsey as God incarnate and St George there are 4 players for 2 positions. 

My first impressions of Butterfield were his good technical skills on the ball. Not in Hughseys class but certainly better than the norm. He can also pass short and long and a desire to shoot on sight. Despite seeming of average build I think he displays to me a lack of physical presence and aggression, does anyone else see that ? I see the ability but there is a bit of gut busting running that seems to be missing ? 

So who,is he up against ?

Bryson .. Engine room of a player . Lacks consistency but when he's going for it there is no better terrier in the league. 

Johnson .. We forget too quickly that in the first few games it looked like we'd got our own Roy Keane .. Bradley Johnson armoured fighting vehicle. With a few flicks and touches to go with it. Then what happened ? Awkward, slow untidy. No lack of effort but he looked so off it I was amazed .. And it continued game after game. Then one good performance ( injured at the end ) and we thought we'd got the package back (well I did) .. That was why he got picked for Hull I reckon.

Hendrick .. Right royal pain in the rear .. One day a great raiding midfielder jinking and running; bursting through lines and shooting with the best .. Next day lacking effort, poor tackling off the pace. You never quite know which Jeff you are going to get. 

A good coach manager should be able to get the best out of all of them and crucially find out who works best with who. After this years hot and cold performances. I haven't the faintest idea 

 

[RadioactiveWaste]

He's been very unfortunate I think this season with how things have panned out, but he is a lovely footballer.

In Clement's midfield the main criticism was he was too deep and lacked stamina (always subbed) as he was his best in a 4-4-2 so it's taking time to learn our three man.

When Daz Waz came in I think the main drive was to go back to Schtevie ways, so a change again in what was needed and from Wassall's position it was easier to pick returning old guard players.

At one point I likened him to Dawkins as being a good footballer but not making an impact on the team.

I think a good pre-season will see him perk up. I really like him and want him to succeed and I think, ultimately, he's more equipped than some of the others (Brad) to become a vital part of the team.

Also, if Will goes, Butters is the only one I think can do a similar job glueing and probing and creating, our other attackers are all energy in Hendrick and Bryson.

[rynny]

I like Butterfield, think he is a quality player. Certainly likes to score cracking goals.

Only McCormack (still not signing him @McLovin ) scored more goals from outside the box last season than he did for Derby. If you include Butterfield's goal for Huddersfield they scored the same from outside the box.

[ashram]

A quality footballer. It'll be very interesting to see what a new manager makes of him. In our current 4-3-3 formation there is no room for him in the starting 11. With Thorne Bryson Hughes in the middle. But as someone else has pointed out, if god forbid Hughes goes! We have a ready made replacement with a good first season under his belt.