the skipper on RedTV

“There’s no point us pretending that playing this game against Kilmarnock in the bottom half of the table is the way we wanted the season to end, nor that it is anything like good enough for a club like this, but unfortunately, it’s where we are. The only positive thing is that with the new manager coming in, there is still a real edge to what we are doing, because obviously, we are all playing to impress and to cement our place in his thoughts.

“It has been said before that if you are in the bottom six then there is nothing left to play for in the season, it becomes an anticlimax, but in our situation that could not be further from the truth.

“Training is important but the manager will be keen to see what we can do when it really counts, in games. Players who are out of contract could do an awful lot to help their cause in the remaining fixtures, while those still under contract will want to prove a point as well. There is a lot still to play for and it is important we finish the season strongly.

“You win as a team and you lose as a team and, as a team, we have not done enough. We have not scored enough goals and have not kept clean sheets when it has mattered. The league table does not lie. There have been far too many occasions when we have come away from a game on a Saturday feeling we should have got more from it than we have done and that is why we are where we are. Like I said, we haven’t been able to see games out, to get over the line and clinch the points – six 0-0 draws at Pittodrie are evidence of that. If we could have turned just half of those into wins, we would be in with a real chance of a European place, but you can’t keep talking about “what if” In the end, we didn’t get the job done.

“The new manager will have his views on why we have not achieved more this season but having said all the things above, I still don’t think we are that far away. I think there is very little between most of the sides in the SPL and to be fair, the difference between finishing third and finishing 10th is not huge.

“You need a bit of luck with injuries and decisions and, above all, a bit of momentum. We never found that again after the winter break and in the end, that was our undoing.

“Now, it is start of another new era. I was counting the order day and I have now worked under nine different managers if you include Keith Burkinshaw. I was involved in a number of Scotland squads with Derek and he is always someone who has impressed me. Everything so far has been positive.

“As you would expect, the players have really taken to training and been keen to impress.

“It is the same whenever a new manager comes in, everyone starts with a clean slate and the manager has said that. He watched the last few games before he took over so he has an idea of what he would like going forward, but until he actually got a chance to work with the players day in day out, he cannot come to any conclusions. I am sure he will now quickly decide which players he wants to be part of his plan going forward. I don’t know how much he will have picked up from the game at Hibs on Monday because it was a pretty drab 90 minutes. Without looking for excuses, the pitch made trying to play any passing football extremely difficult and the gusting wind just added to that.

“The positive side is that any point away from home is a good one, but obviously as a team, we need to be looking a lot more threatening when it comes to scoring goals.

“There is a lot of planning that goes into building for next season, whether you are a new manager or not. I think the approach the club has taken by bringing him in now will benefit us instead of having to do everything over pre-season. It has given the gaffer a bit of a head start because obviously there is a lot of work he will want to do – players that he will want to sign, players that he will maybe want to re-sign here that are out of contract and players who he might want to let go. He hasn’t changed things too much yet, I think that will happen over the course of the next five weeks and the summer so we can start pre-season strongly.”