People often talk of Andy Carroll as though he was the worst signing of Liverpool’s most recent Kenny Dalglish era. I think that’s unfair. I think they’re forgetting somebody.
Stewart Downing, who Liverpool valued at around £20m back in the summer of 2011, is not only the worst signing of Dalglish’s time; he’s one of the worst signings since the clubs inception.
I’m hard pressed to find a player who cost the club so much and offered so little in return.
I realize that Andy Carroll cost considerably more (£35m) but he still has a long career ahead of him. He offers the team’s he plays for an entirely different option upfront. He is entirely dominant in the air. Stewart Downing is not dominant in any aspect of his game. On his day, Carroll is an expert finisher. Stewart Downing doesn’t seem to have any good days.
Most importantly, however, Andy Carroll has a future – he is going to get better and find more consistency on a football pitch. At this stage in 28-year-old Downing’s career, however, you get the feeling that he has peaked and that he’s in the middle of ‘the slide’. Things can only get worse.
That’s surely the reason why Brendan Rodgers hasn’t entrusted him with a Premier League start, since the opening day defeat against West Brom (where he offered no threat whatsoever). He clearly favours the likes of newbie Oussama Assaidi, Suso and 17-year-old Raheem Sterling.
If I were Downing and looked at the players ahead of me in the pecking order at Anfield, I’d want out. The season before he left Villa, he was voted the fan’s favourite. Now, unfortunately, his career is in tatters. It’s time for both him and the club to cut their losses and look to the future.
For these reasons, I’m not overly upset to have seen that Downing has been told he can leave the club during the January transfer window (Source: The Echo).
I think Downing could do a role at a club that isn’t such a pressure-cooker. He has too much responsibility at Liverpool. A return to the likes of Aston Villa could do him the world of good. His sale (though I’m sure the Reds wouldn’t get much money for him) would provide funds for the Reds to re-invest in the club. That’s what Rodgers needs now more than ever.
What’s your take? Time for Stewart Downing to jump ship?
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Of course he should be rid of.I said that he should never come in the first place!
First opportunity – try and do a deal with A Villa
What was Kenny thinking? wasting money so recklessly and we’re paying for it now in the teams lack of ability in attack. Jackson Martínez would make 10 of Carroll and would’ve cost only £7/£8m.
But I’m positive BR will make Liverpool great once again, just gonna take a while.
We’ll take him back…. on loan, with a view to buy at 5m, and that’s only because we feel guilty at fleecing you so bad.
No thank you. We don’t want the horrible little weasel back.
Downing was fantastic for us in his second season at Villa Park. Goals and assists led to a POTS award. If Liverpool’s managers can’t work out how to get the best out of a player of his quality then I think that says more about the managerial talent of Kenny and BR than it does about a player who has already proven himself in the PL (hence the transfer fee).
I would gladly have him back and get Lambert to show you what you will have missed. Obviously, given the damage that you lot have done to his confidence and the fact that he is a couple of years older I wouldn’t want to pay more than £5-6 million.