Aberdeen FC, without the noise.

The gap

One record, two audiences

Football has an analysis tier that works in percentiles, budgets, age curves and uncertainty, and a matchgoing reader who watches results, form and individual mistakes. Attempts to connect them are often one-dimensional: a single rating, a “data says” take, or a chart with no explanation.

That leaves fans frustrated and certain in the wrong places, blaming individuals for structural trade-offs they were never shown.

The promise

Same evidence, not insider knowledge

We do not have Aberdeen's internal models, wage structure or board discussions. We show the publicly observable proxies a back room works from — minutes, roles, output, style, squad age and value, budget bands, contracts and loans — and explain the questions they raise.

Every panel separates what is measured, inferred, curated and unknown.

Who this is for

Engaged supporters, not a hypothetical median reader

The primary reader knows the squad, the league and the arguments. They may not be a statistician, but they are numerate and want the numbers, the sources and the uncertainty. We do not design down to an imagined casual fan, and we do not remove evidence to make a page feel lighter.

The same record is public so that supporters, the club, the press and critics can look at the same evidence. We are independent of the club; we are not neutral about its success.

The line we hold

On the club's side, not in its pocket

We want Aberdeen to succeed. That is not the same as defending the club. Being on the club's side means taking its problems seriously enough to measure them: not softening bad numbers, not turning every setback into a morality play, and not treating a bad result as proof that a player or a manager is the whole problem.

Criticism is aimed at decisions and structures, with evidence. The club is not a villain, and neither are its supporters.

Aberdeen

The Cormack era: player, manager, structure

Since 16 December 2019 the public record covers 7 seasons and 9 people in charge of at least one league match, including interim spells, with league finishes from 3 to 10 and 1 major honour. It also contains heavy defeats, including 6-0 losses, and a winless away league run in the second half of 2025-26, alongside two Conference League campaigns (the 2023-24 group stage and the 2025-26 league phase) and significant player sales.

That is not a verdict on any one person. It is a set of facts that has to be separated into three levels: the player, the manager and the structure. fitba's job is to make each level measurable and to say which one the evidence supports. If a pattern is unexplained by the model, we say so; we do not fill the gap with a story. Attribution to the model, the manager or the players is a labelled reading, not a measured conclusion.

Club-context statements reflect the project owner's framing, not an audited financial or boardroom account.

Sources and limits

No licence landmines

Public data comes from a licensed feed or an official club/federation listing whose terms permit the use. We do not scrape sources that prohibit it. Unlicensed event or tracking data stays local and is never published.

Basic stats, budgets and transfers can be shown now. Event coordinates and tracking require a separate licensed contract; the 2D viewer will be event-reconstructed, not tracking, and will say so.