Stewart Downing (West Ham/Newcastle)

this is good for LFC. thanks west ham and good luck downing.

can't wait to see who we bring in.

The Invisible Man I reckon.

Perhaps not, but don't forget that we didn't finalize the moves for Aspas, Mig, or Alberto until after Carrol was out the door, so it wouldn't surprise me if this deal was still on but had just been placed on hold until we had the player we were trying to replace (Downing) already out the door. 

Doubt it, I get the feeling he was being brought in as left-back cover, until they realised he probably couldn't play there that well, I'm more concerned with getting left-back cover. Aspas, Sterling, Ibe, Alberto can all play where Downing played, as yet we haven't got much cover for Enrique.

The Invisible Man I reckon.

Ha, probably still be more visible on the pitch than Downing!

great news, never in a million years worth the 18-20m we paid for him, almost the last of the huge errors by kenny and comoli done and dusted

Looking at our wide men

we have Cout, Alberto who will be used in that like a dempsey type player, aspas and ibe. For the sake of being fair, i think sterling will be loaned out this season

whilst we do have 4 players in the 2 wide positions, I would expect one more to come in

this sale of downing is not trimminglike the gloom and doom merchants on here are making out, it is getting rid of an average player and will hopefully be replacing him with a better plyer if they accept a move to us

Doubt it, I get the feeling he was being brought in as left-back cover, until they realised he probably couldn't play there that well, I'm more concerned with getting left-back cover. Aspas, Sterling, Ibe, Alberto can all play where Downing played, as yet we haven't got much cover for Enrique.

True.  Was just taking the bit about a "pacey left sided attacker who can score goals" along with our recent interest in Melgarejo and adding 1+1 together.  Rarely is it actually that straightforward though

On a side note, I mentioned in another thread that I was surprised that we have not shown an interest in Enzo Insigne as I think he would be a player who would fit our recruitment policy and would play well in BR's system.  Not more than 2 hours after mentioning that, I saw that the player has reportedly turned down a move to Sunderland.  Makes me question even more why we are not in for him as I think we could realistically get him, and he is a player who would add pace, creativity, and goals to our LW....

Perhaps I am being too objective in my assessment of him   

Mediocre to say the least from his time here and had a half decent second half to last season.

All in all not good enough and if we are looking at Stewart Downing, the Liverpool player alone, then yeah f**k him and his 90k a week right off.

But. We aren't just looking at that are we?

This squad just continues to get thinner and thinner in terms of quality, experience and depth with the expenditure at the forefront of what we want to do.

Maybe there's a replacement lined up, maybe there isn't, but at the start of the window I'd have thought, with all of our money and all that, we could have done with a player in Downing's position that had real quality with Downing deputising.

Obviously not.

Dangerous game we are playing here at this point of the window. Either that or somebody just does not give enough of a f**k about on field performance or hasn't got a clue about how to enhance it when juggling it with incomings and outgoings.

Worried.com

Strange one this. On the surface, Downing was never going to be a sustained success here, he has had long enough to turn it around and hasn't. On the other hand, we haven't signed any wide players this summer and we were already a little thin there. I know Coutinho, Aspas, Sturridge etc can play there but in wouldn't be there best position.

Hope we do have a replacement lined up because at the moment we have made a lot of cash this summer with wages saved etc and not brought in additional quality where we arguably needed it most, wide right.

Don't think there is point moaning about Downing going though, it was always likely.

Happy to see Downing go - if he is replaced with a superior player with experience. Replacing him with the very inexperienced Ibe or even Sterling doesn't seem the best way to compete for top 4.

Our squad is getting thinner than last season, if anything.

You know what, I don't think there will be a replacement for Stewart.  I think we'll go with what we have for now.

You know what, I don't think there will be a replacement for Stewart.  I think we'll go with what we have for now.

Debs, why are you so cynical these days?

You know what, I don't think there will be a replacement for Stewart.  I think we'll go with what we have for now.

I think you are probably right, although it's fair to say that between Sterling and Ibe, we shouldn't miss him.

So unless a player of genuine quality becomes available, or we put in a bid that the players club can't refuse, it's a case of making do, although it's not a bad situation, making do with 2 of the most exciting youngsters around.

I think you are probably right, although it's fair to say that between Sterling and Ibe, we shouldn't miss him.

So unless a player of genuine quality becomes available, or we put in a bid that the players club can't refuse, it's a case of making do, although it's not a bad situation, making do with 2 of the most exciting youngsters around.

I think BR said that" He is looking for an attack minded player who can score goals, preferably on left".

 I think we have one big signing due this summer.

I think you are probably right, although it's fair to say that between Sterling and Ibe, we shouldn't miss him.

So unless a player of genuine quality becomes available, or we put in a bid that the players club can't refuse, it's a case of making do, although it's not a bad situation, making do with 2 of the most exciting youngsters around.

I was meaning Aspas, Borini and Sturridge.  As fantastic as Raheem and Ibe are, they are not ready to be playing a major part in our season, nor should we be relying on them to do so.

You know what, I don't think there will be a replacement for Stewart.  I think we'll go with what we have for now.

He wasn't really a player we needed to replace in all honesty because he done F**k all on the pitch anyway.

He wasn't really a player we needed to replace in all honesty because he done f**k all on the pitch anyway

For me he was not that bad....

For me he was not that bad....

At what exactly? Because he was absolute cack on the pitch for us.

Downing had some moments, but I don't think he's a player we NEED to replace if the option BR wants isn't available.

He was in the starting XI, however. Someone is going to have to fill his shoes and do better for this to be classified as the right move.

I was meaning Aspas, Borini and Sturridge.  As fantastic as Raheem and Ibe are, they are not ready to be playing a major part in our season, nor should we be relying on them to do so.

Fair enough.

My point was that we are not exactly short of choices of Downings position.

great news, never in a million years worth the 18-20m we paid for him, almost the last of the huge errors by kenny and comoli done and dusted

Looking at our wide men

we have Cout, Alberto who will be used in that like a dempsey type player, aspas and ibe. For the sake of being fair, i think sterling will be loaned out this season

whilst we do have 4 players in the 2 wide positions, I would expect one more to come in

this sale of downing is not trimminglike the gloom and doom merchants on here are making out, it is getting rid of an average player and will hopefully be replacing him with a better plyer if they accept a move to us

I'd be very surprised if Sterling is loaned out mate, unless we buy a quality replacement for Downing.

If Downing leaving leaves us short, the club can PM me and f*ck it I can fill in. I'll have to re-arrange the Rotas a bit to get weekends off but other than that I can't see any problem. I'm also left footed, and will also contribute absolutely f*ck all.

Never set the world on fire here and frustrated me way too many times for me to be arsed really.

The sad fact is we've got another player 'off the wage bill' and all anyone's talking about is suarez, never mind a couple of weeks back we'd be getting "a few more through the door", nope, now it's all quiet.

Spend some money on quality players, and soon.

Or sell to someone who wants us to achieve success because if you don't start spending you obviously F***ing don't.

If Downing leaving leaves us short, the club can PM me and f*ck it I can fill in. I'll have to re-arrange the Rotas a bit to get weekends off but other than that I can't see any problem. I'm also left footed, and will also contribute absolutely f*ck all.

Will you be able to provide the 98% blocked shot/cross ratio that Stewie has cultivated so admirably during his time here?

Will you be able to provide the 98% blocked shot/cross ratio that Stewie has cultivated so admirably during his time here?

I'll have to f*ck it up on purpose obviously, but I'll definately have a go.