Butler enjoying extended interview process with Rovers
Leon Wobschall meets the man determined to keep hold of the reins at hometown club Doncaster Rovers ahead of a hectic finale to season.
EXACTLY a month into his extended ‘interview’ to see whether he becomes the chosen candidate to manage Doncaster Rovers in the long term, Andy Butler’s attention to detail is already extensive.
In charge of his hometown club initially for the rest of the 2020-21 season, Butler is tasked with securing it for longer.
He is the first to admit that he has caught the managerial bug.
Results in March were decidedly mixed. After winning his first two games at the helm, the 37-year-old has seen his side fail to win in their last five matches – with Rovers now out of the League One play-off places heading into Easter.
Butler, appointed after Darren Moore’s exit to Sheffield Wednesday on March 1, is not downhearted and is learning plenty. His thirst to improve at every facet of management is equally insatiable.
Butler, whose side welcome top-six rivals Charlton Athletic in a key fixture tomorrow lunchtime, said: “It is my job now and I am not going to let it go.
“It is a huge challenge, but it is rewarding. The rewards you can get from a three or four-month interview is another pathway in my career.
“Once you get the taste of it, you do not want to let it go. I am still learning as a person and manager and I feel like I am growing in every game.
“My team-talks are better and the way I have approached things has been good. I record my team talks in my pocket, so I can listen back and reflect upon them and actually learn from them rather than repeat the same words and grow quicker.
“I was a big one for saying: ‘yeah’, ‘yeah’ a lot. Now rather than do that, I take time to pause and think about my next words I am going to say. It is important to keep learning as a coach.”
A crash course in time-management and compartmentalising the working day made for a hectic March.
There will be no let-up whatsoever in April and other variables such as contract discussions regarding players will increasingly be factored in.
On the pitch, Rovers face eight matches this month and there is no midweek break in their schedule for the remainder of the season, which is due to end at home to Darren Ferguson’s Peterborough United on May 8.
Naturally, Butler would like nothing better than the season being extended by way of playoff participation and being kept busy until well into May – and beyond.
He added: “You have to manage that time side and make time to keep fit yourself and have mental rest. It is full on, but everything I expected and wanted from it.
“You get up early in the morning, do the school run and then get to work and sit down and have five minutes with your staff to make sure they are alright and there are no issues there and then you go onto the analysis work and setting up (training).
“You talk through your session, do the ‘pre-match’ on the opposition, take training, bring the stuff in and then analyse the session. Then you might ‘do the media’, come home and then watch more clips of whoever you are playing in the future.
“It is hectic, but I enjoy it.”