Damion Downs

[Lee On Solent Saint]

Makes Mara look a player he's that fuckin bad. 

[CSA96]

28 minutes ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Makes Mara look a player he's that fuckin bad. 

Yawn

[Lighthouse]

1 hour ago, trousers said:

Early days but, alas, he's looking like a typical mediocre penny-pinching signing from Sport Republic. Are we ever going to splash the cash on a decent forward ever again? How many windows is it now since we haven't replaced Ings...?

Mediocre? Which games have you been watching, he’s looked utterly abysmal so far.

[Gloucester Saint]

1 minute ago, Lighthouse said:

Mediocre? Which games have you been watching, he’s looked utterly abysmal so far.

Data-driven again. But you never turn a profit on someone with no first touch, anticipation, composure or ball striking. Moore was obviously what we needed but not trendy enough for SR. They never will learn. 

[saint michael]

The guy is shocking he walks around, doesn’t understand a strikers movement fish out of water. Thank goodness we didn’t pay much for him 

[Lee On Solent Saint]

8 minutes ago, CSA96 said:

Yawn

You disagree?

[kitch]

49 minutes ago, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Makes Mara look a player he's that fuckin bad. 

Mara did look a player, to be fair.

 

 

Twice. Once against Man City in the cup, and the other against Huddersfield.

[AlexLaw76]

Remember when it was deemed the miss at Northampton was due to a poor pass?!?!

 

 

[Fabrice29]

1 hour ago, Saint NL said:

Sometimes you can see what a player is trying to do, even if it's not working out.

This guy just looks lost. I saw twice today he pointed to a ball in behind and Manning (I think) didn't play it. The other players won't even pass to him, that's not a good sign.

That's on the players who didn't pass to him then. Not Downs.

[LuckyNumber7]

To be fair some of his movement off the ball was good today, but we have no-one capable of picking him out. He's just not getting much service at the moment. Far too early to be writing him off.

[LGTL]

Absolutely abysmal, some of the worst forward play I’ve ever seen by a Saints player in his minutes so far. 

[Suhari]

32 minutes ago, LGTL said:

Absolutely abysmal, some of the worst forward play I’ve ever seen by a Saints player in his minutes so far. 

How does he compare to Ali Dia?

[Convict Colony]

honestly I must be watching a different match than most people.

the amount of fucking times Armstrong and  Downs made runs behind the full back for manning to play the ball into but he just turned around and passed it back to the CBs.

There is a reason wellington starts above him.

Our forwards are getting pelters but their service is dogshit.

[Gloucester Saint]

11 minutes ago, Suhari said:

How does he compare to Ali Dia?

Same lack of any on-pitch awareness, but an even worse first touch.

If you were a fellow player, you would sigh if either appeared on a team sheet, even on the bench. 

Edited August 23 by Gloucester Saint

[S-Clarke]

I think people are being OTT about him at this stage.

This is what happens when you purchase potential though, it's not ready 'straight away'. He will score goals for us, I'm sure, but we need guys in our attack who can do that for us straight away at this point.

[Sir Ralph]

51 minutes ago, Suhari said:

How does he compare to Ali Dia?

Same goal record and Downs has had more minutes. Therefore Ali Dia has a better goals to minutes ratio so arguably he's the better of the two so far....and he didnt cost £7m. In fact, Ali Dia was a bargain in comparison. He might actually get in ahead of some of our other strikers, even now aged 50 or so. Wonder what he's up to? Maybe he will be our deadline day transfer deal.

Edited August 23 by Sir Ralph

[Convict Colony]

42 minutes ago, Convict Colony said:

honestly I must be watching a different match than most people.

the amount of fucking times Armstrong and  Downs made runs behind the full back for manning to play the ball into but he just turned around and passed it back to the CBs.

There is a reason wellington starts above him.

Our forwards are getting pelters but their service is dogshit.

From still

"Yeah, it's more a question of how we get the ball to them and how we create our chances, because for the moment we're crossing the ball a lot and getting the ball into the box, but it's not quite spot on yet,"

[kitch]

My lad just got back from the game and reckoned Downs' workrate off the ball was spot-on. He was making all kinds of runs and finding openings, but never received any service.

[S-Clarke]

Just now, kitch said:

My lad just got back from the game and reckoned Downs' workrate off the ball was spot-on. He was making all kinds of runs and finding openings, but never received any service.

I felt he wasn't showing himself enough when he first came on, he was a bit passive and sort of slid into an invisible role.

He did start to get on the ball in the end and was making some darts in and around, but there's no one to supply him so it's a moot point really. I don't think we can truly judge Downs until he has quality players supporting him.

[Disco Stu]

Interesting comment from a 1.FC Koln fan from back when we first approached. Sounds like he's been off the boil since the start of the year and his first touch is notorious!

 

[Jack]

4 minutes ago, kitch said:

My lad just got back from the game and reckoned Downs' workrate off the ball was spot-on. He was making all kinds of runs and finding openings, but never received any service.

I was keeping an eye on him and agree, his movement looked decent but nobody would pick him out. When we had Stewart and Archer on as well, they’d all make the same run and get in each others way. Bit of a mess but too early to write him off 

[Convict Colony]

Our problem are the players who are martin players and had it inbuilt to them to be risk averse with the ball and possession is paramount.

We need people who are trying to thread through balls, bend it around the full back etc, but in dangerous crosses to give our forwards a chance.

[Suhari]

57 minutes ago, Sir Ralph said:

Same goal record and Downs has had more minutes. Therefore Ali Dia has a better goals to minutes ratio so arguably he's the better of the two so far....and he didnt cost £7m. In fact, Ali Dia was a bargain in comparison. He might actually get in ahead of some of our other strikers, even now aged 50 or so. Wonder what he's up to? Maybe he will be our deadline day transfer deal.

He turned 60 in the last few days, according to TwitterX.

Which doesn't make me feel really old. Nosireebob.

[LGTL]

I remember reading all these comments about Mara, Stewart, BBD, Archer, Mayuka, Carrillo et al. Christ go back far enough and I remember them about Tomas Pekhart and Jordan Robertson. No amount of time is going to make Damion Downs a prolific striker. 

[Harry_SFC]

54 minutes ago, kitch said:

My lad just got back from the game and reckoned Downs' workrate off the ball was spot-on. He was making all kinds of runs and finding openings, but never received any service.

Must admit I did notice this. 

It really doesn't help when you've got players like Manning and Downes in particular who are wedded to their best mate RM and can only pass the ball backwards and sideways. 

[Greedyfly]

2 hours ago, Fabrice29 said:

That's on the players who didn't pass to him then. Not Downs.

Got two, 1 yard, tap ins in his first two games, and fell over twice. He's never been a goal scorer and nothing to suggest he's suddenly going to become one. He's looking like a Carillo MK2.

 

His service is dog shit, but I think Stewart, as awful as he is also, is probably the better bet. But fuck me it's a terrible field to choose from. 

 

I think if you play AA on the left with either of the two above you might get a better tune, but it's not gonna be enough so gotta hope you're getting goals from the rest of the squad 😬

Edited August 23 by Greedyfly

[Sir Ralph]

35 minutes ago, Suhari said:

He turned 60 in the last few days, according to TwitterX.

Which doesn't make me feel really old. Nosireebob.

From Wiki

Dia studied business at Northumbria University in Newcastle, graduating in 2001.^[16] He received a Master of Business Administration from San Francisco State University in 2003.^[1] After finishing his education, Dia worked in the business sector in Qatar. He subsequently underwent ground breaking anti-aging therapy and was last seen masquerading as a 21 year old American playing football in Germany, before recently returning to Southampton under the assumed name of Damion Downs.

[saint michael]

2 hours ago, Convict Colony said:

honestly I must be watching a different match than most people.

the amount of fucking times Armstrong and  Downs made runs behind the full back for manning to play the ball into but he just turned around and passed it back to the CBs.

There is a reason wellington starts above him.

Our forwards are getting pelters but their service is dogshit.

But if that’s happening Downs says to Manning….get the fucking ball in mate…don’t just carry on doing it 

[Mr X]

What the actual hell! Makes onuachu and mara look good! 

[Harry_SFC]

Do we really need yet another thread on him?

[saintant]

Just now, Harry_SFC said:

Do we really need yet another thread on him?

Especially with his name incorrectly spelled.

[trousers]

5 minutes ago, Mr X said:

What the actual hell! Makes onuachu and mara look good! 

And makes your spelling look shite....

[pimpin4rizeal]

It’s a bit mad to be slagging off downs already he hasn’t even started a championship game yet 😜. Talk about giving a player a chance . .one criticism of stills selections so far for me is starting AA centrally .. put him right forward by all means but we need either downs or Stewart starting 

[Morse]

On 23/08/2025 at 20:25, Suhari said:

How does he compare to Ali Dia?

More expensive

[gio1saints]

On 23/08/2025 at 20:55, Convict Colony said:

Our problem are the players who are martin players and had it inbuilt to them to be risk averse with the ball and possession is paramount.

We need people who are trying to thread through balls, bend it around the full back etc, but in dangerous crosses to give our forwards a chance.

@Convict Colony I think this is some, maybe most, but not all the issue.

Passes that risk losing possession risk you losing your career in football. Some longer in the tooth professionals know this and have made a career out of not losing possession. It’s easier not to be blamed if anything goes wrong then. 

Of course, if your job is to knock crosses into the box unless they always hit the first man or go miles over you are given leeway. 

The Ryan Manning situation is quite intriguing. I felt he did what he was told and his overall “dangerous cross” rather than “dross”ratio was decent. At least one should have been a certain goal for Stewart, for example. The number of crosses was good.  
 

BUT, notably, for someone with his crossing ability, his dangerous pass or chip into a channel or find the centre forward with a long pass record is zero. This is 100% NOT because he cannot do it or see it but rather because he knows if he fucks it up he looks bad - but if he just knocks it into the box that’s his job. Career safe. 

IF Will Still directly told him to find the runners AND keep pumping balls into the box saying “ it’s ok it’s a numbers game I won’t blame you if it fails or we lose possession they counterattack and score because I’m confident we will score more than concede “ - then we might see it happen. Same is true from Mads on the other side. At present if true to form I think Mads is going end up doing crosses NOT dangerous passes - if my theory of current instructions and pro career protection instincts is correct. 

Saints Should not be waiting for a new #10 to make those dangerous passes. Last dangerous pass I saw was from Jay to Downs for his goal- Jay who had not read the instructions..it should be more than just one persons job and the FB’s are always in a perfect position to do it. Will- let them! 

Edited Monday at 06:14 by gio1saints

[Whitey Grandad]

1 hour ago, gio1saints said:

@Convict Colony I think this is some, maybe most, but not all the issue.

Passes that risk losing possession risk you losing your career in football. Some longer in the tooth professionals know this and have made a career out of not losing possession. It’s easier not to be blamed if anything goes wrong then. 

Of course, if your job is to knock crosses into the box unless they always hit the first man or go miles over you are given leeway. 

The Ryan Manning situation is quite intriguing. I felt he did what he was told and his overall “dangerous cross” rather than “dross”ratio was decent. At least one should have been a certain goal for Stewart, for example. The number of crosses was good.  
 

BUT, notably, for someone with his crossing ability, his dangerous pass or chip into a channel or find the centre forward with a long pass record is zero. This is 100% NOT because he cannot do it or see it but rather because he knows if he fucks it up he looks bad - but if he just knocks it into the box that’s his job. Career safe. 

IF Will Still directly told him to find the runners AND keep pumping balls into the box saying “ it’s ok it’s a numbers game I won’t blame you if it fails or we lose possession they counterattack and score because I’m confident we will score more than concede “ - then we might see it happen. Same is true from Mads on the other side. At present if true to form I think Mads is going end up doing crosses NOT dangerous passes - if my theory of current instructions and pro career protection instincts is correct. 

Saints Should not be waiting for a new #10 to make those dangerous passes. Last dangerous pass I saw was from Jay to Downs for his goal- Jay who had not read the instructions..it should be more than just one persons job and the FB’s are always in a perfect position to do it. Will- let them! 

When he came on Mads did the usual new boy trick of always passing the ball backwards to safety instead of trying a ball behind their back line.

On Saturday I had to keep counting their players because I couldn't believe that they only had ten on the pitch.

[St Chalet]

On 23/08/2025 at 22:09, LGTL said:

I remember reading all these comments about Mara, Stewart, BBD, Archer, Mayuka, Carrillo et al. Christ go back far enough and I remember them about Tomas Pekhart and Jordan Robertson. No amount of time is going to make Damion Downs a prolific striker. 

To be fair I also remember the same comments about Mane's first game, and he went on to be ok.

DD may turn out to be utter shite, but a couple of sub appearances seems a bit early to write him off completely.

[Nolan]

I think this is on the money.

[Badger]

8 minutes ago, Nolan said:

I think this is on the money.

Didn’t Gabbiadini score 3 in the first 4 matches or something like that ? 
 

Apart from that …. 
 

Not defending our MF and sideways passing mind. 

[tdmickey3]

Is he going to be nearer Carrillo or Pelle?

[Farmer Saint]

On 04/04/2015 at 16:53, Roger said:

Just makes us much worse was absolutely woeful today. Edited. How wrong was I?

 

On 04/04/2015 at 16:54, Saints foreva said:

He really is crap. People will say that Howard made a great save and he did but what else did Pelle do today except tackle himself?

 

He isn't fit to lace Rickie Lambert's boots.

 

On 04/04/2015 at 17:03, kermitsaint said:

Pelle contributes so little now other than making sad faces and stupid hand gestures .

He refuses to run into space or make any real effort to get on the end of anything.

Lambert created chances . Pelle creates nothing

 

On 04/04/2015 at 17:11, kermitsaint said:

I want to play for Saints . Does that make me better than Lambert ?

Pelle wants to play but honestly , we are by far the best team he could hope for . Few teams would want him anyway unless he was dead cheap

 

On 04/04/2015 at 17:34, Wade Garrett said:

Pelle is a defender's dream. Plays with his back to goal, crap movement, ordinary finishing (that's being generous).

 

On 04/04/2015 at 18:32, Window Cleaner said:

 

Batushayi is way way better than Mané, He'll be a big big star. Big,strong and doesn't do daft things.

 

On 04/04/2015 at 18:45, cobbysouth said:

Times up for me making excuses for pelle, starting to believe it was him being lucky at the early in the season rather than him being in bad form now.

Hopefully not Pelle judging by the above opinions on Pelle...

[Toussaint]

Hmmm...

[S-Clarke]

He makes good runs off the ball, grew into it last night. Still doesn't look a huge threat yet though.

One thing I noticed is that he seems alone? When they were applauding the fans at the end he was just on his own stood there, he doesn't seem to be fully integrated into the group 'yet'. Might just be his style, but I thought it was interesting.

[spyinthesky]

4 hours ago, S-Clarke said:

He makes good runs off the ball, grew into it last night. Still doesn't look a huge threat yet though.

One thing I noticed is that he seems alone? When they were applauding the fans at the end he was just on his own stood there, he doesn't seem to be fully integrated into the group 'yet'. Might just be his style, but I thought it was interesting.

He's disappointed he cant wear his MAGA hat.

[sockeye]

4 hours ago, S-Clarke said:

he doesn't seem to be fully integrated into the group 'yet'.

He looks lost at times and I imagined this was the reason.

[hypochondriac]

Looks like a total waste of limited funds in a position of vital importance to us. Perhaps he will improve and become great but it's an undeniably poor start.