Dan Butler is to be loaned out to give him some first team football, but should he be given the opportunity to gain some vital experience in the Portsmouth team?
The young left back played in Pompey's development game with Oxford today, a game which ended goalless and he is now being touted for a loan spell at Aldershot or Salisbury.
The 18-year-old featured in Pompey's first two matches of the season and was promptly dropped after being singled out for criticism and hasn't played since. However, with Marcos Painter injured and no other specialist left back to choose from, perhaps Guy Whittingham is making a mistake in letting Butler go.
After all, his other options are not particularly great. Danny East has hardly shone since his arrival from Hull, Shaun Cooper can do a job there but doesn't get forward and Joe Devera is better utilised elsewhere in the back four.
A case can be made for Butler to be given another chance in the side, especially as other players have been dropped this season and have come back. Jed Wallace is the perfect example of this, having been abused by fans at the start of the season he is now Pompey's golden boy once again after a string of excellent performances.
Who is to say that Dan can't do the same? He showed what he was capable of in a higher division at the end of last season with his ability going forward and then throwing in some good challenges for good measure.
It seems bewildering to send him out to a team two levels below a league he was proving to be competent in despite a lacklustre start in all of the two matches (against Oxford and Bournemouth no less) he played in this campaign. He may get some game time at Aldershot or Salisbury but he needs to be playing against better opposition than the Conference can offer.
It may be too early to tell but it may well be that the Portsmouth manager is making a mistake in letting Butler go when he may well have something to offer his team. If only he were given a chance...
Source: Fratton Faithful
Source: FOOTYMAD
