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Oldham's
Butcher Proves Popular
8th June 2006
Lincoln City face "strong" competition if they
want to reacquire the services of their former midfielder
Richard Butcher.
At the end of last season, it is believed that Butcher
was told by former Oldham Athletic manager Ronnie Moore
that he was free to leave the club. Ironically, Moore
departed Oldham soon afterwards but it appears that
Butcher will still leave Oldham even though Butcher has a
year remaining on his contract.
In another twist, Moore has been linked to the managerial
vacancy at Lincoln City. However, it is unclear whether
Moore has actually applied to The Imps, who first
overlooked him in 1985. Back then, the Lincoln manager's
post remained vacant for over month while Imps' chairman
John Reames interviewed candidates.
Moore made the final two select candidates, only to lose
out to then Imps' assistant-manager John Pickering.
Afterwards, Moore described the whole process as a waste
of time - an opinion that many Imps' fans also agreed
with. By the end of the season, George Kerr had taken
over from Pickering, but relegation to Division Four
could not be avoid.
Oldham have declined to name the clubs who are interested
in Butcher, as they do not expect a deal to be concluded
before July.
Possibly, Butcher may no longer wish to return to Lincoln
City because he had cited former Imps' boss Keith
Alexander as a reason for returning.
On May 20th, Butcher told the Lincolnshire Echo:
"Lincoln are a club I certainly want to talk to over
the summer about the possibility of a move.
"Hopefully, if Keith Alexander is still there, we
can sit down and try to get something sorted out."
Peterborough will become another club instantly linked to
Butcher, but Alexander is currently stating that
Peterborough have no funds available.
Alexander revived Butcher's professional career in
November 2002 when Butcher was plucked from non-league
Kettering Town. Prior to joining Kettering, he had been
on the books at both Northampton Town and Rushden &
Diamonds but failed to make a first team appearance at
either club.
Butcher made 112 appearances for Lincoln during a two
year spell, scoring 12 goals for The Imps. He departed
Sincil Bank in June 2004 to join Oldham Athletic but he
initially proved unpopular with Oldham's supporters. So
in October 2004, he returned to Lincoln on loan to make
an additional four appearances during which he scored
another goal for the club.
A permanent transfer to Lincoln had been mooted for last
January but upon his return to Oldham, he regained his
first team place, which he kept for the rest of the
season.
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