One in particular states that he has expressed his clear desire to leave, although nothing official has been released. I hold firm that this is all wild speculation and I until I see him holding a Liverpool shirt I will continue to do so. This is primarily because recent headlines stated that Liverpool had ‘failed’ to sign Downing and had moved onto Aaron Lennon.
The recent stories of Downing’s alleged betrayal have, however, made me wonder about the point of player contracts. To a normal person, a contract of specified length is legally binding until the person is either released from it or has fulfilled the term. It is blatantly obvious that the player contracts have very little point to them whatsoever, and I say that for two reasons.
Clubs very rarely let contracts run their course on their best players. Because of the Bosman ruling, clubs will deliberately seek to sell players before they can walk for free. On the other side of the coin (and this one is particularly annoying) is when players try to ‘force’ a move by handing in a transfer request. Since when has it been acceptable for players to hold that power? It is futile to ask as player to sign a contract when at any point they can force a transfer.
Generally speaking, the transfer requests are submitted to by the clubs on grounds that the player is not fully committed. I think it is time for a change of tactics. There is not a player in the league that would not give 100% after being denied a transfer, because they know that their form would drop and, subsequently, nobody would want to sign them further down the line. For example, if Downing is denied a transfer and doesn’t play his best for the club afterwards, in the next transfer window when he is on the bench Liverpool will not want him. So, if he wants Champions League football or an international career he has to do his best.
What I would love to see is a member of the Villa board making a public statement along the lines of ‘Downing requested a transfer and we said NO. He is under contract and he will play for Villa until such time as WE decide to sell HIM, if that is indeed what WE want to do’.
Never before as a Villa fan have I known a more ungrateful player as Downing. He was more than happy to claim his contracted salary while he was crocked on the bench, and now his career has picked up he wants to turn around and dump on the team that dragged him out of lower league football.
On general principle I would not let him leave. Please, Randy, send out a warning shot to the players that think they can hold clubs to ransom.
Downing- if you do stay, I would get some earplugs for the first home game of the season.