Stewart Downing

[katieakita]

Look at those who have left the club,look who have come in and ask yourselves have we improved, would Downing improve the squad, for me it is a yes but whoever we sign and we are not going to sign everyone we are linked with the quality of the squad is increasing, we can agree or disagree with who we are linked with. Hopefully though we can all agree we have faith in NP and his recruitment policy.

 

PS of course Downing also stands out as someone who ripped us last season.

[Max Power]

Good option but way too expensive for his age. Barnetta on a free seems more sensible and realistic

[whoareyaaa]

He has had one good season never worth 7m.

 

Positivtes: quick, sharp can play left wing and behind the top 2.

 

Negatives: had 1 good season, 31, awful assist and goal scoring record, can't hit a barn 95% of the time.

 

he would be good to have around the squad but not for that price.

[Frost]

Why do people assume we can go around spending what we want? Everyone thinks we have £7m to spend here and there like its nothing. We do have a lot of other outgoings as well.

[ScouseFox]

reckon nige could turn him into the best left wing back in the world 

[Babylon]

He has had one good season never worth 7m.

 

Positivtes: quick, sharp can play left wing and behind the top 2.

 

Negatives: had 1 good season, 31, awful assist and goal scoring record, can't hit a barn 95% of the time.

 

he would be good to have around the squad but not for that price.

You don't get transferred the amount of times he has for the amounts he has if he's only ever had one good season.

[Gerard]

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.

 

I fully appreciate that if we are to progress we will need to have quality players on the bench.

 

I'm not happy about bringing Downing in because:

a) he only fits in the Mahrez role in our stock formation of 3-4-1-2

b) he'll either stifle Mahrez's progression or be a sub

c) If he's mainly a squad player he'll be on big wages with little resale value

 

I'd much rather we brought in a younger player who could progress and would have resale value.

[Callabinho]

I'm still amazed that some of you are moaning over a £7million transfer fee, that's ****ing chips in this division, Downing can EASILY command a £7 million fee, if the owners are happy to part with that cash then why worry? They've built an empire of a business from the ground up, I think they know a thing or two about investment.

[Babylon]

I fully appreciate that if we are to progress we will need to have quality players on the bench.

 

I'm not happy about bringing Downing in because:

a) he only fits in the Mahrez role in our stock formation of 3-4-1-2

b) he'll either stifle Mahrez's progression or be a sub

c) If he's mainly a squad player he'll be on big wages with little resale value

 

I'd much rather we brought in a younger player who could progress and would have resale value.

How would the young player progress that we brought in if you only want to play Mahrez? Being devils advocate here, as I'm not 100% sure where they all would fit in just yet.

 

We don't know yet what the stock formation will be, we can only presume it will be three at the back. Some games we might go with a more 3-4-3. Some games we might go 442, some 451, some 433. Who knows.

[Babylon]

I'm still amazed that some of you are moaning over a £7million transfer fee, that's ****ing chips in this division, Downing can EASILY command a £7 million fee, if the owners are happy to part with that cash then why worry? They've built an empire of a business from the ground up, I think they know a thing or two about investment.

And I'm still amazed you don't realise it's not so much the fee, but the age of the player people are worried about for that fee.

[Guest ttfn]

He has had one good season never worth 7m.

Positivtes: quick, sharp can play left wing and behind the top 2.

Negatives: had 1 good season, 31, awful assist and goal scoring record, can't hit a barn 95% of the time.

he would be good to have around the squad but not for that price.

He's not had one good season though he's had about 6 or 7.

£7m seems fairly reasonable for proven premier league quality. Yes, he's 31 and his resale value will be minimal but there is more than one way to get your money back on an investment - the extra TV money at the end of this year (and if we get relegated in a subsequent season, the associated parachute payments) means that if Downing plays a crucial role in keeping us up for a couple of years he could effectively repay that fee on the pitch and walk away on a free in a couple of years and we'd still have done good business.

Major concern for me is two-fold:

1) Wages - we've got a squad full of bumped-up Championship contracts. Downing will be accustomed to getting £60k/week+ and whoever he signs for this will probably be his last big contract.

2) Too many new signings - we suffered in large part from Pearson's relentless tinkering in the middle of the season as he sought a solution to problems largely of his own making. Hull last year brought in 9 new players, many of them fairly big names and got relegated. However as others have pointed out in their season Southampton made the right signings and really pushed on

[Bettsj2]

Concerns over £7m for a 31 year old are fine and justified. The argument that spending that on a 25 year old instead is obviously preferable.

My thoughts are that where we are now is a crossroads. We stayed up and have the chance to really cement ourselves this year especially as the 3 that have come up look likely to struggle.

As has been said, Huth and Cambiasso made the difference last year. Experience is key to success. Downing at £7m would be good business for that reason and paying £7m is justified because of it.

It not only gives us the experience we lack in that position, but it does open up more formation options with a tried and tested player.

The owners and management have shown many times that they have long term thinking in their strategy, but at the minute, I can fully understand if they want to take a short term transfer strategy in order to have a better chance to cement our status this season.

If we stay up again, we are then a more attractive proposition to a 25/26 year old than we are now as there will still be elements of doubt over us in players minds as despite our strong finish, the rest of the season was mainly poor.

No we dont have £100m to spend as Babylon said, which makes signings all the more important. I would very much rather we spent on experience at the minute. After all, James, Drinkwater, RDL, Schlupp, Mahrez, King, Hamer, Moore all make up our squad and are relatively young and inexperienced.

Balancing it out with quality is a very good idea and worth the money.

[Callabinho]

And I'm still amazed you don't realise it's not so much the fee, but the age of the player people are worried about for that fee.

31? For a lad like Downing that's nothing, you've got a couple of years out of him at least, plus look how much Defoe cost Sunderland? he still has something to offer to a club like us, experience is one of his major traits. Nigel likes a bit of experience in his side's, which to be honest we lacked in abundance last season, I'm not phased by £7mill for Downing, I think he is a good player who still has a lot to offer. Get him in IMO.

[Bagworthblue]

He's not had one good season though he's had about 6 or 7.

£7m seems fairly reasonable for proven premier league quality. Yes, he's 31 and his resale value will be minimal but there is more than one way to get your money back on an investment - the extra TV money at the end of this year (and if we get relegated in a subsequent season, the associated parachute payments) means that if Downing plays a crucial role in keeping us up for a couple of years he could effectively repay that fee on the pitch and walk away on a free in a couple of years and we'd still have done good business.

Major concern for me is two-fold:

1) Wages - we've got a squad full of bumped-up Championship contracts. Downing will be accustomed to getting £60k/week+ and whoever he signs for this will probably be his last big contract.

2) Too many new signings - we suffered in large part from Pearson's relentless tinkering in the middle of the season as he sought a solution to problems largely of his own making. Hull last year brought in 9 new players, many of them fairly big names and got relegated. However as others have pointed out in their season Southampton made the right signings and really pushed on

I agree - with the business done so far -keep Esteban, and then a further 2-3 max quality signings to replace those departed / ing and job done!! Given Huth was here at the end of the season, that would amount to 4-5 newcomers in total including those already signed to replace Wood / GTF / Dawson and the spare space in the squad but the overall team dynamic won't change considerably whilst benefiting from additional quality

[ousefox]

I think he'd be a class signing. Shows how far we've come that people are turning their noses up at the likes of Downing.

[Bamba's Babes]

If he wasn't in your fantasy team for a large proportion of last season then you had a mere.

 

Possibly coming off his best season as a pro.

 

Sign him up!

 

Invest this season and reap the TV money awards next season.

I think he'd be a class signing. Shows how far we've come that people are turning their noses up at the likes of Downing.

 

Or they're clueless and still value Nugent as a Premier League player...

[Gerard]

How would the young player progress that we brought in if you only want to play Mahrez? Being devils advocate here, as I'm not 100% sure where they all would fit in just yet.

 

We don't know yet what the stock formation will be, we can only presume it will be three at the back. Some games we might go with a more 3-4-3. Some games we might go 442, some 451, some 433. Who knows.

 

If we play a formation with a left midfield place then fair enough but surely we won't abandon the formation that won us 7/9?

 

Of course we need flexibility but I can't imagine we don't start with anything but 3-4-1-2.

 

If that's so then either Downing starts ahead of Mahrez or his main role will be as a sub. That's not good for Mahrez if he's dropped as he's still a player with room for development and if he has been brought in as cover then it only limits chances for Kramaric or maybe Okazaki if he can play that role.

 

Anyway I look at it as detrimental to the squad one way or another. Either he stifles a young player's development or is an expensive depreciating asset.

[Stevosevic]

Must stay up this season for the new TV deal next summer - if it means spending 2-3m more on a couple of players then so be it.

[Bluearmyfox28]

I personally would prefer Konoplyanka for this fee.

[ian_marshall]

Everyone seems to be going on about his age in relation to the fee, saying that we won't get many years out of him, or that we'll end up with a load of players all retiring at the same time, but everyone seems to be forgetting that when we entered the Premier League we had one of the youngest squads in the league with little premier league experience. From a succession planning perspective this signing would make sense. Short term we have a proven premier league player, whilst longer term the younger lads get to train with him and learn from his experience to develop their game in order to step up when he eventually calls it a day. The £7m fee won't just be about what he brings to us on the pitch but will be priceless off it.

[fuchsntf]

Wouldnt be negative to the idea, but not for 7m. Upto 4m but looking at 2-3m.

His age and injury concerns, are the showstoppers.

Plus I would prefer such money being invested in a younger known player, ca. 21-24yrs.

Though Pearson being our manager, is given free range from my side.He does business how he sees fit

his choices will define his successes and failures.In Pearson I trust.

[lgfualol]

Going round in circles with this money business

[TJB-fox]

Forget money, Downing would be a great addition to the squad-good experience and clearly shows he can be effective in the CAM role, which is in a formation we will most likely be using!

Downing, Fuchs, Huth + Okazaki plus 1 central midfielder (assuming EC stays) is an excellent window in my eyes, adds both quality and experience.

[iamafox]

Don't think he's worth the money for his age.

[ozvaldo]

£7m seems too steep for a player of his age and injury history (for a wide man / winger /attacking midfielder).

If he was a free agent, I'd maybe want him.

But I'd personally prefer a young winger/CAM with better pace/skill/cross/shot. And I believe we could pick up someone better than Downing for circa £7m.