Sam Cosgrove has decided against making the move to French side Guingamp, which I can understand given the Covid situation at present.
It’s not a great time to be anywhere to be honest, but the idea of uprooting to go abroad at this time may not appeal to Sam just now.
Aberdeen accepted the offer, which was reported to be in the region of £2 million, but it has maybe just come at the wrong time for Sam.
I don’t think he’s of English Premier League level, but he could certainly do a good job Championship-wise and I’ve got no doubt he would think seriously about it if an offer came in.
He obviously felt for one reason or another that this wasn’t the time for him to move on.
Aberdeen have done well getting hold of Sam, and you’ve got to remember they have played their part in how well he is doing.
For a player they drafted in from Carlisle United, his stock has risen quite dramatically.
There has been credit due on both sides – for Aberdeen in finding him, and to the boy himself for doing what he has done.
It was a big price for a club in the second tier of French football to be paying, and whether the Dons would receive that sort of money in Britain at the present time I don’t know.
Although Aberdeen accepted the offer, it wasn’t ideal timing for them.
If the deal had gone through they would have been looking for a new main striker, with the season starting in August. No time is a good time to lose your main striker, and Sam certainly brings a few goals for them.
I think Derek McInnes will be silently pleased he’s not having to search for another forward with just a few weeks until the start of the season.
It might alert people, though, as other clubs will now know that is roughly the price Aberdeen are looking at.
It’s just a matter of whether they can come up with it or not.
We also don’t know how long this has been going on, these talks could have been kept under wraps for a few weeks now.
It could have been the case that Guingamp initially came in with a lower bid, and Aberdeen may have been holding on for a bigger figure.
That’s often the case, as clubs are not going to let their striker go for the first bid that they receive. There tends to be a bit of negotiation.
It’s a bit like buying a house, you try and bargain to get the best deal possible.
If that’s the figure I think it would be good business for Aberdeen, but with that comes the pitfall of trying to find another striker.
With the way things are financially at Aberdeen at the moment due to Covid-19, would Derek get that kind of money to spend on another striker? I don’t think so.
I’m a bit worried by Caley Thistle’s pre-season plan
I was reading Caley Thistle would be going straight into the League Cup to keep their players on furlough as long as they can.
I think they are doing the right thing, but it rings alarm bells for me. For them to say the players are going to be doing a bit of training before going straight into the games would worry me in terms of where the club will be around Christmas.
They are trying to save whatever money they do have, but, if things remain as they are, I think we could see a few more cutbacks.
Inverness tend to play Highland League teams pre-season, but those clubs aren’t ready. It’s not going to be ideal for John Robertson, but as soon as they call the boys back to training they are going to have to start paying them. With nobody coming through the turnstiles, it’s a worrying time.
Memories of Jack Charlton – a big loss to the game
I have only twice been in awe of a footballer’s presence.
One of them was when Kenny Dalglish signed me for Blackburn Rovers, but the other time was when I was playing for Swindon Town in a game against Middlesbrough.
Jack Charlton was watching and came into the changing room to have a chat with manager Ossie Ardiles.
After Ossie had finished his team talk, he came in and said a few words to the boys. He was just complimenting Ossie on his style of play and the players he had.
He was a really nice man. You hear everybody talking about the presence he had when he walked into a room, and you could feel it.
By his own admission, he wasn’t the greatest of players. He certainly didn’t have the talents his brother had, but he made the most of what he had.
He made 700 or so appearances for Leeds, plus he won a World Cup winner’s medal, which is not too bad for somebody who didn’t think he was that good.
As a manager, to lead Republic of Ireland to the quarter-finals of the World Cup was a fantastic achievement.
He also took them to the World Cup in America four years later, and we all remember the scenes of him and John Aldridge going off their heads because they weren’t getting water.
I was sad to hear of Jack’s passing, it’s a big loss to the game.