Downing Stick or Move?

He has improved - although he was coming from a very low baseline.

Still a definite sell for me.  Doesn't get anywhere near enough goals for an attacking position, hasn't got enough pace and frequently drifts out of games.

His improving performance should help us at least get in the £5-£10M range when we sell him.

I'd have to say that i'd keep Downing, he has pissed me off immensely since we signed him but he does show occasional glimpses of what we know he can do. That's what makes him so frustrating to watch.

The reason i quoted your post JD is that i fail to see where you draw the conclusion from that he has no pace?. He's F***ing lightning quick and has shown this on many occasions, okay then, not many but there is no doubt he is very fast.

Why move him when he has started to play well? Admittedly, he started so low that he still has few more rungs to cover before we sell him.

Move. He's on around 80k a week, that's ridiculous for a squad player. Sell him and with the money made go back and grab Ince. He'll be on lower wages and we should be able to afford his fee with what we get from Downing.

Great point but is Ince a better player than Downing? Ince is young and good potential but your going to miss Downing's experience though really think we could do better than Downing as a starter with a player on a lower wage...

I'd have to say that i'd keep Downing, he has pissed me off immensely since we signed him but he does show occasional glimpses of what we know he can do. That's what makes him so frustrating to watch.

The reason i quoted your post JD is that i fail to see where you draw the conclusion from that he has no pace?. He's f**king lightning quick and has shown this on many occasions, okay then, not many but there is no doubt he is very fast.

Agree on the point about his pace hardcore.

One of our quickest players.

That Twitter interview... ahah

Agree on the point about his pace hardcore.

One of our quickest players.

Which is exactly what was so frustrating about him last year. He's got all that speed but he never dared to use it.

That's one big difference in the last few months. He's finally using that quickness and it makes such a difference in his performance.

Misread the title, thought it said Downing Stick & Move and was referring to the spot of bother he got into with his ex.

I'd have to say that i'd keep Downing, he has pissed me off immensely since we signed him but he does show occasional glimpses of what we know he can do. That's what makes him so frustrating to watch.

The reason i quoted your post JD is that i fail to see where you draw the conclusion from that he has no pace?. He's F***ing lightning quick and has shown this on many occasions, okay then, not many but there is no doubt he is very fast.

Yeah - Downing, Enrique and Sturridge are our quickest players right now.

Yeah - Downing, Enrique and Sturridge are our quickest players right now.

That Sterling lad ain't too slow either .

I'd keep Downing if we don't get a good offer for him but I certainly don't think he is our long term solution on the wings. If we wish to progress we will need someone who can offer us more quality, more consistenly.

He will be 29 this summer, however that said, if he continues to show this form until the 19th of May, I say stick on to him for another season until Tom Ince settles in (well, I'm sure we are getting him  ). There are always the likes of Martin Jol or Harry Redknapp or Martin O'Neill who have the knack for 30-yr olds, we can always move him but we are definitely gonna take a 75% loss

Keep him he's playing better than he has since we signed him. He has to do the
 business for us with the World Cup qualifiers coming up now.
He cost far too much but that's not his fault is it.
Brendan has dealt with him very well imo he needs to feal the love to play.
Keep it up Downing we always knew there was a player in there somewhere!!

give him a chance...he will shine...

Another good point is that he will have to play well next season to get into the England squad for the World Cup (If they get there) so therefore he could have a great season as realistically this is his last chance to play at a World Cup especially as its in Brazil.

Another good point is that he will have to play well next season to get into the England squad for the World Cup (If they get there) so therefore he could have a great season as realistically this is his last chance to play at a World Cup especially as its in Brazil.

He won't get a spot no matter how good he plays. He has played more than and better than Young this season yet that idiot gets a call up all the time.

Anyplayer that has improved this season deserves to continue with there contract , and Downing has dug his heels in and done the job .
        Each top four team in my opinion has a good strong bench to call on and i  think this aids there success , somthing we havnt had for many a year,  the only way we are going to gain momentum and win things is by strengh in depth and that means keeping the "squad " players regardless of wages!

If we were going to sell it should have been last summer maybe even January just gone. Why would we sell him now when hes in a good spell? Leave him there as a squad player unless we get 2 quality players in this summer who would limit his game time to nothing

If we were going to sell it should have been last summer maybe even January just gone. Why would we sell him now when hes in a good spell?

Actually, isn't that the exact right time to sell him though? He's in a good patch of form, so you can get the most for him.

Generally speaking, I'm still undecided on Downing. I know we'll never recoup that 20m, but if he keeps a good level of consistency, we might as well keep him unless we can replace him with quality.

Actually, isn't that the exact right time to sell him though? He's in a good patch of form, so you can get the most for him.

Generally speaking, I'm still undecided on Downing. I know we'll never recoup that 20m, but if he keeps a good level of consistency, we might as well keep him unless we can replace him with quality.

Not a bad call really, especially if he can keep his form going, and after we get some quality in, squad player or get rid.

 I think he'll not be a starter next season, and his squad role will be depended a lot on the arrival or not of Ince.

He's 29 at the start of next season and will have at least 2 years, possibly 3 to run on his contract as I'm not too sure how long his 'long-term' contract is.

Realistically if we're going to recoup any of the money we paid for him it has to be this Summer or there simply wont be any value in buying a 30 year old winger whose main asset is speed on reported £80k a week. We could quite easily be left with him warming our bench for 2 or 3 years or worse having to buy out his contract to free up wages.

Now I understand and agree in principle with BBB's point regarding players over finance for any football fan but £80k a week for a bench-warmer makes no sense to me when I believe we can get a better player offering them the same contract. So in my opinion we either see him as a viable first team option and therefore money well spent or we look to replace him. While a squad option seems a good idea initially, when I thought about it in practice it just seems a waste of resources and we could be letting the opportunity to part exchange him for a better option all around slip by.

It wasn't long ago Downing was looking like a complete flop, and getting rid asap was the only option. We always knew he had the talent, but few still had faith that there was any hope of him working his back into the starting 11.
I think a lot of credut should go to Brendan for the way he give him a kick up the ass. There's nothing like the fear of failure to motivate a player like Downing, if he failed at Liverpool, he would be forever deemed a small club player. If he does leave Liverpool, it will undoubtedly be for a smaller club, I think for this reason he will keep working his socks off to remain a Red.
I would keep him here, we have a lot of players in the squad that aren't of the standard of a team challenging for a top 4 place, there is no point selling one of our best.

It all depends on who else we can get to replace him, surely.

Exactly. No point in selling just for the sake of it or just to' make room' for an easier paid, non-starting, 'kid'.

 We keep Downing until we have somebody better