Cosgrove’s baptism of ire now a distant memory for hitman

PUBLIC embarrassment and the crushing realisation of letting himself and his colleagues down. Then the humiliation of being sent home early and laughed at in the face. For day one in a new job, the first impression could scarcely have been worse. Mortified and morose, Sam Cosgrove had a mountain to climb to claw a way to respect.

‘I can’t remember too much about the aftermath, to be honest — it’s a bit of a blur after a few too many beers, probably,’ recalls Cosgrove.

As the sorrows were drowned to blot out the memories, the Aberdeen striker was being panned by the pundits and the target for online absurdity for his brief and brutal introduction to Scottish football.

Eight minutes after coming on as a substitute against Celtic to debut for the Dons in February 2018, he slid in recklessly on Scott Brown to earn a red card.

The Celtic captain, famously, dusted himself down and mocked the new nobody’s attempt to accost him. The striker felt a lot smaller than 6ft 3in at that moment.

Today, 20 months on, the 22-year-old renews rivalry with Celtic at Pittodrie as one of the most feared and sought-after forwards in the country.

The mix of nerves and excitement which stirred that silliness has long since been washed away by categorical confidence in his everimproving abilities.

‘If anything I’ll be even more pumped up to face them this weekend,’ states Cosgrove. ‘The adrenaline will still be there but, being more mature and having more games under my belt, I’ve got a different point to prove.

‘It’s not going around and trying to make a name for myself. I’ve now got the responsibility to carry the team at the top end of the pitch, score the goals, put in a good performance.

‘The determination will still be there but it’s about channelling it in the right way. That wasn’t a good day or a good result. But you have to learn from these things and I definitely have.

‘It does worry you and that first impression did stick with me for a while. it took a while for me to prove my worth.

‘That was tough but the manager was really good to me. He knew it was a mistake, he had belief in me. I’m grateful he stuck with me.’

Derek McInnes reported Cosgrove as ‘very down’ when discussing the new man’s state of mind a week after his debut. For this was no ordinary new signing event.

Cosgrove had, after all, been no more high-profile and regarded no better than an 89th-minute substitute for North Ferriby United at Guiseley in the National League exactly 12 months earlier.

After sporadic outings for Carlisle in the first half of the following season, he was picked up for a song and invited to change a game against the Scottish champions by an Aberdeen team trailing 1-0.

‘I know it was only eight minutes and I couldn’t come out and say this at the time, but I thought he was actually doing well,’ smiled McInnes.

‘Because he got us up the pitch and in the box a couple of times. So he was giving me what I hoped he would. So I thought: “Go on, son”. Then he gets the red card.

‘That situation, it’s nowhere anybody has really been before. It’s a long way to come back for him. He’s probably come from his lowest ebb. There’s no doubt, as a young player, he would be aware of the criticisms — he’s not good enough, he’s bang to rights there, he’s never going to be an Aberdeen player.

‘People just making their minds up about him there and then. He’s not let that affect him. He’s dug deep. Worked hard.

‘He’s shown a resilience and a strength to show people, really. It’s brilliant because there’s too many of the young ones who don’t have that in them.

‘He does. And that’s why I’m delighted. The first time he heard fans singing his name, it was another shot in the arm for him. From that game against Celtic, he’s come a long way.’

Cosgrove has failed to find the net in only five appearances this season, Aberdeen undefeated in the 11 games in which the Englishman has netted his 15 goals.

His exquisite finish to send injury-ravaged Dons on their way to victory at Motherwell last weekend was the sign of a young man operating at peak poise. ‘That’s the place I’m in, every time I go on the pitch now

I’m expecting to score,’ said Cosgrove. ‘And it’s not just to score one, it’s to score as many as I can.

McInnes believes Cosgrove is better when he displays more aggression and wants more of it from his £25,000 project but key to much of his penalty-box prowess has been a different dynamic.

‘Something which Tony Docherty says to me on a regular basis is to try thinking more like a 5ft 9in striker,’ explains Cosgrove.

‘As a big guy you can be expected to just be a bit of a brute, put yourself around — and I still do that. It would be a waste if I didn’t use one of my strengths.

‘But there are times when the ball is sniping around the area where you do have to change your mentality, think like a small striker, find the pockets of space to get the tap-ins that give you an extra 10 goals.

‘A lot of credit has to go to Tony and the gaffer because we do work on that a lot in training. Playing one up, if you’re just a lone target man and static, it can kill the team.

‘So I need to be mobile and be able to stretch the game.’

That thirst for knowledge and development is going to be required for the hard miles ahead, according to McInnes, as Cosgrove deals with being a marked man.

His status as a wanted man — he is under contract until 2022 and Aberdeen would love to extend — will doubtless provide another test for the Pittodrie manager’s superb supervision of Cosgrove’s career.

‘There’s going to be more and more scrutiny on him,’ said McInnes. ‘Defenders will be far more aware of him now and he’s going to need to keep those improvements coming.

‘But to come from Carlisle reserves to be Aberdeen’s main striker, a lot has to be done in between that and he has to take credit.

‘He’s carried the mantle for us and been such a key striker. I take confidence from his confidence now, as he’s only going to get better.

‘There’s still work to be done as he’s not perfect. But the longer that we have him in an Aberdeen shirt, the better it’s going to be for us.’

If anything, I will be even more pumped up to face them this weekend