Stewart Downing

[Red Nick]

Hang on a bit Nick. You are slagging off Dalglish for a rumour and hoping Comolli will save us? When you don't even know if we are really that interested or whose idea it was?

 

Not having that my friend. That's negworthy in my book.

 

I am basing that on the January reports that Comolli wanted Young and Dalglish wanted Downing, if that is not the case I appologise.

 

Whatever happens we shouldnt be signing players like Downing

[moof]

So basically, you don't want Young because he prefers to go to the current Premier League title holders and the team that is in the CL final, ahead of a team that is 6th with no European football? Come on mate, you're holding that against him?

 

I guess you wouldn't want Hazard for instance, because his dream move would be Arsenal? Hell, Suarez has always maintained that his dream is Barcelona, you don't see him sulking around.

 

This is where we are at, other clubs that offer CL football and more chance of short-term success will be ahead of us in the queue for top players. It doesn't mean we shouldn't be in for them and try to sell them LFC, but rather resort to second or third choice players like Downing. If we do that then I worry about our ambitions.

And if we tried to get top players without success, there are still better options than Downing. Hell, I'd much prefer N'Zogbia.

 

The "I trust Kenny" line can't be used all the time to shut up any opposition to ludicrous moves like Stewart fucking Downing for £20m.

Of course I trust Kenny, but it doesn't mean that I'll blindly believe that we've made the right choice landing whatever shite it is we might land here in the summer, just because Kenny wanted it. Those are valid concerns.

 

Fair points. I don't begrudge him if he wants to go to the mancs but it's a straight choice. We're at the start of a cycle and they're at the end. If he (or anybody for that matter) chooses them over us then so be it. With our prestige we can attract anybody, if they don't buy into it then i don't want them here. End of. Give me a player who is desperate to play for Liverpool Football Club. Give me Suarez, give me Gerrard, give me Carragher, give me Flanagan, give me Spearing, give me players that have drive to make us the force we once were.

 

If that means we miss out on perceived "top players" that would rather play for Arsenal or Man Utd then i'm more than happy with that.

[zigackly]

I am basing that on the January reports that Comolli wanted Young and Dalglish wanted Downing, if that is not the case I appologise.

 

Whatever happens we shouldnt be signing players like Downing

 

I would hope they are working together to identify a number of targets, some of whom we will bid for and some not. If they each have favourites it would not bode well for the club. What were these reports mate? I missed them.

[Carra_is_legend]

Hopefully Comolli will block any wishes Dalglish may have to sign this player who should never wear an LFC shirt.

 

Maybe under Rafa but not under the new stated policy of the club

 

I know I shouldn't be taking your posts seriously and I normally don't.....but, THAT is fucking rubbish. Even by your standards.

[Anubis]

We didn't even have a manager in January we do now, and if he wants Downing then let him buy Downing

 

Er, we did. Dave said that we were negotiating for him and Adam and those negotiations were ongoing throughout the final day of the transfer window. When Dalglish was in charge.

[Anubis]

Comolli was talking to Villa about it, nothing concrete was happening. He was doing groundwork, as per his role.

 

We were never going to sign that type of player in January - if we were going to, Kenny would have asked Comolli to work on Downing.

 

And just to nail this, 'nobody else wants him' myth, over the last year he's been approached by Man Utd, Arsenal and Spurs for one reason or another.

 

At the time, Dave said the only reason we didn't do it was because what we were prepared to pay, and what they wanted, was only a few million apart. And at the time, Dalglish was in charge.

[Red Nick]

I would hope they are working together to identify a number of targets, some of whom we will bid for and some not. If they each have favourites it would not bode well for the club. What were these reports mate? I missed them.

 

They were various press reports posted here back in January. Sorry I cant be more specific. I obviously remember the content if not the sources.

 

i hope your right and lets hope they are both working together for the good of the club.

 

This is where you get to a Rafa style problem in say Comolli put a max valuation on a player but the manager want the player whatever the cost even if it means sacraficing in other areas wich was the case with Barry.

 

Were all hoping for players to improve the first team

[moof]

They were various press reports posted here back in January. Sorry I cant be more specific. I obviously remember the content if not the sources.

 

i hope your right and lets hope they are both working together for the good of the club.

 

This is where you get to a Rafa style problem in say Comolli put a max valuation on a player but the manager want the player whatever the cost even if it means sacraficing in other areas wich was the case with Barry.

 

Were all hoping for players to improve the first team

 

What are you talking about you lunatic?

[shaunstrudwick]

i don't want Stewart Downing

[Stu Monty]

Comolli was talking to Villa about it, nothing concrete was happening. He was doing groundwork, as per his role.

 

We were never going to sign that type of player in January - if we were going to, Kenny would have asked Comolli to work on Downing.

 

And just to nail this, 'nobody else wants him' myth, over the last year he's been approached by Man Utd, Arsenal and Spurs for one reason or another.

 

"Hello, can I speak to Mr Strewart Dowling please.......oh, it's regarding signing up for one of our club sponsored credit cards.....hello.......Sir?"

 

 

I don't think he'd be a bad buy at all but I think that £20m is getting into daft money for him. When you hear that bids for the likes of Sanchez are going in at around 35m Euros then, for me, if you're going up to £20m then you might as well chuck a few quid on it (£10m) and get a five star player, not a three and a half/four star player.

[Randy Marsh]

To me, anything around 20m for Downing is about 15m too much. I've never particularly rated him. I'd take him as a squad player and nothing more, he just reeks of average in my opinion. 27/28 years of age, a handful of unspectacular England appearances and a rank average middle of the road career at Boro and Villa. No sell on value, no potential for improvement like Carroll and Suarez. No thanks, tell Villa to fuck off.

[Brownie]

 

At the time, Dave said the only reason we didn't do it was because what we were prepared to pay, and what they wanted, was only a few million apart. And at the time, Dalglish was in charge.

 

As i said, that will have been Comolli finishing off work he'd been doing for months. I doubt Kenny was even involved at that point. Since then he's told him to concentrate on Downing.

[Brownie]

 

"Hello, can I speak to Mr Strewart Dowling please.......oh, it's regarding signing up for one of our club sponsored credit cards.....hello.......Sir?"

 

I don't think he'd be a bad buy at all but I think that £20m is getting into daft money for him. When you hear that bids for the likes of Sanchez are going in at around 35m Euros then, for me, if you're going up to £20m then you might as well chuck a few quid on it (£10m) and get a five star player, not a three and a half/four star player.

 

All joking aside mate, there's a lot of interest in him. I think the fee is too high as well but i think he's a good player so i'm not that arsed.

[RobbieOR]

I don't want him, but apart from that Monty is spot on. Easier said than done when we have no CL football mind.

[Stu Monty]

Hmmm. I tell you who is being marginalised a bit. James Milner. Just saying...

[kev g]

I must say, first of all, that I do rate downing quite highly and would welcome him as a good signing for us this summer. He is a lot quicker than most people seem to think, has got a great left foot and a good right, can play on either flank and is proven in english football. I'm amazed by the amount of people who seem to be juan mata experts on here too. It smacks of that foirum habit of a lot of people picking up on a name and insisting that he would be the perfect player for us. Seem to remember a lot of this for ricardo quaresma! Lol I'm not saying mata woudnt be a good signing, the truth is I don't know as I don't know a lot about him but I suspect a lot of those raving about him don't know much about him either. I think we need at least two wide midfield players at least one of which should provide us with genuine width and I would be happy with the likes of downing and nzogbia who are far superior to what we have but I would also be happy with 1 or 2 young talents coming from abroad like hazard, mata or whoever. We are well placed to strengthen an area we have been weak in for many years and I think we need trust that kenny, commoli et al will bring in the best players we can attract and afford and if downing is one of those players I'm sure many of u will be pleasantly surprised.

[Scott_M]

Downing wouldn't my first choice but I think he'd do a good job for us & would have people here eating large slices of humble our like Bennayoun did.

[Brownie]

Downing wouldn't my first choice but I think he'd do a good job for us & would have people here eating large slices of humble our like Bennayoun did.

 

I was literally just about to post about Benayoun! This thread has a similar ring to it, hopefully with the same result.

 

EDIT - excellent post from Kev G.

[WaltonRed]

I defo sense FM creeping in on here of late

[Section_31]

These transfer thread always go the same way, they're kind of quaint in a sense. They usually start with a player being mooted, reaction is often negative if they're British and the money involved is stupid (a la Crouch and more recently Carroll), then as pages drift by and it looks like we're going to get the player whether we like it or not, we almost start talking ourselves around to the idea.

 

A 'no way' becomes 'he's not that bad' until eventually he's a signing of potential huge significance and maybe, just maybe, all this time we just weren't aware of just how boss he really was. At this point we usually slag of Rashid or Red Nick for not wanting said player and decide that this is becuase they're somehow shallow and that their understanding of the game only extends to Pannini stickers.

 

What tends to happen then is that said player - who we always knew was overpriced and limited - turns out to be overpriced and limited. It's usually exposed in a big match and we're left feeling blue. We've come full circle, it's time for a cull, no more half measures, we all hate football, and all the while we lament the fact the mancs have just spent £6m on a 17-year-old Guatemalan shitbag who's tearing up more wings than that monster from the William Shatner episode of The Twilight Zone.

 

We quite simply need to start aiming higher. We need either top class players for top dollar, or exciting prospects. Lads who can 'do a job' can not have a place in our football vocabulary anymore or, quite simply, we don't deserve to even be called top four.

[bossy]

I think he's a good player and if Kenny wants him, I'm not too arsed what we pay.The club will pay what it can afford. The end result - winning - is what matters.

[MLB]

I have warmed to him a bit in the past year or so. He will improve us and improve the service to our strikers. People forget that Blackburn won the title under Kenny with to quote someone on this thread "middle of the road" wingers in Ripley and Wilcox who got the best out of Shearer and Sutton.

 

 

Haven't read the whole thread, but this comment is bang on the money for me.

 

I don't personally think Downing is "middle of the road", but I know a lot of our fans view him as such.

[Ted]

Hmmm. I tell you who is being marginalised a bit. James Milner. Just saying...

 

Cos he's shit.

[TheDrowningMan]

Villa fans consider Downing the better player. I'd be okay with either, but I'll defer to them, given that I don't watch him every single week. Bringing out goals and assists in isolation is silly. Dirk has plenty of both, but I don't think there would be too many complaints if a world class winger with fewer in each category was brought in to take his place.

[MLB]

I was literally just about to post about Benayoun! This thread has a similar ring to it, hopefully with the same result.

 

EDIT - excellent post from Kev G.

 

 

Hopefully the people who are ripping him (and Adam) will be happy to come back onto these threads and admit they were wrong if and when they are proven to be.