As the final days of a forgettable personal campaign ebbed away, Jack Butland did his best to remember.
Before the fumbles and the frailties set in, he’d excelled in goal for Rangers. Touted for an England recall at one stage, he hadn’t lost his ability overnight. He had found himself struggling with confidence, however.
There was that moment he punched the ball into his own net at Old Trafford. There were poor decisions and errors against Motherwell, St Mirren, Hibernian and Dundee. The harder he tried, it seemed, the deeper the rut became.
Philippe Clement stood by him, but Barry Ferguson, a former team-mate at Birmingham City, omitted him from seven matches including both legs of the Europa League quarter-final against Athletic Bilbao. The end of the season could not come quickly enough.
‘There were also some times where I wasn’t at the levels I needed to be,’ Butland admitted.
‘It was not for the lack of trying and not for the effort that I put in on the training pitch.
Jack Butland admits there were times last season when he wasn’t at the levels he needed to be
‘I just had a difficult moment. And when you have a difficult moment here, at a club like this, it can be compounded.
‘And I completely understand at times the frustration of the fans because the expectations of me are so high.
‘My expectations of myself are so high, which is why probably those moments felt a lot worse. But, listen, they make you stronger.’
The 32-year-old Englishman needed time, space and, by his own admission, a complete mental reset.
‘I had a good training camp in the summer. I looked at a few things that I felt I’d slipped into a couple of bad habits. Whenever there’s those question marks over you, I want to define my time here. I love it here. I want to be here. So that can hurt you.
‘So, for me, it (being dropped) was, I suppose, a bit of a kick up the backside. Not like I needed it, but if there was any motivation I needed, that was added extra.
‘I know and believe I can be a huge part of this club’s history and success, and I still intend to do that.’
Butland has no shortage of trusted confidants to lean on but his dip in form was essentially a matter he had to tackle head on himself.
‘There’s a variety of things,’ he added. ‘Sometimes it’s just a case of you’ve got to break down a few walls yourself as far as reminding yourself of things, just training hard, reinforcing things.’
He knew that all eyes were on him as Russell Martin took the team for the first time in a competitive game last week against Panathinaikos.
Were it not for the keeper’s interventions in the first leg of the Champions League qualifier, Rangers could have been three goals down by the time Findlay Curtis produced some heroics of his own at the other end.
The Rangers goalkeeper looked like his old self with several vital saves against Panathinaikos
A handsome 2-0 victory, with the second goal coming from debutant Djeidi Gassama, would not have been achieved without Butland rolling back the years.
It had been some time since he’d heard his name praised in song by those congregated behind his goal.
‘That’s what I hope they remember. I certainly feel like that guy,’ he recalled. ‘I feel really refreshed, feel good, feel really positive about the season ahead.
‘I had a really good summer, a lot of time to think about stuff, work on stuff, just to remind myself that I’m a good goalkeeper and I believe that I’m a top goalkeeper.
‘Sometimes you can forget that when things get tough and you start to overthink. But I’m feeling in a great place, really looking forward to the season.’
Come what may, it’s now his intention to stay in the moment. What’s gone is gone. He can only shape the immediate future.
Whatever the external pressure ahead of the first leg, he was no more relieved to make that first big save from Filip Duricic than any other in his time at Ibrox.
‘That’s the way I’m thinking,’ added Butland. ‘I wasn’t looking for a big game. It was just a case of: “Let’s just play the game, let’s just try and make good decisions”.
‘Despite all the things that we’ve been trying to work on as a team, just remember that I’m a goalkeeper first and foremost and try and do that bit.
‘Just let the game come to you, which I did. Yeah, you’re able to get involved and help out in a few moments.
‘There were some other huge blocks in there from the boys. We kept it at nil-nil for a while until Findlay got the breakthrough.’
It would have been the simplest of matches for Martin to analyse. Aside from Butland’s saves, pretty much everything Rangers did in the first half was sloppy. Yet they were unrecognisable after the interval.
‘The best bit about half-time was the fact that all the issues that we had, we created them ourselves,’ Butland recalled.
‘We weren’t quite doing the things that we’ve worked so hard on. When it comes to a big game like this, with 50,000 fans, the Champions League, first game of the season, it’s very easy to revert back to type at times and not quite do the things that were being asked. But that was a good thing about half-time.
‘We looked at it, realised the things that we weren’t doing quite right, adjusted it and we’re a lot better for it.’
Butland says being dropped was a kick up the backside that gave him extra motivation
While it would be foolhardy to read too much into bounce games and one competitive match, a pattern of play is emerging under the new manager.
There has been a load of information for the new players to digest in a short period of time, yet Butland feels invigorated by the challenge.
‘There’s not been a season I’ve come in and not felt that,’ he stressed. ‘But I suppose at the minute what you feel is a new expectation, new ownership, new control, new management, a lot of fresh faces at the training ground. There’s been lots of change.
‘Sometimes it can be really difficult. But what I will say about the guys they’ve brought in, they have a lot of ideas, a lot of energy and it feels like we’re starting to operate in a really good way.
‘And that just leaves you as players to do your own thing, just to fit into the system, to test yourself in the way that the manager’s challenged us.
‘The message is there. I think you’ll have seen a lot of it last week, but you’ll start to see some new patterns, some of the ways that we want to play.
‘And that only comes if everybody’s on it and everyone’s in trust and in tandem with each other.’
A two-goal lead from the first leg puts Rangers in a position which is enviable yet by no means impregnable. Panathinaikos have no choice but to come out with all guns blazing on Wednesday.
Martin must decide if he’s going to fight fire with fire or batten down the hatches.
Irrespective of the approach, Rangers’ interest in the competition will largely come down to heart and nerve.
‘A lot of tactics go out the window,’ said Butland. ‘You’ve got to play the game, you’ve got to use your experience, you’ve got to manage the game, you’ve got to take the sting out of it, you’ve got to know when to get the ball back in play quickly and when to kill the game and play it smart.
‘All of that’s going to come into it because this is not a league format, this is a knockout. We know what this means and what we need to do. It will be really important that we get a result there and get through this time.’
