The record · Completed season
2023-24
A European group stage and a League Cup final, but a seventh-place league season and three managers.
Expectations
The baseline going in
A top-four baseline after third place, with a first European group stage since 2007-08 and a squad capable of competing on three fronts.
Top four, European group-stage progress and a cup run. This is an analyst-set baseline, not a published club target.
Barry Robson was dismissed on 31 January 2024. Peter Leven took the 3 February match as interim, Neil Warnock was interim from 5 February to 9 March, and Leven returned as interim until the end of the season.
Measured
The league record
Manager records are league-only. Cup and European results are curated exit rounds, not match-level manager records.
The season
Managers and the within-season split
| Manager | Dates | Pld | W-D-L | GF | GA | Pts | PPG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barry Robson | 2023-08-05 – 2024-01-30 | 21 | 6-6-9 | 24 | 33 | 24 | 1.14 |
| Peter LevenInterim | 2024-02-03 – 2024-02-03 | 1 | 0-1-0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1.00 |
| Neil WarnockInterim | 2024-02-06 – 2024-03-02 | 6 | 0-2-4 | 7 | 13 | 2 | 0.33 |
| Peter LevenInterim | 2024-03-13 – 2024-05-19 | 10 | 6-3-1 | 16 | 5 | 21 | 2.10 |
Interim spells are separate records. A match in a gap is not assigned to the nearest manager.
Cups
Domestic runs
- Scottish Cup · Semi-final eliminated Drew 3-3 with Celtic after extra time and lost 6-5 on penalties on 20 April 2024.
- League Cup · Final eliminated Lost 1-0 to Rangers in the final on 17 December 2023; runners-up, not winners.
Europe
Continental runs
- Europa League · Play-off round eliminated Lost 5-3 on aggregate to BK Häcken and dropped into the Conference League.
- Conference League · Group stage eliminated Finished third in Group G with Eintracht Frankfurt, PAOK and HJK Helsinki.
Recruitment
What came in and went out
Estimated net is a range from public/reported fee anchors and a transparent age, position and market model. It is not an audited balance; free transfers count as zero fee and loan fees are excluded.
Source market
- scotland · 1 arrivals 8%
- england · 2 arrivals 17%
- europe · 1 arrivals 8%
- other · 0 arrivals 0%
- unknown · 8 arrivals 67%
8 arrivals have no resolved source market.
Age at arrival
Median 25 · average 25.7 · coverage 100%.
Disclosed fees only. Undisclosed is never zero and is excluded from the totals. Age is shown only where a birth date is known.
Key business
Historical transfer rows are curated partial before 2024-25. Key business includes Leighton Clarkson's permanent move, Graeme Shinnie's return and Ross McCrorie's sale to Bristol City. The full set is in the transfer register. Full transfer register →
Style
How the season looked
Opponent-unadjusted team proxies from league match rows. Not xG and not a tactical model. Possession is provider-reported only.
European group-stage football and a cup final are real achievements. The measured proxies show whether the league style changed; the reading does not treat a cup run as proof that the league model worked.
Possession is not shown unless the provider team-statistics backfill is available; it is never inferred.
Selection
Who played, and how old they were
Formation mix
- 4-2-3-1 · 16 fixtures (30%)
- 3-4-1-2 · 13 fixtures (24%)
- 5-4-1 · 8 fixtures (15%)
- 3-5-2 · 6 fixtures (11%)
- No grid · 3 fixtures (6%)
- 5-3-2 · 2 fixtures (4%)
Top by starts
| Player | Starts | Mins |
|---|---|---|
| K. Roos | 52 | 4680 |
| N. Devlin | 51 | 4484 |
| B. Miovski | 49 | 4255 |
| G. Shinnie | 48 | 4116 |
| S. Gartenmann | 44 | 3931 |
| J. McGrath | 42 | 3652 |
| L. Clarkson | 39 | 3520 |
| J. MacKenzie | 36 | 3113 |
| R. Jensen | 34 | 3020 |
| C. Barron | 33 | 2887 |
| S. Rubežić | 29 | 2571 |
Formation is the kick-off shape. Ages use the season roster or a known birth date; missing ages are excluded, not filled. Top-by-starts is not a claim that those players started together.
The lineup backfill is available or partial; selection metrics are measured where coverage allows and the fraction is shown.
Academy
Youth pathway
Curated debuts
- Fletcher Boyd · 2024-05-12 Scored on his debut in the 4-0 win at Hibernian, aged 16.
Measured new players
- N. Devlin · 5 Aug 2023
- S. Rubežić · 5 Aug 2023
- E. Sokler · 5 Aug 2023
- J. McGarry · 27 Aug 2023
- R. Jensen · 27 Aug 2023
- J. McGrath · 27 Aug 2023
- P. Guèye · 3 Sept 2023
- S. Gartenmann · 16 Sept 2023
- K. Phillips · 30 Jan 2024
- R. Doohan · 10 Feb 2024
- J. Hoilett · 13 Mar 2024
- F. Boyd · 12 May 2024
Curated debuts are explicit club/academy records. Measured new players are first appearances in the covered history, not career debuts.
Off the pitch
Staff changes
- 31 Jan 2024 Barry Robson · Manager Out dismissed
- 31 Jan 2024 Peter Leven · Interim manager InInterim
- 31 Jan 2024 Steve Agnew · Assistant manager Out unknown
- 5 Feb 2024 Neil Warnock · Interim manager InInterim
- 5 Feb 2024 Peter Leven · Interim manager OutInterim interim_end
- 9 Mar 2024 Neil Warnock · Interim manager OutInterim interim_end
- 9 Mar 2024 Peter Leven · Interim manager InInterim
- 31 May 2024 Peter Leven · Interim manager OutInterim interim_end
- 3 Jun 2024 Christer Persson · Assistant manager In
- 3 Jun 2024 Jimmy Thelin · Manager In
The read · fitba assessment
An assessment, not a measurement
What worked. The club reached a European group stage and a League Cup final, and Fletcher Boyd's debut offered a visible youth-pathway moment. The cup run and the European campaign gave the season a shape beyond the league table.
What did not. The league fell to seventh, the League Cup final was lost, and the Scottish Cup semi-final was lost on penalties. Three managers in one season is a stability cost that the cup run does not offset.
The trade-off. A cup final and a European group stage are exactly the kind of variance a trading model can produce: they raise revenue and expectation while consuming squad depth. The league cost was visible in the same season.
This is the season where the trade-off is hardest to reduce to a verdict. The cup final and European group stage were genuine achievements; the seventh-place finish and three managers were a genuine cost. The record keeps both and refuses to use one to cancel the other.
Look ahead. The 2024-25 season would bring a new manager, a strong start, a collapse and the Scottish Cup — the most extreme swing in the record.
Coverage
What is measured, curated and missing
- League record: available
- Manager records: league only
- Transfers: curated_partial
- Lineups: partial · 55/58 fixtures
- Unattributed league matches: 0
League-only manager records. Cup/Europe runs are curated exit rounds. Selection is measured where historical lineups exist.
← 2022-23 · 2024-25 → · The record · Results and fixtures
Provenance
How this page is sourced
Dataset 2026-10-27T12:06:31+00:00-c598315. Sources and coverage are listed below; the page keeps its own source and uncertainty labels.
- Cormack-era historical record · mixed · active
- League results, historical · football_data_uk · active
- Published transfer register · curated · active
- Medium and long-term themes · derived · active
Definitions: history.baseline · history.coverage · history.defeats · history.scorecard · history.season · history.season-document · history.staff
Corrections and changes are recorded on Corrections and contact.
Cite this page
Cormack era. Dataset 2026-10-27T12:06:31+00:00-c598315, as of 2026-10-27T12:06:31+00:00. Sources: mixed; football-data.co.uk; curated; derived. Definitions: history.baseline; history.coverage; history.defeats; history.scorecard; history.season; history.season-document; history.staff.