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Aberdeen had five shots on target and Lennon Miller headed the first one off the line defending a corner about 55 minutes in. The second shot on target was the goal from a corner after an hour. Of the three saves he made I can think of two. The shot from outside the box which was straight at him and the shot from the right hand of the box which he saved at the near post. Neither were great saves. Add in his nonsense at the end of the game that almost gave away a goal and it was another joke performance from him.

Of course MJC will agree the game's at Fir Park. The rest he doesn't even need to post!

You're right. He often seems to see so far beyond the basics that he forgets what many of them are.

Aberdeen were the same pile of shite they've been in every one of the games that they've taken 10 points off us. Losing 10 points to them tells you more about us than them.

This. It really does get on my nerves a bit at times when Kettlewell is described as inexperienced and that he overthinks. Of course he makes tactical errors but so does every manager. Hindsight is also a great thing.

thank fuck I dont pay Sky a penny.

It's not just SOD that's at fault though. Our entire back line have been problematic this season but some players seem to be criticised more than others.

Mugabi can go anytime, hasnt progressed one bit in his time with us. Still makes the same basic mistake he always did and too regularly as all players make mistakes. .

That's not the point I made though, is it? My point, and that of others, is that Vale is a striker and that a striker is often wasted when being made to play out of position. If Kettlewell wants to play Vale in another position, then so be it, but these tactical decisions will rightly raise questions and bafflement from fans when they don't lead to positive results. Furthermore, and as you’ve said elsewhere, we wouldn't have a forum if fans agreed with the manager on all his decisions.

Club have appealed the red card

Some truth in what you say, but I'm more optimistic. SK will have more money available to him for a start. Not in terms of the gross amount but certainly in terms of the net amount. Wages for the likes of Barry Maguire, Conor Wilkinson, Nathan McGinley, Callum Butcher etc will be freed up to spend on newcomers. These players contributed little to our campaign this term but did eat up a substantial part of the wages budget. Hopefully Jon Obika too. On the debit side, yes we'll lose Blair Spittal for sure. Maybe Theo Bair and Lennon Miller - but those moves are by no means certain. As for the rest of the OOC players, there's no-one I'm desperate to keep. Maybe some other youngsters coming through too? There will be huge departure and arrival list this summer, but even if we only attain a 50% success rate in incomers then we should still strengthen. Add to that, that SK will now know his squad better and will be aware of weaknesses.

I don't care as much what a defender is like on the ball, I need them to be able to defend. That involves marking the right man, compressing space, covering team mates, attacking the ball etc. I've lost count of the number of times this season that Casey has lost his man (or been nowhere near him) and been responsible for conceding a soft goal. He gets less stick from fans because he runs about a lot and makes faces, but his actual defending skills are pretty limited.

Brilliant at heading the ball away but you look through your fingers when it's at his feet.

I agree that Casey has had his moments but Bevis just gives the fear every time he is on the ball. An absolute gem of a guy and always welcome at fir park but time to move on

Casey has been more of a defensive liability overall this season than Bevis.

If SK had been sacked we would probably be heading to the Championship by now, and the usual fuckwits would still be whinging about the new manager and how they need to be dumped. I'm glad the club seen sense, it's stability we need not a constant churn of managers every other season.

Heard a rumour that Kettlewell told the players to make sure they lost the game today so that four absolute wankers could have an evening of bitching on an internet forum. After four games without a defeat, they might not have survived another.

Completely agree Dave. Kelly is a good shot stopper but the other parts of his game are limited, especially commanding his box and dealing with crosses. I'm sure we could recruit an equally talented shot stopper who is a better all round keeper than Kelly on the same or even less money.

The only thing more eye-stabblingly painful than the annual "writing off new players we have signed" ritual is the annual "writing off players we haven't signed" ritual.