12 Jul 2012

"I'm obviously very sad" - Is this the reason for LFC flop's poor season...?

After a legal batter lasting over 4 years, the agent of Liverpool star Stewart Downing has admitted financial impropriety in the handling of the winger's financial affairs. Elliot received a two year suspended sentence for his misdeeds, and Downing, who struggled at Liverpool last season, admitted that the issue may have affected his performances on the field.

Speaking to the BBC, Downing - who failed to score or create a single league goal in his debut season at Anfield - said:

"I'm obviously very sad.

"I put a lot of trust into him. I think me and my family were let down very badly.

"It's obviously been a hard time for me, trying to play football with this on my mind, but you learn from your mistakes.

"I have to move on now and look back on this in a few years knowing I've moved on"


Mentality is just as important as ability when it comes to football success, and as Downing implies, it's possible that his form may have suffered as a result of this issue festering in the background.

That's totally understandable; footballers are human beings too, and they're just as susceptible to outside pressures as the rest of of us.

Downing also had to deal with being arrested and bailed for alleged assault in January 2012, and that may have also had an impact.

No further action was taken in that situation, and with both issues now resolved, Downing will hopefully be in a better frame of mind next season, which will hopefully lead to improved performances for Liverpool.

Jaimie Kanwar


33 comments:

  1. JK,
    Nice Positive Post!

    I was half expecting to see a statement from you stating "That's no excuse for 0 Assists and 0 Goals"

    Let's hope that was the main reason for SD's under-performance last season and he can turn a new leaf under BR!

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  2. 4 years it lasted, not 12 months.

    Typical poor soundbiting from the worst site on the web.

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  3. Well he was excellent during his last season at Villa, which also happened at the time of these legal issues, so for me this just sounds as another excuse for the poor 2011-2012 season. I just hope Rodgers is the right person (judging from his tactical and organizational knowledge compared to lack of such from Dalglish) to change him for better.

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  4. And to think we could have signed Lucas Moura with the same 20 mil... What was Dalglish thinking????

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  5. Right . Now that's all sorted then. Fire up and look like you give a s..t when you run out to play. Gotta prove your worth this coming season.

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  6. its a pity he never robbed his boots 

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  7. FOOLGLISH IS A COMPLETE IDIOT,CARROLL HENDERSON DOWNING ADAM HAVE ALL BEEN F*CKING SHOCKING SIGNINGS !!! YOU CANT SUGAR COAT IT ? FOOLGLISH SET ARE CLUB BACK TWENTY YEARS ? THEN THE IDIOT GOES AND TOPS IT BY GIVING JAY LIABILITY SPEARING A NEW CONTRACT...WHAT WAS GOING THROUGHT THIS IDIOT OF A MANAGERS {FOOLGLISH} HEAD ? SELL CARROLL AND THE REST OF THE CHAMPIONSHIP PLAYERS FOOLGLISH BOUGHT & SPEARING,THEN BUY FAST MOBILE PLAYERS WHO CAN AT LEAST PASS THE BALL,AND HAVE CREATIVITY IN THERE GAME...F*CKING WALK ALONE FOOLGLISH YOU TW*T....

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  8. Theycallmemrburt1:20 pm, July 12, 2012

    I still quite like Downing on the right.  I think he may pick up where he left off for Villa if given the chance as one of three forwards....on the right......NEVER....NEVER, ON THE LEFT! Worst left of four midfielders we have had for years, or pound for pound ever. 

    All of my criticism for Downing has come when he has played left mid as he has always since his days at Boro looked lost on his 'natural' side.

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  9. He's weak minded, end of!

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  10. Drivel . He does not have the minerals to make it at a (fairly) big club.
    He should be sold for 10/12m asap and the money used to buy a young, mouldable winger. Downing was bought to supply AC, now it looks as though AC is not part of BR's plans, what use is he? he can't score in a brothel and he can't assist either so his time is up. good riddance.

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  11. Jamie
     - Do you really think he will be at LFC next season?  Somehow i can't see it myself, IF Brendan wants rid of Carroll then it certainly doesn't bode too well for Downing...

    Perhaps that's why you have posted a positive article re him...?

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  12.  there you go . Yet another gratuitously offenisve remark about KD.
    Why cant people move on

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  13. Nice positive article re Downing Jamie, perhaps you already know that he will be following Carroll out of the door....?

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  14. No i dont think it contributed to downings poor season. The main reason for his poor season is that he is not very good. Sell him and Adams keep Carroll and Henderson

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  15. For a start I can't agree about the no assists - it was his shot that was cleared off the line and looped up for Coates to score at QPR.  Not a direct assist as such, but instrumental in the goal.  Also, given that we couldn't hit a barn door at a couple of paces and managed to hit the woodwork nearly as often as the net; how many assists might he have had with a half decent striker in the box?  I'm actually quite optimistic for next season as I think Henderson started to look better as the season went on, Lucas is back to further reinforce a decent defence which will then allow the remaining midfield and forwards to be more attack minded. As far as I am concerned, our priority is a flyer on the right wing and a striker - anything else is a bonus.

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  16. a true professional is all business when it comes to foot-ball. Even though  he may have been robbed off some of his hard earned money at the end of the day he still made a lot more than many of us. So I don't want to hear it. He did better than most people financially the fact that your game suffered is really your fault and not that of your agent. Time to take responsibility for your actions.

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  17. Nonsense.

    As per any place of work...you leave your problems at the door and get on with the job in hand.

    Downing is using this as an excuse so BR doesn't ship him out.

    Weak, lame, poor....end of.

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  18. I agree to an extent - I guess I was just trying to give Downing the benefit of the doubt. After all, he's an adult, not a teenager, and the dispute is just about money, of which he has plenty.

    If Downing stays, he'll have no excuse not to perform this season.

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  19. It's scraping the bottom of the barrel using this as an excuse.

    Bacary Sagna lost his brother to a sudden heart attack halfway through the season before last and still played well for Arsenal. 

    Downing's just not very good. He never has been and never will be any good.

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  20. Seriously, if you can't handling views that differ from your own then please, for your own sanity' go elsewhere, and stop trying to indirectly censor people.

    There is nothing 'gratuitously offensive' about Tornike's remark. Dalglish is not the greatest tactically; even his former players admit that. This is what Gary Gillespie - Dalglish's friend - said about his tactical approach a few months ago:

    "When I say this to people they’re amazed: In 8 years at Liverpool, the days we were actually coached I can count on one hand. We were just told to go out and play"

    Are you now going to accuse Gillespie of being gratuitously offensive?

    You love Dalglish, and that's your right, but others ere entitled to question him, even if you don't like it.

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  21. did you get that JK 1 assist and no Goals please amend your stats accordingly :) that makes the 20m outlay so much better to swallow

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  22. We can have a chance to see SD on the pitch again this season. Let's hope everything's behind him by now and he can start to achieve something positive for LFC. It's very untrue for an attacking winger who is the player of the year for another EPL club just one season ago to achieve that very undesirable feat of having 0 goal 0 assist in the entire season. Till this day I cannot believe it's true.

    So now, where are our new players???

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  23. Is this because I said you were like Rafa? :P
    downing is far better than his last season, I'm guessing pressure has played a big part with a few of the players prices being so inflated, a few of them know they were overpaid for and are finding hard to live with the price tag

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  24. Question yes but snideness not necessary. Did you respond to the clown who referred to KD as Foolglish. I suspect not. . Dalglish is not a deity nor is he a devil as you wish to portray him Why not pay the respect the guy deserves


    ________________________________
    From: Disqus
    To: terrysmith.is49@rocketmail.com
    Sent: Thursday, July 12, 2012 2:54 PM
    Subject: [liverpoolkop] Re: "I'm obviously very sad" - Is this the reason for LFC flop's poor season...? | Liverpool-Kop.com



    Jaimie K wrote, in response to alanacourt:
    Seriously, if you can't handling views that differ from your own then please, for your own sanity' go elsewhere, and stop trying to indirectly censor people.
    There is nothing 'gratuitously offensive' about Tornike's remark. Dalglish is not the greatest tactically; even his former players admit that. This is what Gary Gillespie - Dalglish's friend - said about his tactical approach a few months ago:
    "When I say this to people they’re amazed: In 8 years at Liverpool, the days we were actually coached I can count on one hand. We were just told to go out and play"
    Are you now going to accuse Gillespie of being gratuitously offensive?
    You love Dalglish, and that's your right, but others ere entitled to question him, even if you don't like it. Link to comment

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  25. I do not portray Dalglish as the devil (!) Please stop exaggerating. There is plenty of praise for Dalglish in various articles on this site, but there is also criticism. It's called being balanced.

    And re that 'Foolglish' idiot. The comment was deleted and the poster was banned the minute I came across it.

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  26. SELL HIM FOR 8M,ADAM FOR 5M,COLE FOR 5M AND USE THE CASH TO BUY RAMIREZ.KEEP CAROL,AND BUY BORINI,AFELAY,HOLT

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  27. i'm actually seriously asking this question-
    are you marina dalglish?

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  28. my namesake titi camara scored the winner against west ham after being told his old fella passed away hours earlier.mental strength.i just don't think downing has it.

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  29. He's s*** on the left and s*** on the right and for a mature man he's an embarrassment. Cannot handle pressure on or off the pitch. The statement prove once again he's a pussy. Atleast carroll has the balls to prove people wrong at a young age and how old is downing??? Yes exactly, NEVER RATED HIM AND SHOULD BE NOWHERE NEAR ANFIELD.....LOOK OVER YOUR SHOULDER DOWNING, DOES THE NAME STERLING RING A BELL. SHUT THE DOOR ON YOUR WAY OUT AND TAKE THE DWARF SPEARING WITH U, NO THERES A GOOD LAD!!!!!

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  30. Stevie heighway fan10:54 pm, July 12, 2012

    more excuses from downing. he does not have the skill or mentality to play for our club. great players often find adversity an additional motivation...those who are mentally strong ...and others find that their profession is an opportunity to escape from personal issues etc 

    I am tired of his excuses...he is a above average english player ...which really doesn't say much

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  31. Stevie heighway fan10:55 pm, July 12, 2012

    yeah great reminder...thanks

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  32. that's a really brave question to ask over the web. Are your seriously a Liverpool supporter

    ________________________________
    From: Disqus
    To: terrysmith.is49@rocketmail.com
    Sent: Thursday, July 12, 2012 6:48 PM
    Subject: [liverpoolkop] Re: "I'm obviously very sad" - Is this the reason for LFC flop's poor season...? | Liverpool-Kop.com



    Titi_Camara (unregistered) wrote, in response to alanacourt:
    i'm actually seriously asking this question-
    are you marina dalglish?
    Link to comment

    ReplyDelete
  33. Based on last season, he looked out of sorts, I have no idea why or if outside influences played a part, but he did look uneasy and most fans did rightly question his value to the team and the money spent..

    Will BR style of play suit him more, it should, as he is alleged to be a good passer, but does he have the heart, only he can show that... so we will have to wait and see.

    Adam is another interesting puzzle mention on this site often, good passer of the ball (or was) so again should fit nicely into BR style of play, even without pace he might be a good solid player if he can become more mobile, again we'll have to wait and see.

    What I would assume, BR won't be getting rid of too many this summer, its a process of change that will take a couple of seasons, as we can not make wholesale changes and expect immediate positive results. Its important that we strengthen, not weaken, so those with ability to pass and move but with question marks may get pre-season and possibly the next season to show their worth. What we can't ignore, is that Adam and Downing playing to known ability are very good players, the true question we need to ask, is, can BR get the best from Adam, Downing... if not, they will be moved on, if not this summer, it'll be next!

    In reality the LFC squad, playing to their abilities, is a very good squad and with a few additions (new buys and the introduction of our younger players) to spice up competition between players and a building of belief on an individual and team bases, we already have a team good enough to challenge for a top four place, its all about attitude now! Or as I say, on paper we look a good team, problem is the game is played on grass ...

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