Familiar bliss for derby day star Butcher
CALUM BUTCHER helped history repeat itself with Dundee United’s 6-2 thumping of shell-shocked rivals Dundee — but insisted personal glory made this derby demolition all the sweeter. Butcher was a two-goal hero on Friday night as his first-half brace put Robbie Neilson’s relentless side on their way to another memorable Tannadice triumph which propelled them seven points clear of their demoralised Dark Blue opponents after just four games in the Championship title race.
Back on New Year’s Day 2015, English midfielder Butcher played his part as Jackie McNamara’s United thumped their city foes by the same scoreline to earn the bragging rights in the City of Discovery.
But the 28-year-old fans’ favourite, who returned to the club during the January transfer window from Mansfield Town, hailed this latest walkover as even more satisfying, having notched two headers in front of the live cameras. Butcher said: ‘I was here for the
last 6-2 game — to be
involved in one of them was great, but two is just amazing.
‘I scored twice in this one so I would say it’s better, wouldn’t I!
‘I could even have had a hat-trick but I got a bit excited when I was shooting near the end and pulled it wide.
‘To win another derby 6-2 is fantastic. It’s some result against your rivals. We set down a marker tonight and it’s going to be up to us to keep it going.
‘We can’t take the foot off the gas. We’ve had a great start and there is a great feeling about the club. Everyone is going in the same direction but we have to keep it up for us to have a successful season.
‘I think you can see this is a team which has been working hard for a while now and we are getting the benefits of that.’
As well as Butcher’s exploits in front of goal, United made it a night to remember thanks to further strikes from Lawrence Shankland, Louis Appere and substitute pair Ian Harkes and Cammy Smith.
Appere, 20, caught the eye once more as he scared the daylights out of the Dundee defence with his rampaging runs and physicality.
Butcher remembers well from his first stint at the club the previous crop of talent who came through the youth ranks, acts such as Stuart Armstrong, Ryan Gauld and John Souttar.
All have since moved on to bigger things and Butcher is convinced Appere, who was turning out for junior side Broughty Athletic last season, has the sheer potential to go just as far as any of them.
Butcher added: ‘I think Louis is fantastic. He is as good as any of the young players I’ve played with at this club.
‘I didn’t see much of him last season because he was out on loan, but since he came in during pre-season he’s been incredible.
‘He has looked after himself, he’s as fit as a fiddle and nothing has fazed him. He’s got a connection with Lawrence Shankland, sometimes that just happens and you can see the pair of them have clicked.
‘There is some really, really good young talent at this club — you have Scott Banks and Logan Chalmers too — and you’ll see more of them on the pitch this season.’
Beaten Dundee star Paul McGowan claimed United celebrated as though they’d already clinched the title and insisted the humiliation must act as a wake-up call for James McPake’s men.
McGowan, who also featured back in 2015 when the Tannadice side chalked up the same scoreline, said: ‘Of course it hurts. It’s hard. You see their celebrations after the game in the changing room as if they’ve already won the league, but fair play to them.
‘They beat us 6-2 fair and square and if they want to celebrate like that we have to take it on board.
‘We kept the door open and listened to it. We let it sink in — that doesn’t happen again.
‘It’s going to be a tough season but we need to stand up and be counted. The manager is pretty angry and rightly so because that can’t happen if you want to win this league.
‘If they wanted it more in a derby game, then we need to look at ourselves.’
It is some result. We’ve set down a marker and it’s up to us to keep it going