Damion Downs (Rumour)

[Matthew Le God]

 

 

 

 

[Farmer Saint]

Sounds like Mara, with a much more confusing name if we keep Flynn.

[benjii]

Not particularly exciting.

[Gloucester Saint]

Projects are not what’s needed in the situation. Don’t mind the odd one like Quarshie but strikers make or break promotions.

Is he an upgrade on Che Adams from two years ago? That’s the test, if he’s not then good signing for when the parachute payments run out and the club is skint. A bit like when Rupert bought Morgan. But certainly not now. It’s an SR signing, not a Saints one as I’d recognise it.

Otherwise, Spors is losing some of the good credit for the Sulemana fee.

Edited 11 hours ago by Gloucester Saint

[West end Saints]

Thread for a rumour? Too early I thought he must have signed when I saw the thread!

[Badger]

Seems like a cross between  the signings of Mara, and Augustine Delgado.

Mara as in untried, but lots of potential so will surely kick on, won’t he ??? And be worth a bit to sell on.

Like Delgado, possibly one eye on the next summers WC and if he looks good there it’ll increase his value no end. Clear to see surely ?
 

Never mind the minor inconvenience of trying to get promoted this season. 

Edited 11 hours ago by Badger

[Matthew Le God]

6 minutes ago, West end Saints said:

Thread for a rumour? Too early I thought he must have signed when I saw the thread!

It is more than just a rumour. The club has confirmed their interest to the Echo. 

 

 

Edited 11 hours ago by Matthew Le God

[Gloucester Saint]

2 minutes ago, West end Saints said:

Thread for a rumour? Too early I thought he must have signed when I saw the thread!

Doesn’t actually sounds that close either, which isn’t a surprise with the Gold Cup I guess. Poch likes his players fully focused! 

[Badger]

2 minutes ago, West end Saints said:

Thread for a rumour? Too early I thought he must have signed when I saw the thread!

No just a specific thread to air discontent over another ‘one for the future’. 

[Gloucester Saint]

3 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

It is more than just a rumour. The club has confirmed their interest to the Echo. 

Still (no pun intended) doesn't mean Koln have accepted the bid. Saints might have agreed terms with his agent but he will be on nowhere near what Adams/Onachu was or Archer, BBD or AA is so that won’t be a problem.

Cheap little gamble but not really what’s needed.

Edited 11 hours ago by Gloucester Saint

[Saint86]

People being overly pessimistic. He's a good young player being bought into provide squad depth in the CF position, played 1 year of senior football at a senior level and done well by all accounts, prior to that played u19 bundesliga - so still young and made a good step up. Strong, pacey, and generally athletic. Appears to have good movement and finishing. Let's be honest - even if you looked at it as a like for like replacement for TP, it's an upgrade. And barring a bad injury, he'll offer more than Stewart has done in 2 seasons 😄😄

Edited 11 hours ago by Saint86

[Gloucester Saint]

If I was the player, I’d sign a new contract at Koln and play in the Bundesliga next season.

If he’s that talented, why aren’t they pushing the boat out to keep him?

[Gloucester Saint]

1 minute ago, Saint86 said:

People being overly pessimistic. He's a good young player being bought into provide squad depth in the CF position, played 1 year of senior football at a senior level and done well by all accounts, prior to that played u19 bundesliga - so still young and made a good step up. Strong, pacey, and generally athletic. Appears to have good movement and finishing. Let's be honest - even if you looked at it as a like for like replacement for TP, it's an upgrade. And barring a bad injury, he'll offer more than Stewart has done in 2 seasons 😄😄

Possibly true on the last two sentences, Che Adams of two years ago is my minimum benchmark though.

[Badger]

5 minutes ago, Saint86 said:

People being overly pessimistic. He's a good young player being bought into provide squad depth in the CF position, played 1 year of senior football at a senior level and done well by all accounts, prior to that played u19 bundesliga - so still young and made a good step up. Strong, pacey, and generally athletic. Appears to have good movement and finishing. Let's be honest - even if you looked at it as a like for like replacement for TP, it's an upgrade. And barring a bad injury, he'll offer more than Stewart has done in 2 seasons 😄😄

You may be right but we don’t need squad depth if we’re serious about next season. We need first team starters.

And that isn’t Archer, Stewart (who you can’t rely on to be fit) or BBD, for CF. 

Edited 11 hours ago by Badger

[benali-shorts]

I'd prefer him to spell his name Damien, as in Thorn.

 

[Gloucester Saint]

11 minutes ago, benali-shorts said:

I'd prefer him to spell his name Damien, as in Thorn.

 

I don’t think he’s a number 6…

[Gloucester Saint]

Che got what 17 goals and linked/held up well. Downs’s open play won’t be as refined so needs a couple more goals to compensate. If Spors and Still believe he’s good for 20 goals next season then worth it.

Edited 10 hours ago by Gloucester Saint

[S-Clarke]

47 minutes ago, Matthew Le God said:

It is more than just a rumour. The club has confirmed their interest to the Echo. 

 

 

Where is the proof that the club confirmed it to the Echo? Have you seen the official OS release stating our interest? Until that point it's a rumour.

#MLGMode

(sorry, couldn't resist)

Edited 10 hours ago by S-Clarke

[Matthew Le God]

2 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

Where is the proof that the club confirmed it to the Echo? Have you seen the official OS release stating our interest? Until that point it's a rumour.

#MLGMode

(sorry, couldn't resist)

The post I linked to from an Echo journalist stating what he was told by the club. A journalist that regularly gets info from the club. 

That is a big difference from many other journalists who do not get updates direct from the club and significantly more substantial than some of the random sources in the transfer thread.

A rumour has an element of doubt to it, this is far more than that for the reasons I outlined. So warrants its own thread.

[spyinthesky]

As well as understanding all Damion Down's fitness and various other metrics, the most important thing to measure is his support (or lack of it) of Donald Trump and the MAGA bunch.

[Saint_clark]

33 minutes ago, Gloucester Saint said:

Che got what 17 goals and linked/held up well. Downs’s open play won’t be as refined so needs a couple more goals to compensate. If Spors and Still believe he’s good for 20 goals next season then worth it.

I think we'll be disappointed if we're looking for 20 goals from this lad.

[CSA96]

1 hour ago, Gloucester Saint said:

Still (no pun intended) doesn't mean Koln have accepted the bid. Saints might have agreed terms with his agent but he will be on nowhere near what Adams/Onachu was or Archer, BBD or AA is so that won’t be a problem.

Cheap little gamble but not really what’s needed.

I'm not sure anyone who moves for a fee approaching £10m in the second tier is a cheap gamble, really

[Pat from Poole]

I would be very unsurprised if we were being used by Downs’ representatives to get a better contract out of Cologne.

He holds all the cards with just one year left on his contract.

I assume Spors has other back-up options.

[Bob60]

I think people need to be a bit realistic, if we waited for this lad to develop and he had a great season in the German top flight we would never be able to afford him, so we need to take a punt on potential some times. His club have been trying to get him to sign a new contract so must rate him

I am old enough to remember a punt on shearer. Some work most don't. 

As for buying top championship strikers, we have some who have done it at this level before so maybe they see something in him that is different to what we currently have.

 

[BarberSaint]

So as Wade said a while back: more 'experimentation' and a poor man's Edozie and the backroom staff is jobs for the boys. 

Lucky the league's poop.

[Nolan]

1 hour ago, Gloucester Saint said:

Projects are not what’s needed in the situation. Don’t mind the odd one like Quarshie but strikers make or break promotions.

Is he an upgrade on Che Adams from two years ago? That’s the test, if he’s not then good signing for when the parachute payments run out and the club is skint. A bit like when Rupert bought Morgan. But certainly not now. It’s an SR signing, not a Saints one as I’d recognise it.

Otherwise, Spors is losing some of the good credit for the Sulemana fee.

Johannes Spors looked at the BBC squad and identified specific types of players he believes we need that we don't have already.

Will Still plays against the opposition, using squad players that can exploit weaknesses in the opponents. 

They have identified Downs as a player that can do this.

In an era of up to 5 subs per game squad depth and the ability to really change things up is essential.

[Badger]

23 minutes ago, Bob60 said:

I think people need to be a bit realistic, if we waited for this lad to develop and he had a great season in the German top flight we would never be able to afford him, so we need to take a punt on potential some times. His club have been trying to get him to sign a new contract so must rate him

I am old enough to remember a punt on shearer. Some work most don't. 

As for buying top championship strikers, we have some who have done it at this level before so maybe they see something in him that is different to what we currently have.

 

Agree that we can take a punt on an up and coming player some times, or from time to time.

But not time after fucking time …  

[Gloucester Saint]

13 minutes ago, Nolan said:

Johannes Spors looked at the BBC squad and identified specific types of players he believes we need that we don't have already.

Will Still plays against the opposition, using squad players that can exploit weaknesses in the opponents. 

They have identified Downs as a player that can do this.

In an era of up to 5 subs per game squad depth and the ability to really change things up is essential.

There’s logic in what you are saying but what I’m trying to get my head around is why the player would give up the German top flight to be a squad player in the English second. 

[Gloucester Saint]

32 minutes ago, CSA96 said:

I'm not sure anyone who moves for a fee approaching £10m in the second tier is a cheap gamble, really

It was 8m Euros last time I saw, as a top price, Brum paid far more for Jay Stansfield in the division below last season. 

[Yorkshire Saint]

2 hours ago, Matthew Le God said:

 

 

 

 

Hardly a ringing endorsement on the BBC report.

Some gentle alarm bells ringing on Spors for me, but let's see what the next few weeks brings 🤞

Edited 9 hours ago by Yorkshire Saint

[Badger]

5 minutes ago, Gloucester Saint said:

There’s logic in what you are saying but what I’m trying to get my head around is why the player would give up the German top flight to be a squad player in the English second. 

Has been suggested on here anyway, that Koln have signed an older and more experienced striker for next season in Bundesliga so perhaps he feels game time will be limited if he stays. Plus Saints might be paying more. 

[Gloucester Saint]

37 minutes ago, Saint_clark said:

I think we'll be disappointed if we're looking for 20 goals from this lad.

Agreed. Would be a decent squad option but only if BBD is shipped out. Seems AA is the one the club wants to move on but scored 20+ last time. Those 40 odd goals from Che and AA if the latter went to say Rangers need replacing somewhere.

[EBS1980]

Hope this isn’t a repeat of signing players who could become good rather than players who improve our starting XI now. 

[Badger]

3 minutes ago, EBS1980 said:

Hope this isn’t a repeat of signing players who could become good rather than players who improve our starting XI now. 

Nail on head. 

[VectisSaint]

1 hour ago, benali-shorts said:

I'd prefer him to spell his name Damien, as in Thorn.

 

It's an Omen I tell you.

[hypochondriac]

52 minutes ago, Bob60 said:

I think people need to be a bit realistic, if we waited for this lad to develop and he had a great season in the German top flight we would never be able to afford him, so we need to take a punt on potential some times. His club have been trying to get him to sign a new contract so must rate him

I am old enough to remember a punt on shearer. Some work most don't. 

As for buying top championship strikers, we have some who have done it at this level before so maybe they see something in him that is different to what we currently have.

 

You are correct that we need to take a punt on potential sometimes and that's what we sort of did with Edozie last time. The problem for me is that our main striker signing needs to be a bit more of a solid one than good potential. I'd personally spend big on the striker area and get the best we can afford and keep the potential signings for other areas of the squad that are maybe less key. 

[Weston Super Saint]

1 hour ago, Matthew Le God said:

The post I linked to from an Echo journalist stating what he was told by the club. .

Horseshit.

Nowhere does it say he was told by the club.

All it states is that a couple of weeks ago there seemed confidence they'd get it done.

It does not state who had the confidence - it could have been anyone, including his own grandma. Nowhere does he name the club.

It's just a rumour.

Edited 9 hours ago by Weston Super Saint

[Badger]

18 minutes ago, VectisSaint said:

It's an Omen I tell you.

Don’t worry Still has got them in for a extra pre-season exorcising. 

[HarvSFC]

There's always going to be some apprehension regarding our transfer dealings under SR, until they have consecutive successful windows, which so far they've failed to do in their three and a half years in charge. Of course, it's nice and good to sign some young and up and coming players, but we can't purely look in that market if we want to go for promotion. It would be repeating the mistakes of the summer of 2022 again when signing Bazunu, ABK, Lavia, Mara, Edozie and Larios, and only one of those proved to be any success. Hopes still out for Edozie, three years on.

We need to mix these types of signings with good, marquee ones, who are ready to improve the first team from day one. Like Ramsdale last summer, and like Downes and THB, for this level two years ago.

11-12, we had young stars like Lallana and Schneiderlin. But we also had the experienced pros of Davis, Fonte, Hammond and Lambert. Even Fox, Richardson and Hooiveld played good and important parts. That was all solid recruitment and a top budget, which we won't be able to replicate, but can hope to see something similar from Spors and SR this summer.

[CSA96]

48 minutes ago, Gloucester Saint said:

It was 8m Euros last time I saw, as a top price, Brum paid far more for Jay Stansfield in the division below last season. 

Birmingham overpaying at their level for Stansfield to score 15 goals (excl pens) in League One doesn’t really have anything to do with £6.8m not being cheap for a second division team, though 

If £6.8m is the opening offer then presumably that will climb too before there’s an agreement 

In recent Championship seasons anything between £5m-£10m is still a significant outlay, whether Downs will prove to be worth it or not is to be seen of course 

[31cc]

Got the song sorted;

Down, down,

Damien Downs

[Tommy Mulgrew]

4 hours ago, spyinthesky said:

the most important thing

 

6 hours ago, Farmer Saint said:

Sounds like Mara

No, the most important thing is surely what his mum is like.   

[Nolan]

6 hours ago, Weston Super Saint said:

Horseshit.

Nowhere does it say he was told by the club.

All it states is that a couple of weeks ago there seemed confidence they'd get it done.

It does not state who had the confidence - it could have been anyone, including his own grandma. Nowhere does he name the club.

It's just a rumour.

With information that Alfie House gave in the podcast with @stevegrant and subsequent posts on X it was quite easy to work out it the striker that he had been told we were interested in buying was Downs.

The attributes that were mentioned all pointed that way.

[Chez]

8 hours ago, HarvSFC said:

There's always going to be some apprehension regarding our transfer dealings under SR, until they have consecutive successful windows, which so far they've failed to do in their three and a half years in charge. Of course, it's nice and good to sign some young and up and coming players, but we can't purely look in that market if we want to go for promotion. It would be repeating the mistakes of the summer of 2022 again when signing Bazunu, ABK, Lavia, Mara, Edozie and Larios, and only one of those proved to be any success. Hopes still out for Edozie, three years on.

We need to mix these types of signings with good, marquee ones, who are ready to improve the first team from day one. Like Ramsdale last summer, and like Downes and THB, for this level two years ago.

11-12, we had young stars like Lallana and Schneiderlin. But we also had the experienced pros of Davis, Fonte, Hammond and Lambert. Even Fox, Richardson and Hooiveld played good and important parts. That was all solid recruitment and a top budget, which we won't be able to replicate, but can hope to see something similar from Spors and SR this summer.

2022 summer we signed experienced pros too. Aribo, Caleta-Car and Maitland-Niles. Not marquee though. We realised we could not afford to compete in that market so went the 'buy top young talent' route instead. Made sense, but risky when your senior pros were lacking.

[Barsiem]

9 hours ago, Weston Super Saint said:

Horseshit.

Nowhere does it say he was told by the club.

All it states is that a couple of weeks ago there seemed confidence they'd get it done.

It does not state who had the confidence - it could have been anyone, including his own grandma. Nowhere does he name the club.

It's just a rumour.

Alfie does state in a subsequent tweet Downs is the striker Spors wanted