The Summer Transfer Window

[rico94]

Nah it wasn't me that was praising him for getting into positions to miss chances. I think it's abundantly clear to anyone with eyes in their head that Wilson is a better all round footballer than Cosgrove. Cosgrove's main attribute is his height and he doesn't even use that well, his heading is pretty poor for a guy so tall.

Anyway, it's impossible really to compare the two because even if you work out their goal ratio per minutes on the park last season (I'm sure someone can work that out...) it isn't a fair reflection - players benefit from playing full games and even the boost to their confidence in being first pick, plus the fact Wilson was often deployed in a wide position. I fully expect Cosgrove to be our first choice striker this season as McInnes likes a giant up top. I also wouldn't be surprised if Main gets more game time than Wilson because McInnes likes someone who runs around a lot up top harassing opposition defenders (see Stevie May). I just get the impression Wilson could be pretty special if he gets his confidence up through playing regularly.

Fair enough, I’m not a big fan of Cosgrove but he did score 21 goals last season so you can’t complain on that side of things.

What I would complain about him is what you said,he is a big guy but he seems to struggle in regards to holding up the ball and actually winning it in the air.

That part seems a bit odd considering McInnes spent 4 years trying to replace Rooney because he couldn’t do that either.

I’m still not sure what Main is going to bring to the team,he isn’t tall or fast or a goal scorer so I presumed he might be someone who could hold the ball up,unless it was a fitness issue on Thursday I don’t think he can do that either.

[57vintage]

would rather have the rawer Bruce Anderson being given an opportunity. That though will not be happening also

I saw him score two good goals yesterday, but against a Highland League central defence of a midfielder playing as a defender, and a striker who has stepped back into a CB role. Anderson was tricky and sure-footed, but still doesn’t look ready to play 90 minutes against some of the brutes in the SPL, even if he has bulked up a bit.

[Aldo1983]

I saw him score two good goals yesterday, but against a Highland League central defence of a midfielder playing as a defender, and a striker who has stepped back into a CB role. Anderson was tricky and sure-footed, but still doesn’t look ready to play 90 minutes against some of the brutes in the SPL, even if he has bulked up a bit.

I feel sorry for Anderson but the line striker job is like a goalie. Very, very difficult go give someone a go from the youth team in that position.

[Don_Corleone]

Fair enough, I’m not a big fan of Cosgrove but he did score 21 goals last season so you can’t complain on that side of things.

What I would complain about him is what you said,he is a big guy but he seems to struggle in regards to holding up the ball and actually winning it in the air.

That part seems a bit odd considering McInnes spent 4 years trying to replace Rooney because he couldn’t do that either.

I’m still not sure what Main is going to bring to the team,he isn’t tall or fast or a goal scorer so I presumed he might be someone who could hold the ball up,unless it was a fitness issue on Thursday I don’t think he can do that either.

Yeah I know - I guess it is odd that so many of us dislike Cosgrove given that he did score 21 goals last season. I think it's partly because last season his presence in the team contributed to us playing some absolutely horrible to watch football. I still think his first touch is stinking, his finishing is usually poor, his hold up play isn't good and his heading for someone so big is terrible. McInnes obviously likes a gigantic striker, given that he tried several others before striking it lucky with Cosgrove. Rooney was a natural finisher, but you don't get that impression with Cosgrove.

I don't know what Main has to offer, but my impression is he's a replacement for Stevie May - a bit of a workhorse who's probably not going to contribute many goals or assists.

[RedStarTorphins]

Yeah I know - I guess it is odd that so many of us dislike Cosgrove given that he did score 21 goals last season. I think it's partly because last season his presence in the team contributed to us playing some absolutely horrible to watch football. I still think his first touch is stinking, his finishing is usually poor, his hold up play isn't good and his heading for someone so big is terrible. McInnes obviously likes a gigantic striker, given that he tried several others before striking it lucky with Cosgrove. Rooney was a natural finisher, but you don't get that impression with Cosgrove.

I don't know what Main has to offer, but my impression is he's a replacement for Stevie May - a bit of a workhorse who's probably not going to contribute many goals or assists.

Any decent offer for Sam Cosgrove I’d take and sign another more “natural” centre forward.
Not going to happen though.
McInnes loves big Sam.

[redstarfk]

Wilson is a much better footballer than Cosgrove. More pace, better control, better dribbling, better shooting, probably better headering. The only area he loses is height.

Not quite. I think Cosgrove has more heart and all-round physical presence , not just height. A good few games last season where Wilson looked disinterested.

[BogBrush1903]

One thing is for sure, that if Cosgrove continues his profligacy when presented with excellent opportunities in open play then we're not going to get very far either in Europe or domestically. We got away with against the Finns but others won't let us off so lightly.

As an aside, I think there's a bit of revisionism going on with Rooney. The Adam Rooney we saw in his last full season was not the same player we watched at the beginning of his Aberdeen career. Certainly, McInnes would stick him out on the wing which was hopeless but I think he had came to his natural end with us, and I was happy to see him go with his reputation more or less intact.

[man-erg]

Naw min McInnes had decided for his last 2 seasons Rooney wasn't up to the job so he brought in replacements relegating Rooney to sub apps and midfield. I have no doubt that if Rooney had been played and got the supply that he thrived ( in the box) he would have doubled that at least

There's a huge leap from scoring 11 goals in 44 appearances to scoring 6 in 1 game. Dont get me wrong, Cosgrove is an incredibly poor footballer the vast majority of the time. To his credit though, when he was going through is scoring patch his link up play was excellent. He was suddenly able to pass and control the ball.

Then it went...

[RedStarTorphins]

One thing is for sure, that if Cosgrove continues his profligacy when presented with excellent opportunities in open play then we're not going to get very far either in Europe or domestically. We got away with against the Finns but others won't let us off so lightly.

As an aside, I think there's a bit of revisionism going on with Rooney. The Adam Rooney we saw in his last full season was not the same player we watched at the beginning of his Aberdeen career. Certainly, McInnes would stick him out on the wing which was hopeless but I think he had came to his natural end with us, and I was happy to see him go with his reputation more or less intact.

I'm not convinced any of our strikers will ever be regular 20 goals per season players.

Yes, Cosgrove achieved 21 last year (14 from open play) - I don't think he'll get that this year. Just think his lack of footballing intelligence and poor finishing means he'll struggle to get there again this season.
His only hope would be that we get 12 penalties like we did last season, and he scores the majority of them.
Curtis Main has NEVER achieved that figure in his career
Neither has James Wilson.

What is pretty clear though is that in terms of ability, James Wilson is way ahead of the other two.

However, McInnes love of a big, strong "target man" will mean he won't get a run at "no.9" any time soon.
Fleeting glimpses wide right is all we'll see of him sadly.

It was interesting to listen to McInnes in his post match press conference after the Romaniemi game.
When talking about Cosgrove, he mentioned that he's "under pressure from Curtis Main", who's "doing well in training" ....
NO mention whatsoever of Wilson, almost as if he's not under consideration for the "no.9" role.

[afc1903mad]

It was interesting to listen to McInnes in his post match press conference after the Romaniemi game.
When talking about Cosgrove, he mentioned that he's "under pressure from Curtis Main", who's "doing well in training" ....
NO mention whatsoever of Wilson, almost as if he's not under consideration for the "no.9" role.

I think DM has always had a vision of the main striker being someone who can hold up and bring the three behind him into play.
Zola, Stockley, Cosgrove, etc are all of the same ilk.
I also think that he doesn't necessarily need the main man to be a 20 goal a season striker if they get more out of the three behind them.

Cosgrove could have had about 6 goals so far in the two games against RoPS. Let's hope he is more clinical on Thursday