Butcher is a stopgap, his contract should't be renewed. He saw us as a road back to full time management and the board saw him as a "name" to appease the fans, how's that working out for them? SPL to SFL mediocrity in a matter of weeks. No new contract until he demonstrates a degree of consistency and only then after looking at all the other options available to us.
You fail to mention that we were spiraling to SFL mediocrity before Butcher came along, he did almost turned it round with players he didnt know (or sign in the window).
However as we have seen Butchers signings have been dropped like flies and the old players gradually being re-introduced, i think we are looking at a more positive side now and if he signs a decent defender in January to stop the leaks, we could have a decent run in to the end of the season.
I'm in agreement with you on that 100%. We need a Dods'esque' centre half who can command.
IF and it is a big if they can sign someone then that will make a massive difference. IMHO.