D. Bates

How well supported: 65%. Clustering the same 23 seasons without our labels puts 65% of them in the group our archetype names would predict. That is a weak match — read the four scores, not the headline label. No position separates cleanly into discrete types (silhouette 0.17); these are continua, and the scores describe position along them.

A percentile, not a success rate: 67th means he did more of it than two thirds of the 26 Aberdeen centre-back seasons on record. Context, not a league benchmark. Style, not rating: goals, assists and conversion feed none of these scores. Evidence behind it: high confidence (100) on 2,892 minutes, 33 of 33 matches with event data.

Reading, not a measurement. 71 of his 183 aerial duels came in the middle third and he won 79% of them. His box work is worth 1.1 touches per 90 by comparison. On that split, his value is arriving in the box rather than winning the first ball in midfield. Nothing here records who passed to him — the data has no receiving-player field — so this is an inference from where he competed, not a measurement of the service he got.

Shape is the side's starting formation for each match, so a game where Aberdeen changed at half time counts wholly to what they started in — mid-match spells are only recorded for the current season. 8 further shapes fall below 270 minutes (4-1-4-1, 4-4-1-1, 3-4-1-2, 4-3-1-2, 5-4-1, 4-1-3-2, 3-5-2, 4-4-2) and are left out rather than ranked on noise. Goals per 90 across 2 shapes is a small sample either way — treat it as a pointer, not a finding.

1. Ross McCrorie2021/2279
   closest on Aerial contests, Tackles + interceptions, Into the final third
2. Liam Scales2022/2373
   closest on Recoveries in the opposition half, Tackles + interceptions, Duel win rate
3. Angus MacDonald2023/2472
   closest on Duel win rate, Pass completion, Clearances

Nearest style profile among 26 Aberdeen centre-back seasons, across the model’s on-ball dimensions. Not a ranking: this asks who he plays like, not who was better.

Against other clubs

Percentile against 90 players from 10 other Scottish clubs, in their matches against Aberdeen. Shares of his own actions rather than per-90: opponent minutes are derived from the lineup, good enough to require 450 of them but not precise enough to divide by.

Celtic and Rangers are left out of the pool. With them in, they held 8 of the top 10 for passing and none of the top 10 for aerials — they distorted every feature one way or the other. Without them the remaining ten clubs behave alike enough that a player's club explains under a sixth of the variance in any of these, so all of them are readable as the player rather than the team.

Based on 33 Aberdeen matches and 2,166 touches this season, against opponents with at least 450 minutes against us across five years. Every feature shown agrees with itself when a player's matches are split in half and measured twice; aerial win rate and take-on success do not on this sample, so they are left out. These are still matches against one specific side — enough to place a player, not to quote as league form.

Who else plays like this

Players from 10 other Scottish clubs who reach Bates's level on all four of the things that most characterise him.

1. Craig HalkettHearts99 · 89 · 77 · 71

1 of 90 pool players matches. The pool is opponents with at least 450 minutes against Aberdeen across five years — roughly four matches a season each, and only against us. This is a prompt to go and watch someone, not a scouting verdict, and it cannot see anyone who has not played us.