BUTCHER WANTS SLICE OF GLORY
THE enduring image of a bloodied Terry Butcher proves he is not a man to shy away from a challenge – and the former England captain is setting his sights high after being named Newport County boss.
The 56-year-old signed a twoyear deal with the Exiles this week to succeed former manager Justin Edinburgh, who departed for Gillingham in February, after caretaker boss Jimmy Dack ruled himself out of the running.
He said: “Who would have thought years ago clubs like Burnley, Swansea and Bournemouth would get into the Premier League?
“Who knows, if all the right things are in place, whether Newport County have the potential to do something like that?”
Butcher is set to take charge of the club for their third straight season in League Two, having won promotion from the Conference in 2013.
The former Ipswich and Rangers defender has been out of work since being sacked by Hibernian in June 2014 after they were relegated to the Scottish Championship.
That brief stint at Hibs fol- lowed spells in charge of Football League clubs, including Coventry and Brentford, as well as Scottish sides Motherwell and Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
And the 77-cap international is hoping to bring a side that narrowly missed out on the League Two play-offs this season into a new era.
“I’m not starting from the bottom,” he said.“This is a club that’s had great success and a good season.
“Pre-season is so important for team bonding and getting the right structure and philosophy in place. The work starts today.
“But I’m not worried about a hangover from missing out on the play-offs. It’s a new start.”
Meanwhile, chairman Les Scadding has blasted ex-boss Edinburgh for ‘wrecking’ their promotion bid. The pair had become close allies during the manager’s four-year reign.
“Justin certainly didn’t go with my blessing,” he said. “In fact, what he did by jumping ship like that took away a lot of the respect I had for him as a man. I felt I had done a lot for Justin and backed him 100 per cent.
“I just had a message from a board member that Justin is no longer with us. The fact that he didn’t ring or speak to me also hurt. I wasn’t very happy at all.”