Jack Butland is surely finished at Rangers | OneFootball

Let’s jump into the current buzz: should Rangers bench Jack Butland? Before you grab your protest gear, listen up. Butland has definitely had his “wow” moments—he’s rocking an 80% save rate and has managed to keep the opposition off the scoreboard well over half the time (Rust, 2024). Yet, there’s a reason why “good enough” rarely cuts it at top clubs. Being merely decent at a club of Rangers’ stature just doesn’t fly. So why are we continuing with him?

Recall that horrendous own goal against Manchester United. Ouch! If you’re going to grab headlines, at least make sure they’re for saving goals rather than giving them away (Duncan, 2025). That was the kind of moment where you want to hide your face and question what exactly the guy was doing in practice. He made a couple of clutch saves later in the game, but really, who’s going to remember that when your screw-up is on highlight reels all over the world? Rangers fans have long memories.

Then there’s his injury list. “Out of sight, out of mind,” as the saying goes. While Butland was benched with his various ailments, Liam Kelly took charge. Boy, talk about a wake-up call! Who knew Kelly was that good? If he keeps it up, Butland may come to regret all those injuries. Rangers might even come to see them as a blessing. Better to stick with a consistently good performer like Kelly than to hope for a sporadic moment of brilliance from the injury-prone Butland (Duncan, 2025).

Make no mistake: I’m not saying Butland should be sent packing right this instant. There’s a lot of talent and development potential there. He wouldn’t have been called up to the national team otherwise (Rust, 2024). However, perhaps it’s time for Rangers to see what they can get in terms of transfer money for him. After all, the £15 million figure being floated around in the rumor mill isn’t exactly chump change. Think about the reinvestment possibilities.

Here’s my take: let’s really ponder if sticking with Jack Butland makes sense. Sure, he’s got some top-notch numbers. But stats often lie—just listen to any half-hour of Radio 5 Live, and somebody will put forward a number that sounds impressive but actually doesn’t mean much in the grand scheme of things. We want to move forward as a club. When you’re in an elite organization, you don’t do your job as well as you can, you find ways to make it high enough that you’re not screwing up the lives of people who follow the team you play for (Wilson, 2024).