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"I'm not the type of person to go to Chelsea just because they're Premiership, the main thing is to win matches. That is my mentality, I just want to win.
"When I was offered the contract here, that was it. Chelsea is gone, I've forgotten it. I signed straight away."
These words in late July immediately endeared Justin Cochrane to the Crewe Alexandra faithful. He was first seen in public in the pre-season friendly against Nantwich Town at Jackson Avenue and signed the following Friday. He was set to play against Liverpool the day after but due to Dario 'not wanting to attract attention to him' he sat it out. However, the following Tuesday against Everton he made his debut and was immense in the 2-0 win.
Justin's career hardly set the world alight prior to him joining the Alex.
Cochrane was the captain of Queens Park Rangers under 19's side and was generally thought of as a hot prospect. His first (and ultimately only) Rangers appearance came on 28th April 2001, aged 19. He came on as a substitute in the home clash with Stockport and was sent off within 17 minutes of coming on.
Ian Holloway said he didn't figure in his plans and after being left out in the cold by QPR, he was forced to leave in July 2002. He joined Hayes for a season because he "just wanted to play football" and after impressing Alex scouts, Neil Baker invited him to Crewe for a trial in May 2003.
Three practice games later, his enthusiasm and obvious talent paid dividends when Dario Gradi offered him the chance to join his newly promoted side.
Chelsea, fresh from Russian billionaire Roman Abramovich's takeover were linked with nearly every player in the world, and Cochrane was no exception. His displays for Hayes in the Ryman Premier Division caught the eye of Chelsea's scouts who were quite anxious to recruit him, with Abramovich promising to invest into the Blues' youth system.
Justin was pestered by the Londoners to attend their summer training schedule, and actually appeared in a few Chelsea reserve games, but he was adamant to come to Crewe as he was so impressed with the confidence Gradi and Baker had displayed in him.
This attitude showed that he is not your average player. He turned down Chelsea to win at Crewe. His eagerness to sign for the Alex shows he is something special, as do his magnificent displays since he signed.
His Crewe career could not have got off to a better start. He has won over the crowd and genuinely looks to be the next best thing to come from Crewe Alexandra.
Inspirational captain Dave Brammer's injury threatened to take it's toll on the Alex over the past few weeks. Brammer playing barely forty-five minutes football since late September would have been dire for the sides of 01-02 and 02-03, but Cochrane filled the vast gap left by the skipper. To record excellent wins over Derby, Preston and Reading at home and to ceaselessly contain them as Justin did requires an awful lot of guts and determinaton.
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Saturday's excellent home win over a very good Reading side typified the guy. He put in an exceptional, first-rate display as we beat off all Reading had to offer to record an admirable 1-0 win. He kept the highly rated Steve Sidwell at an arms length all afternoon, provided Jonah with the ball for his goal and never stopped running.
The fans have taken to him like nothing I have seen since Dean Ashton burst onto the scene in 2001 as a sixteen-year old. It looks like we have unearthed a real gem and £50,000 looks to be daylight robbery.
This guy can really take the league by storm and his remarkable evolution from the rough and aggressive Ryman Premier to the slick and stylish policies of Dario Gradi at Crewe in such a short space of time only goes to prove what potential he possesses.