The £15m Decision that Saved Tottenham from an Absolute Nightmare!
by WHL Frank on February 8th, 2010 599 words | 14 commentsWhite Hart Lane is a better place for Harry’s wise investment!
Join Our Facebook Fan Page for the Latest News/Rumours/Forums/Videos/WAGS/Funny Stuff/Features!
Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp has no regrets not signing Aston Villa midfielder Stewart Downing while he was available from Middlesbrough.
Spurs face Villa today with Redknapp happy he can count on Niko Kranjcar in midfield.
“They were asking us for £15 million for Downing and it all got too much,” Redknapp said. “I like Downing as well, but Niko has been terrific. He came in and I didn’t need anybody to play wide. Niko’s been unbelievable.” (various)
I can tell you with absolute certainty that Stewart Downing is the most overrated player the Premier League has ever known. When he found himself continually linked with a move to White Hart Lane I can tell you that I suffered nightmares of seeing the ridiculously one footed winger wearing a Tottenham shirt and parading down the touchline with all the ability and guile of a drunk ostrich.
I hoped against hope that the links that were being made by successive bosses, Martin Jol and Juande Ramos both apparently wanted the Middlesbrough man for some reason, would fail to seal the deal and then Harry found himself interested in the England international (I am pretty confident he will not be selected by Fabio Capello anytime soon).
It is worth remembering that every season Downing found himself supposedly leaving the Riverside and it seems obvious the reason that he failed to make such a move for so many years was because no Premier League boss actually went through with the act of actually putting in a meaningful bid for the player. He only finally left Boro when they went down and then they went and replaced him with a player far more talented, Adam Johnson, only to see him instantly snapped up by Manchester City, therefore displaying just how much genuine interest one winger had as opposed to ‘fake’ interest that might well have been created by Downing’s own agent for all we know.
So to now hear from Harry that he was happy that he didn’t fork out the £15m, I mean that is a just an absurd amount of money, and not only is he happy he didn’t pay up but that instead he found himself getting Niko Kranjcar instead.
Now comparing the stylish Croatian to Stewart Downing is to me like comparing a Ferrari with a clapped out Skoda. The former Portsmouth man may on occasion try one trick to many but he is so wonderful to watch when he is on the ball, and indeed when he is waiting for it, that you can forgive him the occasional lapse in concentration.
He is the type of player that gets you on the edge of your seat. He caresses the ball in a manner not unlike a certain Eric Cantona and has a great footballing brain that give him time and space on the ball to pick out his teammates. However whenever I have seen Stewart Downing on the ball he looks cumbersome, always trying to get the ball on his only working foot and have you ever seen the Aston Villa man ever, and I mean EVER, beat a man? Sure he can on occasion, like once in ten, put in a decent cross in but that should be the very least you should expect from a Premier League wide man.
I know who got the better deal and it certainly was not Martin O’Neill. I would gladly take one Niko over a truckload of Downings!
WHL Frank
Related Posts:
Tottenham Man Niko Kranjcar Scores a Corker for Croatia (Video)
anonymous - February 8th, 2010 at 12:18 pm
Hilarious and spot on. Downing is useless and will never play for England again
anonymous - February 8th, 2010 at 12:19 pm
Niko is god!
anonymous - February 8th, 2010 at 12:31 pm
Skoda analogy very 90’s……move on…..try Toyota instead……COYS
anonymous - February 8th, 2010 at 12:37 pm
cranjcar is god but redknapp let him on the bench in 90 minutes .niko must be at first eleven.redknapp out.ALEX-ATHENS
anonymous - February 8th, 2010 at 12:55 pm
In Middlesborough’s relegation season He played at WHL and given Spurs’ interest I thought He would pull out all the stops to prevent his side going down and to impress the Spurs hierarchy.
He was abysmal and did a disappearing act from the game. Think that was the time any interest cooled.
anonymous - February 8th, 2010 at 1:47 pm
ALEX-ATHENS The foolishness you wrote all sounds Greek to me!
Swiftnik the Spur.
anonymous - February 8th, 2010 at 2:23 pm
Kranjaer is spelt with a “K” not “C” Yidiot
anonymous - February 8th, 2010 at 3:59 pm
i think when downing played at WHL he had already let it benown he didnot what to go to them he needed a big club .like villa and a top manager M.ON
anonymous - February 8th, 2010 at 4:13 pm
Kranjcar has a “C” after the “J” Yidiot.
anonymous - February 8th, 2010 at 4:31 pm
A Spurs fan goes shopping and goes to Yidyl
What’s the difference between a Spurs fan and Arsene Wenger? One is stingy the other one is a Spurs fan
John Terry did nothing wrong, when the left back is away the centre fills in the hole.
While watching Soccer Am this week Max Rushden the host was talking to Trevor Nelson, when Trevor Nelson announced he lost Stevie Wonder’s number, Max said “Stevie if your watching”. My mute cousin was speechless.
I guess Fabregas is into SM, he likes to be beaten and humiliated by Drogba
Here’s another joke, Portsmouth FC
anonymous - February 8th, 2010 at 5:22 pm
Stewart Downing is a much better player than Adam Johnson, and this is from someone who has watched both players for years. I think it is ‘cool’ to deride Downing, and in my opinion you have massively underestimated his talent. He had a poor season last year, but he has shown himself to be a great player over the past few. From what I can see, he seems to be doing well at Aston Villa as well.
anonymous - February 8th, 2010 at 6:24 pm
Downing, one trick pony and i dont even know what that trick is, but he must have one, at least one
anonymous - February 8th, 2010 at 6:28 pm
Lennon, Modric, Kranjar and now Bently ( hate it when people call him bents) maybe only one out and out winger but the class is there for all to see, could Downing replace any of the, No chance, and to think he turned us down more than once he already knew his arse was gonna warm the bench
Karate Yid
anonymous - February 9th, 2010 at 12:59 am
The thing with Downing was the price. Boro wanted to get as much as they could and strangely there were takers, well at least pseudo takers. I’ve always put his realistic value at closer to £8M, so when £12M or £15M was thrown around I thought that was silly. I don’t believe he is as bad as what was stated in the article, but he’s definitely not worth £15M and has proven not to be better than Kranjcar.
The bullsh*t fees for British players is stupid, something I’ve always thought was excessive. Kranjcar a proven international was still only going to fetch £10-12M the season before when clubs were initially sniffing yet Downing on a relegated team was higher. Go figure…