Johnson gone. Downing back as player coach on reduced wages.

sambaDTR

sambaDTR

Well-known member
Just me thinking if we can work a deal? Still fit, can cover various positions, our record England International with 35 caps. Played under big Managers at Boro, Liverpool, Villa, West Ham and Mogga. Would be an ideal coach for the Academy that young players can learn from. Could learn Management skills under Warnock, Kevin Blackwell and Ronnie Jepson. Thinking ahead, post Warnock. Maybe worth an offer?
 
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Nosmo-King said:
Absolutely not. He is done as a player - and this from someone who always supported him against the venom some showed him on here.
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agreed, he'd be a great role model for the next 4 or 5 years in our academy, helping to give his top flight, international, European knowledge to the next generation. He can do his badges and look at moving up to first team coaching at that point.

Get Leads back to run the whole thingU18-U23 thing. He has got the knowledge, passion, and really gets the commitment required for players to make it, and he always got involved in the youths careers when he was still a player. I think he would be excellent at that role working on the psychological and Social skills, while Downing works on the technical and tactical.
 
Didn’t Downing have a few things to say about the club on Schwarzer’s podcast? I think there’s some unresolved issues that would need sorting for that to happen.

I’m not a massive fan of jobs for the boys for the sake of it (even if it’s not unusual for ex-players to be employed as staff at former clubs) but certain ex-players with top level experience and/or great leadership like Downing or Leadbitter I wouldn’t be against if they fit the role.
 
Smoggle said:
Didn’t Downing have a few things to say about the club on Schwarzer’s podcast? I think there’s some unresolved issues that would need sorting for that to happen.

I’m not a massive fan of jobs for the boys for the sake of it (even if it’s not unusual for ex-players to be employed as staff at former clubs) but certain ex-players with top level experience and/or great leadership like Downing or Leadbitter I wouldn’t be against if they fit the role.
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Unresolved, like what?
 
GazC_MFC said:
Fair enough question from him . Got slated by the fans where he was here for no apparent reason other than those fans being numpties
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He clearly didn't see eye to eye with Karanka and lots of stories at the time that he was the main culprit in causing the dressing room unrest. There's no smoke without fire. Seemed strange when you consider we had such an amazing team spirit the season before.

He received criticism also because his performances on the pitch were largely underwhelming during his 2nd stint as well, especially in the Championship. Expected a lot more from a player of his quality.
 
sambaDTR said:
Just me thinking if we can work a deal? Still fit, can cover various positions, our record England International with 35 caps. Played under big Managers at Boro, Liverpool, Villa, West Ham and Mogga. Would be an ideal coach for the Academy that young players can learn from. Could learn Management skills under Warnock, Kevin Blackwell and Ronnie Jepson. Thinking ahead, post Warnock. Maybe worth an offer?
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4 year deal with the option of a 5th should do the trick. 40 year old Stewey D pulling the strings a la Giggs as player manager. What could go wrong?
 
parmoboy said:
He clearly didn't see eye to eye with Karanka and lots of stories at the time that he was the main culprit in causing the dressing room unrest. There's no smoke without fire. Seemed strange when you consider we had such an amazing team spirit the season before.

He received criticism also because his performances on the pitch were largely underwhelming during his 2nd stint as well, especially in the Championship. Expected a lot more from a player of his quality.
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He also indicated that he believed Karanka did not want him. I still believe that AK was managing his contract too, by not always starting him, given that clause we later found out about. Downing needed regular starts to trigger that clause and it will have irked him and their relationship.
 
GazC_MFC said:
Unresolved, like what?
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I can’t quite remember the full details now but the podcast will still be about to listen to. I just remember that it wasn’t all amicable when he left and Schwarzer mentioned he and Viduka I think had poor experiences leaving too.
 
Smoggle said:
Didn’t Downing have a few things to say about the club on Schwarzer’s podcast? I think there’s some unresolved issues that would need sorting for that to happen.
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Agreed, but he's known Gibson for about 20 years, the frustrations of a player can be exaggerated. Coaches can be more pragmatic with better perspective.

Smoggle said:
I’m not a massive fan of jobs for the boys for the sake of it
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I agree entirely, but even if he wasn't an ex-player there would be a match in his skills and the role I would take right now an ex-prem player and international attacker to coach our kids. It would be like us taking Joe Cole, Dwight Yorke or Jermaine Defoe into that youth coaching role. I'd bite your hand off to get someone like that running our academy coaching and more importantly mentoring.
 
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parmoboy said:
He received criticism also because his performances on the pitch were largely underwhelming during his 2nd stint as well, especially in the Championship. Expected a lot more from a player of his quality.
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it was underwhelming but it's not like he was a liability or didn't try, his legs went, we signed him on a 4 year +1 when it really should have been a 2 year +1, what would he do if offered it though, say no?
 
BoroMart said:
it was underwhelming but it's not like he was a liability or didn't try, his legs went, we signed him on a 4 year +1 when it really should have been a 2 year +1, what would he do if offered it though, say no?
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How old was he when he re-signed, 29? Legs shouldn't have gone at 29 and that first season back was probably his most underwhelming. The season before he had arguably his best season in the Premier League with West Ham, so we were all expecting him to stand out in the Championship.

There was clearly something going on behind the scenes which was effecting his performances on the pitch.
 
I’d 100% take him back as a coach in the academy and I wouldn’t be totally against registering him as a player in case of emergencies. You could even structure it like Rooney’s deal where most of his wages are for the coaching role for FFP purposes.

For what it’s worth, I think Warnock is the type of manager to have got the best out of Downing if he had been here when he rejoined.
 
GazC_MFC said:
Unresolved, like what?
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Like, Gibson promised him stuff and then reneged on the gentleman's agreements. Also the farce where we wouldn't play him cos it triggered extra payments. Don't get me wrong, we should never have re signed him, but we didn't treat him well when he came back. We have form on this, see also Schwarzer, Viduka and Mowbray (as manager).
 
BoroMart said:
it was underwhelming but it's not like he was a liability or didn't try, his legs went, we signed him on a 4 year +1 when it really should have been a 2 year +1, what would he do if offered it though, say no?
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Personally he was one of the standout performers in his 2nd stint. He dictated pace of play, hardly gave the ball away and was playing under manager instructions to a great ability

he underwhelmed on goals and assists I expected more but I understand why
 
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