Damion Downs

[SWLondon Saint]

22 minutes ago, The Kraken said:

I’ve noticed that he seems to make an awful lot of runs on the shoulder of defenders looking to break in behind but rarely gets played in. And doesn’t look to drop back all that much to play the target man and bring others in. Similar to how he scored his goal in pre-season IIRC, break the lines for a through ball.  I noticed it again today, he was caught offside as he’d made a run behind earlier and not been played in first time. Maybe with more width up the pitch there’s more opportunity for him, but for a big man he seems different to a Lambert/Pelle who were happy dropping deep to get the ball. As such he just ends up looking isolated as nobody wants to play that ball.

I agree completely, his first instinct seems to be to look for the ball in behind or into the channels. Unfortunately in particular our defenders are not used to playing that pass so it's disjointed at the moment.

It's neither here nor there as an approach, as opposed to coming short it does stretch the defence which I *think* Still likes. But that ball has to be played early which it isn't right now. I know exactly the moment you're talking about, if the pass had gone straight in behind instead of via a delay from Armstrong, he would have been in.

[pimpin4rizeal]

31 minutes ago, The Kraken said:

I’ve noticed that he seems to make an awful lot of runs on the shoulder of defenders looking to break in behind but rarely gets played in. And doesn’t look to drop back all that much to play the target man and bring others in. Similar to how he scored his goal in pre-season IIRC, break the lines for a through ball.  I noticed it again today, he was caught offside as he’d made a run behind earlier and not been played in first time. Maybe with more width up the pitch there’s more opportunity for him, but for a big man he seems different to a Lambert/Pelle who were happy dropping deep to get the ball. As such he just ends up looking isolated as nobody wants to play that ball.

Hundred percent this.. I think azaz behind him in a 4231 would be ideal for downs azaz plays the kinda through balls he would thrive on 

[franniesTache]

If the rumours are true he's already on his way out, loan with an option to buy to Bristol City apparently

[Badger]

5 minutes ago, franniesTache said:

If the rumours are true he's already on his way out, loan with an option to buy to Bristol City apparently

Be surprised if we look to move him on so soon. 

[hypochondriac]

33 minutes ago, franniesTache said:

If the rumours are true he's already on his way out, loan with an option to buy to Bristol City apparently

That would be positive if he's loaned out at least. Can get in a striker who can actually contribute now.

[S-Clarke]

3 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

That would be positive if he's loaned out at least. Can get in a striker who can actually contribute now.

It's not going to happen, I mean how can that be true. 

It's like saying we're about to loan out Fellows to someone with an option to buy.

Edited yesterday at 15:08 by S-Clarke

[bpsaint]

Sekou Mara Mk II

[obelisk]

41 minutes ago, franniesTache said:

If the rumours are true he's already on his way out, loan with an option to buy to Bristol City apparently

Wouldn't that require someone senior in the recruitment dept to fall on their sword in disgrace? Can't see it happening. Whoever started that rumour must be sniggering into their beer.

[hypochondriac]

6 minutes ago, S-Clarke said:

It's not going to happen, I mean how can that be true. 

It's like saying we're about to loan out Fellows to someone with an option to buy.

I know it won't happen. We shouldn't have bought him for that money in the first place but not much we can do now. 

[S-Clarke]

1 minute ago, hypochondriac said:

I know it won't happen. We shouldn't have bought him for that money in the first place but not much we can do now. 

Why is he being written off after 4 games?

[hypochondriac]

1 minute ago, S-Clarke said:

Why is he being written off after 4 games?

I wanted a player who could do a good job straight away. He might come good later but that will have already cost us points. Because he isn't up to it currently we have to rely on our other strikers who haven't been good enough either.

[Challenger]

Dare I say that his strengths don't seem to benefit from our rather slow style of play. The question is if that's the case, why was he bought ?

[hypochondriac]

Just now, Challenger said:

Dare I say that his strengths don't seem to benefit from our rather slow style of play. The question is if that's the case, why was he bought ?

Particularly if the suggestion was that it had nothing or very little to do with Spors as he was being brought in anyway (not sure how true that is but that was the suggestion from some on here.)

[derry]

I think Saturday was the last time we will see us play that formation. It looks likely 4231 with wingers stretching the width and covering the back post. 

[ErwinK1961]

30 minutes ago, Challenger said:

Dare I say that his strengths don't seem to benefit from our rather slow style of play. The question is if that's the case, why was he bought ?

Hopefully we will see a change in tempo with a change in formation.

28 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

Particularly if the suggestion was that it had nothing or very little to do with Spors as he was being brought in anyway (not sure how true that is but that was the suggestion from some on here.)

Be very surprised if it had nothing to do with Spors &/or Lederer, especially as the latter was chief scout for a team in the same league. 

[Saint NL]

1 hour ago, franniesTache said:

If the rumours are true he's already on his way out, loan with an option to buy to Bristol City apparently

[ErwinK1961]

1 hour ago, franniesTache said:

If the rumours are true he's already on his way out, loan with an option to buy to Bristol City apparently

Let me stop you there..

[gio1saints]

1 hour ago, hypochondriac said:

I wanted a player who could do a good job straight away. He might come good later but that will have already cost us points. Because he isn't up to it currently we have to rely on our other strikers who haven't been good enough either.

It’s a good point. But strikers who can come good straight away in our league cost £20m plus in this market. £130m in the EPL! We recruited defenders and midfielders and wingers at great prices.
 

I reckon the opportunity to bring in a proper ready forward can only be realised once BBD is gone ✅Edozie is gone Aribo is gone. AND more controversial - one from Archer Armstrong and Stewart gone too. Don’t see us buying Downs to loan him out. Can see a surprise leaver in the front line though. But if not they are probably plenty good enough anyways over the season. It’s a squad game not just best 11 and ours is probably the best as it is 

[gio1saints]

1 hour ago, franniesTache said:

If the rumours are true he's already on his way out, loan with an option to buy to Bristol City apparently

What rumours? 

[hypochondriac]

2 hours ago, franniesTache said:

If the rumours are true he's already on his way out, loan with an option to buy to Bristol City apparently

Weren't you the one who said we were going to get three quality loan signings ?

[franniesTache]

36 minutes ago, gio1saints said:

What rumours? 

The one that is mentioned directly after the sentence "if the rumours are true"

10 minutes ago, hypochondriac said:

Weren't you the one who said we were going to get three quality loan signings ?

It was a full back who the club are excited about (now done as it was Mads) and two players on loan was what i was told, i don't know if the keeper from Norwich counts as one of the loans but assume he does.

Knowing the person who told me very well, and knowing who they'd had a meeting with just before meeting me meant i had no reason to doubt it at all.

[hypochondriac]

3 minutes ago, franniesTache said:

The one that is mentioned directly after the sentence "if the rumours are true"

It was a full back who the club are excited about (now done as it was Mads) and two players on loan was what i was told, i don't know if the keeper from Norwich counts as one of the loans but assume he does.

Knowing the person who told me very well, and knowing who they'd had a meeting with just before meeting me meant i had no reason to doubt it at all.

OK then. Where has this rumour come from? Presumably you would agree that it is incredibly unlikely?

[AlexLaw76]

WTF!?

Him going now would rank up there with the signing of an injured Ross Stewart, or Onuachu, or Orsic, or Caleta-Car, or AMN, or Gronbaek, or Cornet, or BBD, or Sulemana, ......or many more in the SR transfer notebook

Edited 18 hours ago by AlexLaw76

[egg]

12 minutes ago, AlexLaw76 said:

WTF!?

Him going now would rank up there with the signing of an injured Ross Stewart, or Onuachu, or Orsic, or Caleta-Car, or AMN, or Gronbaek, Cornet, or BBD, or Sulemana, ......or many more in the SR transfer notebook

Not comparable. It's entirely possible that Still has seen enough to realise he's not really in his plans. I'm probably being hopeful, but it possible that if he moves out, there's room for a better striker. 

[saintant]

4 hours ago, franniesTache said:

The one that is mentioned directly after the sentence "if the rumours are true"

It was a full back who the club are excited about (now done as it was Mads) and two players on loan was what i was told, i don't know if the keeper from Norwich counts as one of the loans but assume he does.

Knowing the person who told me very well, and knowing who they'd had a meeting with just before meeting me meant i had no reason to doubt it at all.

The only way this rings true is if Will Still has decided Downs is nowhere near ready for the first team and feels he needs a loan spell somewhere to help him get up to speed. If so Will may have requested a striker on loan who can go straight into the side. All purely theoretical but I can't come up with another explanation if this rumour has any substance.

[AlexLaw76]

3 minutes ago, egg said:

Not comparable. It's entirely possible that Still has seen enough to realise he's not really in his plans. I'm probably being hopeful, but it possible that if he moves out, there's room for a better striker. 

A pretty big money signing for this division bombed out within a month of competitive football.

Just ain't going to happen, surely.

Alfie House on TSP saying Saints are not interested in a No.9 and lists Downs as one of those the club will use this season.

He also mentions Scienza (sp) as one that could still happen

Edited 18 hours ago by AlexLaw76

[egg]

Just now, saintant said:

The only way this rings true is if Will Still has decided Downs is nowhere near ready for the first team and feels he needs a loan spell somewhere to help him get up to speed. If so Will may have requested a striker on loan who can go straight into the side. All purely theoretical but I can't come up with another explanation if this rumour has any substance.

If I was Still, that's exactly the decision I would have made. Downs isn't the answer this season imo. 

[hypochondriac]

5 hours ago, gio1saints said:

It’s a good point. But strikers who can come good straight away in our league cost £20m plus in this market. £130m in the EPL! We recruited defenders and midfielders and wingers at great prices.
 

I reckon the opportunity to bring in a proper ready forward can only be realised once BBD is gone ✅Edozie is gone Aribo is gone. AND more controversial - one from Archer Armstrong and Stewart gone too. Don’t see us buying Downs to loan him out. Can see a surprise leaver in the front line though. But if not they are probably plenty good enough anyways over the season. It’s a squad game not just best 11 and ours is probably the best as it is 

We should have offered Armstrong to someone for 7 million which someone would have bit on. I reckon we could have got a half decent striker for something like 17 million which should be achievable for a club like us. I agree we've done well with our midfield additions for good prices.

[Willo of Whiteley]

Armstrong we should’ve always 100% kept, and we will. He’s more than proven at this level. 

But Downs wasn’t the answer for a team that is supposedly eyeing the automatics.

[goodymatt]

I see Chelsea are recalling Marc Guiu from Sunderland, assume because he’s not set to get enough minutes. He was linked to Ipswich earlier in the window but they have now signed the guy from Como.

Like others, I very much doubt we would bin Downs off on loan after 4 league games. However, if a loan has popped up that would be one of the best strikers in the league, such as Guiu, then would it make sense?

I’m still calling BS, but there’s a bit of devils advocate.

[Tommy Mulgrew]

Having seen no evidence to corroborate the supposed rumour of DD to Bristol City, I believe the origin of the misunderstanding has come from someone noticing that Bristol Live summer transfer window live news updates included a report that a deal for Downs had been done, without also noticing that it was done by Saints; Bristol Live include news about other southern clubs, not merely City and Rovers.

I cannot find any other reason for it.

[ErwinK1961]

9 minutes ago, goodymatt said:

I see Chelsea are recalling Marc Guiu from Sunderland, assume because he’s not set to get enough minutes. He was linked to Ipswich earlier in the window but they have now signed the guy from Como.

Like others, I very much doubt we would bin Downs off on loan after 4 league games. However, if a loan has popped up that would be one of the best strikers in the league, such as Guiu, then would it make sense?

I’m still calling BS, but there’s a bit of devils advocate.

Pretty sure they’re recalling him because they need him. Jackson is being sold to Bayern and Delap just got a hamstring injury.

[goodymatt]

2 minutes ago, ErwinK1961 said:

Pretty sure they’re recalling him because they need him. Jackson is being sold to Bayern and Delap just got a hamstring injury.

That makes sense. I had read Chelsea had pulled the Jackson sale too. Can you imagine if we had loaned him and lost him with 20 hours left in the window. We’d be screwed! Makes me wish Ipswich had managed to loan him now.

[Turkish]

It’s would be absolutely hilarious (for the wrong reasons) if we did loan Downs out. 

[Verbal]

1 hour ago, AlexLaw76 said:

WTF!?

Him going now would rank up there with the signing of an injured Ross Stewart, or Onuachu, or Orsic, or Caleta-Car, or AMN, or Gronbaek, or Cornet, or BBD, or Sulemana, ......or many more in the SR transfer notebook

No relation to this quote of course, but there is a touch of the hysterics about. 

[OneMrsWallace]

43 minutes ago, Willo of Whiteley said:

Armstrong we should’ve always 100% kept, and we will. He’s more than proven at this level. 

But Downs wasn’t the answer for a team that is supposedly eyeing the automatics.

Confidence looks shot to pieces. He might improve with better service but we should have shifted him out when we were promoted to the PL. Don't think he will return to the form he showed last time in the Championship. Hopefully there are enough goals to come from across the team. 

[hypochondriac]

54 minutes ago, Tommy Mulgrew said:

Having seen no evidence to corroborate the supposed rumour of DD to Bristol City, I believe the origin of the misunderstanding has come from someone noticing that Bristol Live summer transfer window live news updates included a report that a deal for Downs had been done, without also noticing that it was done by Saints; Bristol Live include news about other southern clubs, not merely City and Rovers.

I cannot find any other reason for it.

That likely explains it then. There isn't really a logical explanation otherwise and the chances of it seriously being considered are slim to none.

[die Mannyschaft]

Needs a change of tactics. If its a runner in behind the just feed the ball in to space. It will all change hopefully or the team can play several tactical options not just walking football from last season. At this rate won't be many in team from walking football.  

Bristol don't need a striker they need defenders so he won't ho there.