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It's that time again, and as we head towards the end of the season, we have the following player's loans ending or out of contract unless I'm mistaken (please let me know if any of these have changed): End of loan deals Georgie Gent Adam Devine Jack Vale Oli Shaw Out of contract (1st team squad) Liam Kelly Aston Oxborough Bevis Mugabi Ricki Lamie Stephen O'Donnell Callan Elliot Paul McGinn Barry Maguire Calum Butcher Callum Slattery Sam Nicholson Blair Spittal (signed pre-contract with Hearts) Jonathan Obika Mark Ferrie The players who we'd still have under contract are as follows: Dan Casey (under contract until May 2025) Shane Blaney (under contract until May 2025) Davor Zdravkovski (under contract until May 2025) Lennon Miller (under contract until May 2025) Harry Paton (under contract until May 2025) Andy Halliday (under contract until May 2025) Theo Bair (under contract until May 2025) Ross Tierney (under contract until May 2025) Moses Ebiye (under contract until May 2025) There's a whole load of youth players who's contracts are up as well, and who have been out on loan. I'm not going to add them to this discussion. Wider squad discussions Goalkeeper - Unless we re-sign one of the current goalkeepers, we'll be going into next season with a brand new goalkeeper and backup. Both of our first-team keepers are out of contract, and so are Matthew Connelly and Josh Bogan. I don't think we'll re-sign Liam Kelly. I reckon it's reached the stage now where it's probably best for all parties if we move on. He could do with a fresh environment, and we could probably do with someone else. Will be interesting to see what happens here. Defence - With Mugabi, O'Donnell, McGinn and Butcher all out of contract, there could be a relatively new-look defence for next season. As tempting as it may be for the club, the only player I'd retain from our out-of-contract list is McGinn. I think we need a change. Gent is out of contract at the end of this season, I think, but I doubt we'll see him again. We'd also be losing Lamie, although he's been out of the picture for a while. Casey and Blaney will be retained unless we decide to move them on. Midfield - Priority here has to be Spittal. I'd be looking to match whatever St Mirren or anyone else is offering unless it gets daft. He's a quality operator and is probably at the ceiling of the kind of quality a club like us can hope to attract. We retain Miller for another season, although I think we'll look to sell this season unless he signs for another year. That might not be as crazy as it sounds, as he's not featured much this season. A full season with us next year and a move next summer might be for the best, but I guess we'll see. I'd let Maguire move on, but have a feeling the club will offer Slattery a deal. I'm not fussed either way really. Davor I'm happy to keep, Paton likely won't be going anywhere if Kettlewell is retained. Forwards - Obika has to be let go. I'm not sure Nicholson warrants being kept around, so we likely head into the summer with one recognised striker in Bair. We need to make some proper moves in this department. So, that's the squad for next season as things stand. I'll be honest, going into the summer with all of the above and having Nick Daws in charge of recruitment gives me the fear.

Pretty much the result I expected, but not achieved in the way I envisaged it. I’m not overly fussed that the players hit the beach, but I was deeply concerned that our manager appeared to. That sent out the wrong message beforehand to the players. St Johnstone were always going to be up for it and fortune certainly favoured the brave in their case. The game itself was a cameo of our season; losing cheap first goals; defensive calamities; throwing on 500 strikers willy nilly late on. We took 3 points out of a possible 12 against St Johnstone this season. Let that sink in. What concerned me most was the manager’s team selection and tactics. Going by the personnel he selected, it looked like a very ambitious attacking team, but the formation seemed to contradict that as it appeared to be very defensive. In other words, square pegs in round holes. I thought at first it was a back four but then seemed to revert to a back 3 with Nicholson playing wing back, as Melvin Bragg suggests. Nicholson was played out of position as was Paton and that made them look ineffective. Up front Bair was all too often left stranded and isolated. Our confused defensive formation was definitely a factor in St Johnstone’ s first goal. All so avoidable. The subs too baffled me. I simply don’t understand Vale playing in a deep midfield role and SK is was not getting the best out of him there. I didn’t get the need to hook Lennon Miller nor bring on Callum Butcher. Just downright confusing. Clearly the players didn’t fully understand the set up either. Like others, I would have understood if he’d stuck with our normal set up but maybe brought in a player or two who is staying or perhaps giving the likes of Luca Ross or Dylan Wells 10/15/20 minutes in the second half. By unnecessarily tinkering with the line up and tactics today and overthinking, he set the tone for the players not performing at their best. All these issues are part of much deeper concern for me. They indicate that SK is not learning from his mistakes. That does not bode well for next season. Overall he’s done quite well this season given the constraints he’s had to work under like budget limitations; injuries; and having to work with another manager’s players, deadwood and all. He’s kept us in the Premiership finishing in 9th spot. He has a huge summer ahead in terms of team building. If he continues to make the same mistakes, the fans will not be so forgiving next term.

I think he has got the best out of players this season - Gent. Vale. Bair in particular. Spittal too. And as much as I think Mugabi is a bomb scare there must have been reasons why SOD was benched. I agree about the state of our defence but there are players who have made progress under Kettlewell - and he's inherited some of the players who aren't performing. I agree completely that the defence needs an overhaul but again that comes down to money. And as much as I'm sorry to say it I think it is time that Kelly moved on.

For the last time this season Jack Vale

Season 23/24 nearly over and it has been a bit of a meh season. Nothing to get excited about, out of the cups early, never looking like getting top six and safe from relegation with three games to go.. The usual suspects on here decrying the manager and their favoured fall guys. Kettlewell is stuck on 5-3-2 and only changes this when we are chasing the game and he puts on a load of forwards. The lack of wide players in the squad means we are relying on wing backs to get forward. This puts a lot on them and often they get subbed off and replaced like for like. He has had to deal with an excessive amount of injuries to important players. McGinn 6 games, Casey 9 games, Slattery missed last five months of the season, Miller 12 games, Obika all season, Paton 8 games Blaney 5 games, Butcher 14 games. Bieruth 6 games. Add to that the recall of Bieruth and Spencer. Recruitment has on the whole been good. Negatives Wilkinson, Obika, Shaw, and Halliday. Positives Bieruth, Bair, Spencer, Paton, Gent, Vale. Ok Nicholson and Devine. Kettlewell has improved players. Bair, Spittal, Miller and Gent especially with loanees being recalled after their clubs recognised their improvement after successful spells. He appears to be a good motivator as despite the long run without a win the players stuck with him. How many times did we score late goals to get a draw or a win? God knows how he keeps them interested as his team talks must last ages if his interviews are anything to go by. Despite losing Van Veen we are the third top scorers in the league. Problems are clearly in defence and he hasn't managed to sort that out. Big summer ahead. Recruitment needs to be good again and he needs to find a couple of diamonds to improve us. I saw my first game over sixty years ago and I will be back next year to support the team and the manager.

Biereth moving to Strum Graz, how is that Kettlewells fault ffs, he has developed Bair, and to some extent Spittal their goals have kept us up this year, brought in Vale and Gent who have been great so SK has done very well. Other players like Souare, Obilye, Wilkinson etc were no doubt short term low cost, low risk punts to the club so he can't be blamed for those not working out.

Kelly SOD. Casey. Butcher. Gent Nicholson. Miller. Davor. Spittal Vale. Bair When three up fling on some young boys and see if they are up to standard.

Completely agree, the current squad will occasionally raise their game but will invariably disappoint , particularly the defence and the Goalkeeper. The defence needs a complete revamp. Other than keeping McGinn, Gent I'm not fussed about any of the rest. Halliday has shown bugger all that should tempt us to make his move permanent. Oli Shae needs moved out , ditto Barry McGuire. Id like to see Bair and Moses play up front next year. However if he secures Vale again I think Bair and Vale will be our front pairing. I sincerely hope we dont try and sign KVV if we lose Vale. I think Kettlewell has a big job ahead but frankly I wouldn't be looking to replace him. He deserves a chance to improve things but if we have another season like this and totally ineffective in the cups Id make the next season his last.

He has made mistakes with transfers clearly but I think he's also made some decent decisions. Gent. Vale. Nicholson. He's done a really good job with Bair as folk know. I think we were also unlucky as I've said elsewhere. If Mika hadn't had that injury and then been recalled our season might have been v different. I'm not suggesting btw that we should rely on one player but when you have someone as talented as that and they are firstly injured and then recalled it's going to be a sore one. I agree with you - he's kept us up comfortably. Don't see any reason why we would be thinking of parting ways with him at this point.

You said you were 'baffled' that Kettlewell doesn't see what the fans see. He's paid to see far beyond the basics of what we observe. We see Vale play for 90 minutes. We don't see him in training every day. Kettlewell has to focus on tactical adjustments, adaptability, and overall team dynamics. It could very well be the case that having Vale play up top alongside Bair affects the qualities that Bair brings to the team. It could see him less able to play his preferred game. It could also affect the performance of the midfield having two players so far forward, instead of one playing slightly behind and offering an outlet to our attacking midfielders? It could be the case that the management team have seen reasons to play Vale slightly behind Bair because it will affect how the opposition defence then goes on to try to deal with them during the game, pulling their defenders out of position and depending on those defenders qualities, maybe that allows Bair more space to get in behind? Now, I don't know if any of that is true, but it could all be a factor in his decision. I would wager that it's nowhere near as simple as we like to think, and I'd wager that whatever we see from the stands, Kettlewell and his team see that and much more.

That’s a very short clip of the incident which doesn’t give a true account of it and is from a view the the referee couldn’t see. Watch the full incident and most folk will have a more balanced view of it. Vale’s straight leg and studs showing is due to him clearing the ball not attacking the Aberdeen player who runs into Vale and could have seriously injured him - look at the way Vale spins when they collide. As I’ve said before, no intent, no malice no red card. It’s a collision nothing more.

With Vale that has been my main gripe for weeks. He is a striker so why are we playing him in deeper role? Bair is isolated on his own. I also agree that guaranteed he starts Nicholson but I would hope he started in place of Spittal and we bring Moses in for Vale. Or bring Shaw in for Vale......cueeeeeeeee......ba.......boom....🤣🤣🤣

For me Vale’s challenge falls into a grey area and could have gone either way yellow or red. The ref showed a red and I don’t see that being changed. Some incidents are a stick on red and some are never a red so as mentioned I don’t think Vale’s challenge fits either of those phrases

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.

Some of these rumours articulated on P & B too. Like StAndrew7, I hope we don't announce any names until their seasons end, but that may be outwith our control i.e. the now infamous Tom Wright announcement. Certainly we do have a good track record, as a club, in this regard. I watched Obileye very closely indeed on Saturday and it was mixed bag. He saved a couple of potential goals with fantastic interventions but also made a few blunders. Bevis MK2? I'm actually optimistic for next season. Clearing a fair bit of deadwood will free up wages and SK has now had ample time to to fully assess his squad. There are virtually no players I'd hate to lose - maybe McGinn and possibly SOD but thats about it. If Bair and/or Miller move on so be it but we shouldn't overrely on those moves financially. The chances of retaining Vale and Gent only become realistic if you've been using a hookah. The defence needs 100% strengthened, not just with positional requirements but also with personality/character ones as well. A commanding goalie; commanding central defenders; mobile defensive midfielder for starters. We badly need oprganisers/leaders on the pitch. By my reckoning we need anywhere from 14-16 new lads but that doesn't take into account internal promotions from the Academy. Strikers: as things stand we probably need another couple and certainly one with the physical attributes to replace Bair, in a lone role, should he get injured or suspended. A few issues to be clarified: Ewan Wilson - worth a new deal? Sam Nicholson - worth a deal in my view Ross Tierney - mutual or punt out on loan again? Mark Ferrie - needs another year in the development squad, although he is 18.

I don't like the playing one striker tactics. Bair would be better with a strike partner. He played Vale up top then decided to play him in deeper role

Absolutely. I thought pre Christmas that we were going to end up in the play off place. I think if Mika hadn't had that injury and we hadn't lost him it would have been a very different season. However it's been great to see Theo Bair hit form. Gent and Vale have done well and Spittal also - sorry he's going. It was also great to get that win yesterday and survival assured for another season. Beating Rangers was great as well. A team performance if that's the right expression.

Ah well as expected Nicholson for Vale leaving Bair isolated up front. Let's see how Spittal does today but if he's poor again then that should be him benched for rest of season. And please give Halliday a break.. booing ain't gonna help COYW

But he was a hybrid of both so not really comparable. If he had played against Odense we would have won be 3 or 4 as he was an expert at coming late in at the back post, and we had numerous similar chances in that game. Jamie Murphy is another who is was a worse striker than Bair or Vale and a not as good as Spittal, Miller and Slattery as a midfielder but still overall better than all of them.

Halliday and Nicholson in for Vale and Davor. Risky considering their form and Spittal's complete disinterest since Ibrox.

As a striker? Bair and Vale. As a midfielder, Spittal, Miller and Slattery. In terms of fitness, every one of them is better than Richie "blowin' after 60 mins" Foran. He got a lot of leeway from many fans because of his off the field activities, but as a player, falls very much into the Average category for me.

There are several issues at play here and its not all down to VAR. I do get the unnecessary delays and the micro analysing decisions i.e. an incident should be clear and obvious. However, what its poor performance to date does highlight is the level of inconsistency in decision making and the defensive/secretive attitude of the SFA. There is then the adoption of ridiculous rules and guidelines about handball and red card tackles. A final word on the Jack Vale red card - why was Butland only yellow carded in the St Mirren V Rangers game?

Whether we think harsh or not I just feel this was a waste of money as we were never going to be successful unless Vale was wearing a Sellik or Gers top. We move on and hopefully Moses gets a chance but guaranteed it will be Nicholson to give another midfielder and leave Bair isolated...... overthinking SK will strike again. Ps. Oh and did I ever say that Bevis is a big nice guy? 😜😜

It's not just about Vale as you say. It's the inconsistencies. Dunne got a yellow for a tackle that left Mika crocked for three months.

So, with Jack Vale being unavailable for Saturday do we bring in Sam Nicholson or Moses or maybe Oli Shaw in midfield?