Damion Downs

[Convict Colony]

Based on the shower of shit this season i would struggle to think Haaland would of made an impact yesterday.

Agree Downs shouldnt be starting he should be developing and having sub appearances in a promotion chasing team........

Instead we are fucking shit

[S-Clarke]

So the weeks go on and I still have no idea if he can play football.

I honestly couldn't tell you.

Chances are, no he can't, but if anything sums up our current plight it's him.

[Lee On Solent Saint]

I actually felt a bit sorry for him yesterday when he came on. Not sure if it was boo's for him or the actual decision from Still. He's obviously a player with zero confidence at the moment, think he needs to move even on loan in January. 

[sledger]

he was bought as a target player i believe,hes not so did saints actually watch him before buying,if they did then that person should be sacked.Watch him hes trying to play the same as armstrong playing on the last defenders shoulder to run in behind.His pre season goal was exactly this.

[wild-saint]

thought he looked ok in parts. made some decent runs unlike armstrong that were totally ignored with our dull, low tempo predictable football. not one ball was played in for him. sometime you need to criticize the build up play rather than the man starved of any type of service.

based on our lack of options at 9 id persist with him and try and build his confidence. is more likely to work than armstrong poncing about up front on his own.

[Mboto Gorge]

3 hours ago, sledger said:

he was bought as a target player i believe,hes not so did saints actually watch him before buying,if they did then that person should be sacked.Watch him hes trying to play the same as armstrong playing on the last defenders shoulder to run in behind.His pre season goal was exactly this.

Well Spors told us he was our main target and he’d bring an extra dimension to the team….

Group Technical Director Johannes Spors said: “Damion is a player we have been monitoring for some time who possesses excellent physical qualities and the ability to disrupt defences.

“Strengthening our attacking options was one of our top priorities this summer, and Damion is a player who will add real quality to the group. Despite his relatively young age he is already a senior international, so we are excited to see him thrive in the environment here at Southampton.”

 

[Turkish]

Have we had more managers in the last 18 months than times DD has touched the ball this season?

[saintwbu]

I do think it’s very difficult to judge him at this point as i’m not sure there’s a single shred of confidence left in him. It’ll be interesting how a new manager utilises him, if at all. Unless it’s accepted in the club that he really is crap, I can’t see we have much to lose by starting him and seeing if he can play his way into some confidence/form. Imagine being a young lad with no confidence and getting chucked on into that mess on Saturday. 

[Sir Ralph]

10 minutes ago, saintwbu said:

I do think it’s very difficult to judge him at this point as i’m not sure there’s a single shred of confidence left in him. It’ll be interesting how a new manager utilises him, if at all. Unless it’s accepted in the club that he really is crap, I can’t see we have much to lose by starting him and seeing if he can play his way into some confidence/form. Imagine being a young lad with no confidence and getting chucked on into that mess on Saturday. 

There is a difference between a lack of confidence and not trying.

[OldNick]

When he came on he was running on the wshoulders of their defenders and pointing for a ball to be put through, but never was he given one. I also noticed how quick he was when he went to chase the keeper down,

[saintwbu]

2 minutes ago, Sir Ralph said:

There is a difference between a lack of confidence and not trying.

I agree he doesn’t look very high intensity, but it doesn’t always mean someone’s not trying. I remember a few years back when Arsenal had Özil and Sanchez in their team; Sanchez was seen as all energy and effort and Özil was ‘lazy’, but would frequently dwarf Sanchez when it came to distance covered stats during the game. I also think a player low on confidence is more likely to hide and not put himself about as much as he doesn’t want to do anything wrong. Might be giving Downs more credit than he deserves but I do find it hard to believe he can’t be better than what we’ve seen.

[Sir Ralph]

2 minutes ago, saintwbu said:

I agree he doesn’t look very high intensity, but it doesn’t always mean someone’s not trying. I remember a few years back when Arsenal had Özil and Sanchez in their team; Sanchez was seen as all energy and effort and Özil was ‘lazy’, but would frequently dwarf Sanchez when it came to distance covered stats during the game. I also think a player low on confidence is more likely to hide and not put himself about as much as he doesn’t want to do anything wrong. Might be giving Downs more credit than he deserves but I do find it hard to believe he can’t be better than what we’ve seen.

But he doesnt try and win headers, gets pushed off the ball, doesnt move, etc. I get you can look lethargic but if you give up on challenging for the ball isnt that just being lazy? Thats my problem with him. Play badly but at least put yourself about

[benjii]

19 hours ago, sledger said:

he was bought as a target player i believe,hes not so did saints actually watch him before buying,if they did then that person should be sacked.Watch him hes trying to play the same as armstrong playing on the last defenders shoulder to run in behind.His pre season goal was exactly this.

Yep. He makes the same run behind in the channel all the time. Nothing wrong with that if we are looking to get it down the channel quickly.

However, when the ball is hit towards him he seems scared of it, and also seems to have zero intensity in the box.

[Midfield_General]

25 minutes ago, saintwbu said:

Imagine being a young lad with no confidence and getting chucked on into that mess on Saturday. 

And only having £40,000 or something like that dumped into your bank account every week.

The poor flower, my heart bleeds for him, it really does. 

[notnowcato]

13 minutes ago, Midfield_General said:

And only having £40,000 or something like that dumped into your bank account every week.

The poor flower, my heart bleeds for him, it really does. 

Imagine he's your 20 year old son, you'd feel the same, I'm sure

[Midfield_General]

4 minutes ago, notnowcato said:

Imagine he's your 20 year old son, you'd feel the same, I'm sure

If I had a 20 year old son who was earning £40k a week I'd have installed myself as his agent and would be kicking it in the Maldives, toasting his misery from my gold-plated yacht

[James G]

I genuinely believe Downs is better than he has shown.

If you think about it, Azaz was good at Middlesbrough but he has looked rubbish too

I'm hoping a new manager will bring the best out of the new players

I'm shocked at how bad we have been this season. It's crazy

[disconnect]

31 minutes ago, James G said:

I genuinely believe Downs is better than he has shown.

If you think about it, Azaz was good at Middlesbrough but he has looked rubbish too

I'm hoping a new manager will bring the best out of the new players

I'm shocked at how bad we have been this season. It's crazy

Think about their key strengths - Downs is known to want to play on the shoulder and run in behind - we've seen him score a good goal like this in pre-season, and from last season. Azaz is good at getting on the ball and slotting it through the defence for strikers - he's done this a few times for Armstrong who's fluffed it, but it is probably Downs who wants that sort of service and we haven't actually seen these two guys really play much together to utilise their talents.

[wild-saint]

32 minutes ago, disconnect said:

Think about their key strengths - Downs is known to want to play on the shoulder and run in behind - we've seen him score a good goal like this in pre-season, and from last season. Azaz is good at getting on the ball and slotting it through the defence for strikers - he's done this a few times for Armstrong who's fluffed it, but it is probably Downs who wants that sort of service and we haven't actually seen these two guys really play much together to utilise their talents.

Made a number of decent runs when he came on saturday but not once was a ball played in to those areas. Bigger problems than the initial assessment of Down. Id play him for a few games as we all know Armstrong is fucking hopeless as a 9. Build his confidence and play balls into runs. 

[Sir Ralph]

2 hours ago, notnowcato said:

Imagine he's your 20 year old son, you'd feel the same, I'm sure

Not if he wasnt putting the effort in. I would be on his back explaining that he was throwing away the last 12-15 years of hard work and needed to remind himself of how he got here. You are responsible for your own actions on the pitch.

Edited Monday at 12:13 by Sir Ralph

[Holmes_and_Watson]

1 hour ago, Midfield_General said:

If I had a 20 year old son who was earning £40k a week I'd have installed myself as his agent and would be kicking it in the Maldives, toasting his misery from my gold-plated yacht

It's these touching family stories, that brings us that warm generational and community feeling. 🙂

[Midfield_General]

8 minutes ago, Holmes_and_Watson said:

It's these touching family stories, that brings us that warm generational and community feeling. 🙂

We don't buy success - we breed it 🥰

[Mboto Gorge]

Blistering cameo again today - really left everything out there. The main reason we couldn’t get out of our half at the end was because he was nowhere to be seen to offer an outlet. 

[washsaint]

12 minutes ago, Mboto Gorge said:

Blistering cameo again today - really left everything out there. The main reason we couldn’t get out of our half at the end was because he was nowhere to be seen to offer an outlet. 

There really are a bunch of sorry people on here tonight.  I'm getting the impression that the keyboard warriors are a little sad we didn't lose.

He actually put a lot of effort in tonight (not saying he was good) and made sure he was helping clear the lines at the end when we were hanging on.  Azaz was awful - and should have put him through when we were 3 on 2.

[Sir Ralph]

5 minutes ago, washsaint said:

There really are a bunch of sorry people on here tonight.  I'm getting the impression that the keyboard warriors are a little sad we didn't lose.

He actually put a lot of effort in tonight (not saying he was good) and made sure he was helping clear the lines at the end when we were hanging on.  Azaz was awful - and should have put him through when we were 3 on 2.

Azaz was terrible again. Seems to want to take so much time on the ball
 

Downs - More effort than the usual pedestrian attitude. I would say a lot of effort is a bit much. He has the physical presence of a sleeping  Pygmy.

His end product was still terrible but he won a header 😂

Edited 21 hours ago by Sir Ralph

[Dusic]

Thought he put himself about a little more tonight. Certainly not his fault we had camped so deep.

Is it worth giving him a start Sat surrounded by Scienza and Robinson and see if he shows up more?

Edited 20 hours ago by Dusic

[Midfield_General]

29 minutes ago, Dusic said:

Thought he put himself about a little more tonight. Certainly not his fault we had camped so deep.

Is it worth giving him a start Sat surrounded by Scienza and Robinson and see if he shows up more?

[JohnnyShearer2.0]

6 hours ago, Dusic said:

Thought he put himself about a little more tonight. Certainly not his fault we had camped so deep.

Is it worth giving him a start Sat surrounded by Scienza and Robinson and see if he shows up more?

Yep agreed. Thought he was a little hard done by. Every other kick was a hoof out in the last 20 minutes. 

[Weston Super Saint]

6 hours ago, Dusic said:

Thought he put himself about a little more tonight. Certainly not his fault we had camped so deep.

Is it worth giving him a start Sat surrounded by Scienza and Robinson and see if he shows up more?

He looked like he was doing a bleep test stuck on level one.  Saunter across the field, saunter back to the other side, rinse, repeat.

[Osvaldorama]

Why is he still being brought on? 
 

Embarrassing

[ally_uk]

Thought he was shite in all honesty did he even touch the ball apart from chesting it? 

[CB Fry]

7 hours ago, Dusic said:

Thought he put himself about a little more tonight. Certainly not his fault we had camped so deep.

I think it's highly likely that his presence on the pitch influenced our chaotic last 15 minutes.

We know he's terrible so it is certain his team mates do.

They knew he wasn't going to offer any effective outlet, strength to hold the ball up or anything. So the team played panic football instead and Downs just trundled over to be part of the panic.

Edited 13 hours ago by CB Fry

[Football Special]

8 hours ago, Dusic said:

Thought he put himself about a little more tonight. Certainly not his fault we had camped so deep.

Is it worth giving him a start Sat surrounded by Scienza and Robinson and see if he shows up more?

It could be, also better if he starts then can't be booed when coming on and more likely to be cheered when going off 

[Give it to Ron]

1 hour ago, ally_uk said:

Thought he was shite in all honesty did he even touch the ball apart from chesting it? 

One very good defensive header plus lots of nearly getting a touch…why bring him on they ask…..because we don’t have anyone else and this wasn’t a game for young Nick.

He tried a bit harder for me but still his work rate at times not making the angle for a pass frustrates.

We have to live with it until January .

[gammon cheeks]

Josh Sargent was wanted in the summer but Spors decided Downs was the next best thing  went for him !

[Convict Colony]

We are at the weird stage where everyone forgets Armstrong did nothing for 70mins and then over analyses downs when he is on and we are defending backs against wall.

I agree with dusic

[AlexLaw76]

He did nothing really, but the set up completely destroys our forward play when pressed, other than individual bits of brilliance 

[benali-shorts]

We really need to judge him as an attacking outlet, and do that, we need players like Azaz to be able to complete routine through balls to him. Goals breed confidence, and that should have been a golden chance.

[Dan Johnson]

Agreed that he put himself about more last night than previously.

Felt out of the 3 Subs, Aribo, Azaz and Downs, he was the better of the 3. Criminal ball from Azaz when Downs had got himself in the right position. 
 

[Mboto Gorge]

1 hour ago, CB Fry said:

I think it's highly likely that his presence on the pitch influenced our chaotic last 15 minutes.

We know he's terrible so it is certain his team mates do.

They knew he wasn't going to offer any effective outlet, strength to hold the ball up or anything. So the team played panic football instead and Downs just trundled over to be part of the panic.

Exactly my point. Yet it seems that some of our fans think that if he breaks into more than a jog and chases one ball per match, then that classifies his performance as ok and an improvement. That’s how low standards are now when it comes to this guy. Hes crap, he shows little effort, just because he actually ran after a ball once or twice and showed a slither of determination with one attempt to chase a ball, doesn’t suddenly mean he played well. It’s a joke he’s even coming on as a sub. 

Edited 11 hours ago by Mboto Gorge

[Paul_B]

He did a pass!! Albeit a backwards pass but a pass nonetheless, and it was to a Saints player! Maybe next time he can progress to a sideways pass and eventually hit the heady heights of a forward pass! 

[SWLondon Saint]

I've been banging on that he needs game time in the u23s and nothing I saw last night changed that.

The problem is not effort, the problem is he's completely lost. He looks to be a player who needs structure (which can be good or bad) and right now we have absolutely none, no strong leadership on pitch, none from the sideline so he just wanders around.

Pressing wise he moves like there's one player ahead of him, he falls back into the midfield line - that says to me no-one is setting up how we play against the ball. He should not be dropping back to the edge of the area no matter what, someone should be telling him to stay forward but to be fair, AA often drops back that far so the precedent is there.

He needs a manager like Ralph or Poch who actually helped their players learn where to move, when to press, when not to. He's getting absolutely none of that as a young player in our chaotic shitshow, and he's been put in a position he's not ready for so I blame the management and the senior players, not him.

[OldNick]

2 hours ago, Dan Johnson said:

Agreed that he put himself about more last night than previously.

Felt out of the 3 Subs, Aribo, Azaz and Downs, he was the better of the 3. Criminal ball from Azaz when Downs had got himself in the right position. 
 

I agree, for the first ime he actually got involved a tad. He won hearers at both ends of thee pitch and did try to be more forceful. I hope its a sign of better things

[Dusic]

4 hours ago, CB Fry said:

I think it's highly likely that his presence on the pitch influenced our chaotic last 15 minutes.

We know he's terrible so it is certain his team mates do.

They knew he wasn't going to offer any effective outlet, strength to hold the ball up or anything. So the team played panic football instead and Downs just trundled over to be part of the panic.

Personally don't think that was the case. The team just panicked and were under pressure but none of the clearances were balls he had even of chance of getting onto and holding up because they were usually just hoofs of hurried clearances. 

He made a nice run which Azaz somehow overhit the pass to and a few times with the right ball would have been able to stretch their defence.

It was a thankless task for him but he looked to have a bit more interest in it than previous apps.

 

[Saint Fan CaM]

The lad is not at the level we need - in fact he’d struggle to keep a place in a league 2 team. Powder puff weak, no control of the ball, poor spacial awareness…I could go on. His attitude stinks - after the Scienza goal did you see his reaction? There was none…he ambled away with no celebration - fuck me if he’d had a spliff in his mouth, headphones playing some Bob Marley, I wouldn’t have been in the least bit surprised. But he’s all we’ve got - nice one Spors.

Edited 7 hours ago by Saint Fan CaM

[LuckyNumber7]

I think people are starting to over analyse everything he does. He really didn't do much wrong last night. Put himself about pressing the defenders and goalkeeper, helping out defensively with one good clearance in particular. It's not his fault that he's getting zero service going forward. The one chance he might have had, Azaz completely fucked it up.

Tbh, all things considered Azaz has been at least as bad as Downs, if not worse considering he's an experienced Championship player, yet Downs gets all the flack.

I'd give him a start on Saturday. It has to be better than watching Armstrong as the lone striker doing nothing.

[skintsaint]

Came on and we scored a 2nd, was thinking here we go, might see a bit of attacking play from us with him involved. Nope Leo got injured and then it felt like they scored straight away with a gift of the goal. Suddenly their tails are up and we retreat into our shell and start hoofing it forward. Not really much Downs could have done apart from help dig in.

[saintant]

4 hours ago, Convict Colony said:

We are at the weird stage where everyone forgets Armstrong did nothing for 70mins and then over analyses downs when he is on and we are defending backs against wall.

I agree with dusic

It's tough for AA because unlike Scienza and Robinson he has little talent for taking on and getting past opponents. He played last night in a team consisting of 8 defensive players and only 3 offensive. Hardly surprising with that mix that we had zero build up play and AA received no supply. He can't and won't shine in a side set up as we were last night and our two goals came from moments of individual flair rather than any controlled build up.

[Sheaf Saint]

Mentioned it on the match thread but it's worth repeating here. The very first thing he did after coming on last night was to deliberately run away from a ball into the box from a FK. 

It's one thing to fail to challenge for a ball, but to actively avoid it is indefensible. I've no idea what's going on in his head, but for a young lad with an obvious point to prove to do that is just mind-boggling. 

And for whatever improvement there might have been last night, he still doesn't look even remotely like a Championship player to me.