Yet more speculation is circulating that the ungrateful traitor Stewart Downing is set to “demand” a move away from Villa Park. Apparently a close friend of “Stewy” said that the winger has allegedly made up his mind and wants to complete his ‘dream’ move to Merseyside. Note that this dream move is based on a quoted desire for Champions League football, to a club that is not in Europe at all next season.
The first thing to bear in mind is that this story originated with the Sun (say no more). The second thing to consider is that Mr Downing’s close friend may not necessarily be telling the truth. He or she may just want to stir things up for a laugh (if the quote is indeed genuine).
Now, aside from discrediting to speculation, I starting to read a number of the comments posted on several forums. Interestingly I found that a great deal of the Liverpool fans do not want him. Not all of them, but a significant number of the ‘Pool faithful believe him to be vastly overpriced even at £20million and surplus to requirements.
This is bad news for Judas Downing, and will cast a dark cloud over his potential ‘dream move’, especially if the Liverpool management actually pay attention and listen to their fans. Couple this with the recent statement from Kenny that they are not looking at any other players at the moment. It may be playing his cards close to his chest, but it may also be that he is rethinking the Downing situation.
I don’t need to go into detail about how unpopular he is with the Villa fans at present, and that is two-fold. Some seem to be annoyed at him wanting to leave and will despise him if he goes; some think the traitor should be offloaded and will give him a hard time if he stays.
So, a player that was universally praised and supported last season has turned the vast majority of the Villa fan base against him. What’s more, the fans at his ‘dream’ club do not even want him there. Turncoat Downing should remember the old proverb: you should never bite the hand that feeds you (particularly if the next one along doesn’t really want to feed you either).
Again, this is based on current speculation. The fans’ comments from both clubs, however, do reflect genuine opinions, as they always do.