Stewart Downing (Middlesbrough)

Not for me have seen him play a few times and take away his crosses and he's better than average, having said that he doesnt get the ball over 90% of the time anyway(think it was his last england game) and he could'nt get it past the first man, sorry but no better a signing then pennant on the right for me would be gutted if we payed that amount for him, would prefer to see it invested elsewhere.

He scored 9 or 10 goals this season. Gerrard scored over 20, Kuyt & Crouch scored 11 goals maybe Babel too. Pennant was good with crosses. So Downing ranks equal among our oft rotated players. We need players that have a lot more to show for 38 starts this season than just 10 goals and little or no assists.

No thanks. If Rafa is stupid enough to buy him for 12 million then ill double that to get Rafa out our club.

Also, wasnt it Albert Riera a few days ago we were after? Pure bullshit here.

Gossip and hope it stays that way

cant see rafa going after him

Downing would b ok 4 liverpool but I think someone we could benefit from is ASHLEY YOUNG, last season he looked dangerous 4 aston villa, he runs @ ppl and isnt afraid 2 take a shot on. No disraspect but if he stays @ villa his career will lack trophies and I think LFC is the right place 4 him.

Downing would b ok 4 liverpool but I think someone we could benefit from is ASHLEY YOUNG, last season he looked dangerous 4 aston villa, he runs @ ppl and isnt afraid 2 take a shot on. No disraspect but if he stays @ villa his career will lack trophies and I think LFC is the right place 4 him.

Ashley Young is truly the man. A player like that should want to play Championship football and also win trophies.

You really think MON is going to let us anywhere near Young? I think he'd rather let Barry go and look how much of a fight he is putting up. Tis a shame because I agree, he would be an excellent signing.

But Downing? b I t c h please!!!!!!

  My thoughts exactly solodee!

Reckon this thread is probably left untouched unless any decent sources come through for this one.

You really think MON is going to let us anywhere near Young? I think he'd rather let Barry go and look how much of a fight he is putting up. Tis a shame because I agree, he would be an excellent signing.

If Man Utd came in for Young, expect him to be sign there in a heart beat. We dont have that influence in the market like they do.

Yeah what im saying is he wouldn't let Young go to us because of the barry transfer saga so far/

Yeah what im saying is he wouldn't let Young go to us because of the barry transfer saga so far/

Yeah no doubt mate, agree. The frusrating this is, we have targets but have to go to bigger lengths to secure them.

Yeah, such is life sometimes. I do believe it is easier for clubs to sell to man ure

Is it the Football Manager effect? I never seen him as the player some people seem to think he is. Downing? No, thanks...

If I see Benitez buy Barry, Bentley or Downing then I'd lose a lot of faith in him. We all know these players won't improve us and surely Rafa should know that too!

I do think Barry and Bentley could do a job for us.  Ok they aren't the high profile signings we were all hoping for but they are proven PL and England players.  Maybe Rafa has a very small purse and thinks that signings from abroad are a gamble so he's going with the adage "better the devil you know"?  Otherwise we could end up with foreign flops with the price range we are buying in?  Who knows...

Would rather see Nick Barmby waring 7 than Downing.  I've never really understood the hype and the only reason he got into the national team was due to Mclaren.  Wouldn't see how he will strenghthen us enough to challenge for the PL.  He's a mid' table player at best imo.

I would much rather have Downing than Millner to be honest!

I would much rather have Downing than Millner to be honest!

dunno bout that, whats F***ing awful is the fact we are even debating about which of these two we will get, its a F***ing farce to be honest. Just bullshit news for bullshit sake half of this transfer talk honestly, load of bollox

I would much rather have Downing than Millner to be honest!

cant say i would prefer either of them in all honesty, we can do alot better

cant say I would prefer either of them in all honesty, we can do alot better

Too right, you see Downing @ Boro and he ilooks quite settled with regular starts and is not the type of player who would want to move to a club where he would only get slightly more money and sit on the bench.

http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11669_3694030,00.html

Middlesbrough manager Gareth Southgate has reiterated that winger Stewart Downing is not for sale.

The England star only penned a new five-year contract in February after Tottenham failed to seal a deal for him.

Downing finished the Premier League season in fine style before linking up with England for their friendlies with France and Trinidad & Tobago.

Now fresh speculation has linked him with Liverpool, but Southgate has insisted that Downing is very much part of his plans.

"We have to accept there will be speculation about our players and, if they're the quality of Stewart and have had the sort of season he has, that's inevitable," said Southgate.

"Stewart knows exactly what I want to try and achieve here and, as far as we are concerned, he's not for sale.

"I fought long and hard to keep him and get him on a new contract during the course of last season and I think we saw an increased maturity in his performances towards the end."
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Good for him. Liverpool deserve better.

Good for him. Liverpool deserve better.

He should stay where he is. He'll always be a hero for his current side and be one of the first names on the team sheet too I imagine. For us I think he'd only ever be a disappointment and an occassional starter, so why bother?

Rafa is hopefully just using him as a smoke screen so he can complete a move for Silva without any form of media finding out resulting in other clubs outbidding us