sport news Rangers should plan for a future without Jack Butland... it makes little sense ... trends now

IF there’s any justice in the world, Jack Butland will be named in Gareth Southgate’s England squad on Tuesday and secure himself a place on the plane to Germany for the Euros.

The Rangers goalkeeper ought to have been involved in the Three Lions’ double-header with Brazil and Belgium in March. It was a hammer blow when he was left out in favour of Crystal Palace’s Sam Johnstone and the lesser-spotted Aaron Ramsdale of Arsenal — and a full-on thumb in the eye when Burnley’s James Trafford, just dropped by club boss Vincent Kompany, was drafted in ahead of him after Johnstone had gone down with an elbow injury.

Johnstone’s still on the sidelines after surgery. Trafford hasn’t played for Burnley since. Nick Pope is hardly a valid option as chief support to Everton’s Jordan Pickford considering he hasn’t appeared in the league for Newcastle since December.

Considering Southgate travelled north to take in the Ibrox outfit’s 3-3 home draw with Celtic last month, blanking Butland again would represent the most jaw-dropping example of a custard pie in the chops since Laurel and Hardy threw a whopping 3,000 of them in ‘Battle Of The Century’.

Of course, Butland’s inclusion might be seen in some quarters as good reason for the 31-year-old to nail his colours to the mast and stay at Rangers for the longer-term.

If he’s picked, there’s no need for him to return south in search of international recognition, right? No need for anyone inside Ibrox to challenge manager Philippe Clement’s assertion at the start of the week that his in-form No 1 cannot be allowed to leave — no matter the value of any offers that might come in over the summer.

Unfortunately, it’s not as straightforward as that. If anything, the former Stoke City and Palace man being given the chance to add to his nine caps for his country might force the issue even more.

If Belgian Phil is serious about the root-and-branch reboot needed at Rangers this summer, he’d better have a plan in place for Butland not being around.

Whatever happens when Southgate names his panel for the June friendlies against Bosnia and Herzegovina and Iceland, Butland’s appalling exclusion last time round, given his exceptional form, showed that those around the England national team don’t take the Scottish Premiership seriously. Or, at least, not seriously enough.

Butland wants to play for his country again. If he does get his foot back in the door over the next 48 hours, the best way of keeping it there is to head back across the border. If he doesn’t, it will be crystal-clear that the only way of being chosen lies in returning to where his performances will be more visible to those who matter.

Nottingham Forest gave him the option of going back to the Premier League in January, eventually signing Mats Selz for £5million from Strasbourg when they got no encouragement, and there is more interest brewing.

What is worth noting, though, is that things are considerably different now than they were four months ago. Rangers blew the league. The potential for a transformative £40m being brought in by qualifying for the Champions League has gone up in smoke. What’s worse, those monies from UEFA are now heading for Celtic, who already have £70m in the bank and an asset in Matt O’Riley who can be sold for over £20m.

Clement’s admission that Rangers are at the end of a cycle and need torn apart is a statement of the obvious. His admission that he, at least, had a solid core of players when he did the same at Club Brugge, and doesn’t have that here, just reiterates the massive amount of work that needs to be done in the market — with no evident sign of where the money to perform that degree of surgery will come from.

Is this really the kind of platform Butland needs to try and become a regular member of the England squad?

It is easy for fans of the Ibrox outfit to ask why he would wish to move to a mid-table English side and lessen his chances of winning medals. It is less comfortable asking what guarantee there is of lifting trophies should he stay where he is, though. Rangers are in a state and Celtic cannot possibly get their transfer dealings so badly wrong this summer as they did last. The Parkhead club were there for the taking this season and are unlikely to be as weak again.

Rangers would have been nowhere near winning a title this term were it not for Butland’s displays. How often must he have looked at the selection of flops and bottle merchants in front of him and questioned what has been going on at a club running a higher overall wage bill than their Old Firm rivals?

What must he think of a club that, by Clement’s admission, has been unable to get its players fit enough to deal with a full campaign? Can he have confidence in a business which routinely lets its bigger assets walk out the door for buckshee?

Alfredo Morelos and Ryan Kent left for nothing after £30m in offers were spurned. Borna Barisic has 35 caps for Croatia, a team that finished third at the last World Cup with him as part of the squad, and is leaving for nothing. Same as John Lundstram, by the looks of things.

And that’s part of the whole

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