Butler interested in guiding U-17s in Asian mission
After successfully guiding Bangladesh's senior women's team and under-20 women's team to their maiden Asian Cup berths, head coach Peter Butler is willing to take on the challenge of leading the under-17 team in next month's AFC Women's U-17 Asian Cup Qualifiers.
The British coach returned to Bangladesh last Thursday following a month-long vacation in UK and started training women's teams on Sunday even though he is none too pleased with the training facilities, especially ground conditions, as he feels "BFF standards are greatly different to mine."
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Following two successful Asian Cup berths and two triumphant SAFF campaigns, Butler had decided to leave the SAFF U-17 campaign in the hands of his understudy, Mahbubur Rahman Litu. The team, however, failed to emulate their seniors in the South Asian competition, finishing second to India.
Now back in Bangladesh, Butler says he is impressed with the talent within the under-17 team but believes they lack proper guidance and planning. "I'm studying the under-17s. They have many good players, regardless of their poor showing at SAFF," Butler told The Daily Star on Monday.
Although Bangladesh beat eventual champions India in the last match of the double round-robin competition, they had already lost to India in the first meeting and were held by Bhutan, which ultimately cost them a shot at the title. However, players like Sauravi Akanda Prity, Alpi Akter, Mamoni Chakma, and Purnima Marma impressed everyone.
Butler believes there were deficiencies in planning and execution. "I watched the games from the UK. (There were) many reasons (for the failure -- poor planning and execution in selection. Irrespective (of the results), these girls have an exciting future ahead of them if handled with tender loving care."
Currently, Butler is overseeing three groups simultaneously, focusing mostly on the fitness. With nine senior team players playing in the Bhutan National Women's League, he is training the combined batch of under-20s and seniors -- 31 players currently, and also overseeing the under-17s, which features 27 players. The senior team is scheduled to play two FIFA friendlies on October 25 and 28 in Thailand and might also play in a proposed three-nation tournament at home in November.
With these assignments on the horizon, the combined team will likely move to the Korean EPZ in Chattogram for a residential training camp soon, as facilities in Dhaka -- National Stadium and Bashundhara Kings Arena -- are off-limits.
Butler knows he will not have much time to commit to the under-17s, but given the frustrating SAFF experience and the opportunity to stake a claim among the top teams at every level, the British coach is not ruling out the possibility of guiding the team in the AFC U-17 Women's Asian Cup Qualifiers in Jordan from 13 to 17 October. The competition will involve Chinese Taipei, the hosts, and Bangladesh in Group H. Only the group winners will progress to the final round in China next year.
"I would love to take the U-17s, but it depends on the Thailand games too," Butler said. "Possibly I can travel. I have already spoken to the chairperson. It's her decision."
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