BUTCH & YOU’VE NO CHANCE KID
Tam reckons Calum red card call inevitable after ‘furore’ around tackle
TAM COURTS last night backed Calum Butcher as the Dundee United boss accepted the ban handed to him for his shocking challenge on David Turnbull.
The midfielder was booked on Sunday but saw it upgraded to a red card after an SPFL probe. But Tannadice boss Courts believes it was inevitable after the amount of scrutiny placed on it in the aftermath of the clash. He said: “The general feeling internally was that the decision was almost already taken. “There was such a furore around the tackle. When you play against one of the two Glasgow teams and the match is on TV, people have a substantial opinion. “I’d like to be clear the last thing that Calum would ever want to do is endanger a player. “As much as Butcher is a physical player, he’s not a player who looks to go and harm opponents. In terms of the isolated incident we never want to see any player endangered on the pitch.
“These days players are so fit and so fast. They are naturally going to come together but the last thing we want to see is anyone endangered on the pitch.
“It’s frustrating for him that he is going to now miss a further three games.
“We need to protect Butch a bit. There’s been a lot of online opinion or punditry opinion.
“As competitive as he is, I don’t think he wants to knowingly and willingly injure another professional, particularly a talented young Scotland international like David Turnbull. I can understand why endangering an opponent has been looked at retrospectively, even though the retrospective process can be flawed.
“It needs to be consistent and we need to consider how you can bring a tackle to the attention of the appropriate body. It’s the consistency that’s flawed.
“In terms of endangering an opponent and where we felt the process was at, it was not something we wanted to challenge.”
Better news for United, who face Livingston at Tannadice tomorrow, was the tieing up of talented full-back Kieran Freeman on a new three-year deal.
Courts said: “Last season, in a different capacity with the club, I coached Kieran quite a bit.
“This year we have seen a young, committed player who is looking for opportunities.
“He has been given one and has capitalised on that opportunity, making the position his own.”