Originally Posted by
DollyLongstaffe
Heard Deek talk about Cosgrove towards the end of last season. You had to read between the lines, but it was interesting. The gist:
- he's cheap as chips
- his attitude is terrific
- he game into the the game late and is under-coached and under-developed for a player his age
I think the point was that guys with Cosgrove's physical attributes don't come to clubs like Aberdeen if they're the finished article. If we can hothouse him to compensate for what he's missed out on by not taking the game seriously at a young age, maybe we end up with the kind of player we couldn't easily get otherwise. SPL defenses don't cope well with powerful forwards.
It's a punt but he's already put in a few very decent performances. I noticed for example in interviews Burnley players mentioned Cosgrove among Aberdeen players who'd impressed them. Now he's scored a couple which maybe gets a monkey off his back.
If I had to bet my house on it, I still think he's more likely to be a gamble that fails than one that succeeds. But we can't just go out and buy guaranteed quality on our budget. If it works out, great for him and great for us. If it doesn't it hasn't cost us much. And at least we're using a bit of imagination.