Stewart Downing

[CosbehFox]

I would say he is past it but he never had it to lose

Shit shit shit player vastly overrated

You've got to be kidding me. Brilliant left foot, can spot a pass and beat a player.

He's essentially Albrighton with more skill.

[Rich77]

Please no !!!!!!!!!

[st albans fox]

He was very good at the tip of the diamond for West Ham. Then allardyce changed the system and their season went to pot. maybe there is someone who has a hammer mate who can elaborate on this. If we are buying players to suit systems that we may employ at certain times in a game then I think that's good. versatility will see us through. We will never have players as good as the top six. If we are to break into that 'closed shop' (at which point you can then attract those players), then we need plan A,B,C to obtain results. Last year, we were too predictable once the game was underway. often started well and then once the opposition recognised our set up for the game, they countered and our only option was to go back to what we had done previously (which they were expecting and had set up for that anyway). I would be ok with this signing though I expect him to go back to the north east.

[LCCFox96]

I don't think Downing is as bad as some make him out to be, although I do think, for £7mil, another player of better quality might be available. Downing seems to have moved a lot in his career for big-ish money and never fully justified the price tag which is my main concern with this signing.

[desertfox2]

Hmm not sure about this one. He looked like one of the best players in the league for the 1st half of the season at the tip of a diamond for West ham, the second half of the season they put him on the left wing and he looked poor. If we signed him to play as an attacking midfielder sat in front of cambiasso and hopefully nzonzi it could work really well. 7m seems a bit steep but if it clicks then could be a good bit of business. Wouldn't have him in the left though

[Babylon]

Jesus Christ, why is everybody suddenly concerned about our accounts? I remember very well what happened when we went into adminstration but we all know the club's set up is entirely different now with owners that are incredible. £7m is a chunk of cash for a 31 year old but it's irrelevant - if we want to strengthen and beat the likes of Sunderland, Palace, Stoke, West Brom etc, who have a longer stay in the Prem and not half a season at the foot of the table in their favour for prospective signings, then we need to bid amounts that might warn them off. Simple. We clearly aren't going to be shy with the cash if the value is there - and by value i mean £7m outlay for better players and an improved position in the table rather than the specifics of the player.

 

 

Why do people care how much we spend in fees and wages? If the club sanction the money then they can afford the money. I can say that because we have very shrewd businessmen in charge and a very shrewd manager. We're not taking about Mad Mandy and ****face Taylor here.

 

 

Mostly it is because the guys worrying about transfer fees are playing Football Manager and compare what they have to spend in the game.  Not real life!!

Sigh, here we go again. It's not so much the fact we're spending £7m on a player, but that we'd be spending it on a player that is 31 years old. There are several factors you need to consider when signing someone around that age. 

 

If you fill your team with a lot of player around the same age, you could be faced with the scenario that they all need replacing around the same time. We have a fairly large number of players (some expensive ones at that) that will all be coming to the end of their careers with us in a around 3 years.

 

If you've got a 25 year old of equal talent coming in, you get longer from them, they don't need replacing as soon so that the money can be spent elsewhere to strengthen. If you need or want to sell, the resale value of these older players will be minimal. A more efficient model is buying them younger, growing them and either keeping them for much longer. If they get poached for a large fee and you can reinvest the money you wouldn't be getting if he was now 32/33.

 

My view is we've seen it's key to stay up this season due to the extra cash coming in next year. Huth and Cambiasso were essential back end of last season so we're bringing in a few more players with their sort of football experience. I'd hope (and think we will) then start to bring in some younger players from next year, when the likes of Was, Cam, Hammond, Konch all leave the squad (presuming two of them do sign up).

 

There is absolutely no problem with someone being concerned about that price for someone that age. If we could sit down and ask what the long term plan is I'm sure all out minds would be put at ease.

[Guest seanfox778]

Never really been a fan of Downing. I hope we don't sign him.

[conLAD logan]

7m for Stewart Downing who had the most key passes in the prem last year and also it's not like it's our own money, the owners can spend it how they like. I thought you guys would be wary about discussing pearson's signings by now in such negativity.

[LCFC FOX]

never used to rate him at all but he's had a quality season just gone. If he can do that again for us I'd take him. Just don't want him to go back to the crap player I've always though he was.

[sylofox]

£7m is the new £1m.

Should that not read

 

£severalm lol

[Foxhateram]

Always liked Downing! This would be a great signing. He he also a versatile player who can play LM, wing back and in the hole. Not to mention the added bonus that he is a proper left footed player. Will be nice to see some quality crosses come from the left from downing and the right from Albrighton.

Ulloa is going to have a field day!

Crosses fingers.

[pSinatra]

I wouldn't mind him here even at his age & at a reasonably high price.  £7 million does seem a bit much but maybe there is room for negotiation?

 

I would liken him to Steve Guppy.  Useless in the tackle, but certainly knows how to cross a ball

[LCFC FOX]

replacement for Gallagher now we've lost him 

[ian_marshall]

This would be a great signing, even at £7m. The guys an established Premier League player which is what we need if we are to stay in the league. I wouldn't be too worried about his age as our sports science team will ensure we get the best out of him.

[Gerard]

It seems a strange buy to me.

 

Surely our stock formation will be 3-4-1-2 which was hugely successful for us beyond our wildest expectations.

 

The only place you can play Downing in that formation is the Mahrez role and Kramaric and Okazaki can compete for that position too.

 

IMO we can't justify signing Downing.

[Alex_LCFC]

Like sako. Wouldn't mind if we got him but wouldn't loose any sleep if we didn't

[Gerard]

Sigh, here we go again. It's not so much the fact we're spending £7m on a player, but that we'd be spending it on a player that is 31 years old. There are several factors you need to consider when signing someone around that age. 

 

If you fill your team with a lot of player around the same age, you could be faced with the scenario that they all need replacing around the same time. We have a fairly large number of players (some expensive ones at that) that will all be coming to the end of their careers with us in a around 3 years.

 

If you've got a 25 year old of equal talent coming in, you get longer from them, they don't need replacing as soon so that the money can be spent elsewhere to strengthen. If you need or want to sell, the resale value of these older players will be minimal. A more efficient model is buying them younger, growing them and either keeping them for much longer. If they get poached for a large fee and you can reinvest the money you wouldn't be getting if he was now 32/33.

 

My view is we've seen it's key to stay up this season due to the extra cash coming in next year. Huth and Cambiasso were essential back end of last season so we're bringing in a few more players with their sort of football experience. I'd hope (and think we will) then start to bring in some younger players from next year, when the likes of Was, Cam, Hammond, Konch all leave the squad (presuming two of them do sign up).

 

There is absolutely no problem with someone being concerned about that price for someone that age. If we could sit down and ask what the long term plan is I'm sure all out minds would be put at ease.

 

Good post.

 

I too like to look at our transfers from every angle and not just "how good the player is?".

 

It's the same people saying we shouldn't sell Jamie Vardy for £20m because they like him as a player but if we get an offer way above our valuation for a player we should sell and replace him.

[TheSomersetFox]

There's no way he commands a 7m transfer fee considering he's 31 and apparently no longer wanted at West Ham. If he actually has been transfer listed then the longer it goes on the further i could see his price dropping.

[KFS]

From my West Ham supporting mate:

I think that would be a very good signing! If you got him delivering balls for Ulloa and Vardy, it will get you a few more goals!

[Bagworthblue]

There's no way he commands a 7m transfer fee considering he's 31 and apparently no longer wanted at West Ham. If he actually has been transfer listed then the longer it goes on the further i could see his price dropping.

not if there is competition for his services

 

http://www.brunchnews.com/daily-mail/sports/sunderland-won-t-give-up-pursuit-of-west-ham-winger-stewart-downing-as-they-table-%C2%A36million-bid%C2%A0-3095935

[TheSomersetFox]

not if there is competition for his services

http://www.brunchnews.com/daily-mail/sports/sunderland-won-t-give-up-pursuit-of-west-ham-winger-stewart-downing-as-they-table-%C2%A36million-bid%C2%A0-3095935

If they want to pay over the odds for him then fair enough, i'd like him here but not for that much when we could use that money to strengthen elsewhere

[wattolcfc]

I think we need to forget about the fee for a second. £7m is around 7 home matches worth of ticket revenue so it's not really a lot of money considering the £100m TV money in our bank.

The question for me is wether he will improve the side - the answer is yes. We would get a couple of seasons out of him which not only will 'hopefully' establish us a premier league side, which in turn will attract bigger and better players, but will also show we have ambition by signing players that are established players.

Bring it on I say!

[Gerard]

I think we need to forget about the fee for a second. £7m is around 7 home matches worth of ticket revenue so it's not really a lot of money considering the £100m TV money in our bank.

The question for me is wether he will improve the side - the answer is yes. We would get a couple of seasons out of him which not only will 'hopefully' establish us a premier league side, which in turn will attract bigger and better players, but will also show we have ambition by signing players that are established players.

Bring it on I say!

 

I think we need to forget about the fee for a second. £7m is around 7 home matches worth of ticket revenue so it's not really a lot of money considering the £100m TV money in our bank.

The question for me is wether he will improve the side - the answer is yes. We would get a couple of seasons out of him which not only will 'hopefully' establish us a premier league side, which in turn will attract bigger and better players, but will also show we have ambition by signing players that are established players.

Bring it on I say!

 

In our first season in the PL you may have a point.

 

Bringing in older players with experience that are better than what you have is a good tactic.

 

Of course we will have one eye on the bottom three places but as we start the season we expect to survive.

 

I find it hard to fathom that we intend on playing anything but 3-4-1-2 as our stock formation.

 

I'll be pretty pissed off if we do and Fuchs and Downing are ahead of our younger and brighter talents of Schlupp and Mahrez. 

[Babylon]

I think we need to forget about the fee for a second. £7m is around 7 home matches worth of ticket revenue so it's not really a lot of money considering the £100m TV money in our bank.

Again, you're missing the point. It's not spending £7m that concerns people. It's spending £7m on a 31 year, they are two very different things.

 

We also don't have £100m in the bank, we received about £30m less than that for starters. We then paid out £10m+ in bonuses, £22m fees and I'd hazard a guess at least £40m in wages, probably more like £50m. So it's not like it's just kicking around, we look to be spending similar again this year, with probably even more in wages.

[Babylon]

I'll be pretty pissed off if we do and Fuchs and Downing are ahead of our younger and brighter talents of Schlupp and Mahrez. 

We're going to mix up formations I'd imagine, we also need a back up plan if suddenly the three at the back stops working.

 

Fuchs can cover left back and wing back.

Schlupp Wing Back, Left Wing and emergency left back,

Konch left back cover (if he stays)

Downing left wing and behind the front two.

Mahrez right wing, behind front two.

Albrighton right wing, wing back,

De Laet right back, wing back.

Kramaric striker, behind front two.

 

Unless Mahrez can cover the wingback slot, that position looks the weakest if there is an injury as it would really hamper our attacking play should De Laet have to cover the wing back role. Perhaps they are thinking one of Schlupp and Fuchs could move over in an emergency and cut in like Mahrez does.

 

To improve and move up the league we're going to end up with decent players on the bench. It seems weird and a waste when you are used to having the likes of Hammond and GTF. But that's the way it needs to be.