Martin Keown has spoken about West Ham’s transfer window and says he doesn’t understand why we let Stewart Downing go.
Speaking in his Daily Mail blog Keown said “Generally West Ham did not lose too much with their outgoings but I must say the sale of Stewart Downing to Middlesbrough is a deal I just don’t understand. It was not so long ago that we were praising him and the influence he was having. He has been outstanding in recent seasons and though I’m sure he’s happy to be back ‘home’ at Middlesbrough, he should want to play in the Premier League for as long as possible.”
Happy to answer that one for you Martin, Downing telephoned David Sullivan three times and asked to leave West Ham.
He left West Ham for one final mega pay deal and an enormous bonus if he helps his boyhood team Middlesborough get back to the Premier League.
However, he later claimed he never wanted to join West Ham in the first place and was quoted by one newspaper as saying about Liverpool “I wanted to stay and fight for my place, Brendan said he wanted me to stay, but the club told me that there was an offer from West Ham. I didn’t want to move.”
He also told another newspaper after leaving West Ham “The change of manager was a big factor, If Sam had stayed, then I’m sure he’d have had a good sit down to try to persuade me to stay. After speaking to Slaven, I didn’t get that feel of someone who really wanted me there. He said, ‘I’d love you to say’, but I didn’t get the feeling that I got when Sam signed me.”
On the KUMBPodcast West Ham Co Chairman David Sullivan explained the truth about Downing:
“Downing phoned me personally and asked three times to leave so it is nothing to do that he didn’t feel wanted, they offered him a five year contract on more money than he was on with us which is incredible for a Championship side, he was on big money with us. What Downing has said is dam right lies, I can say that, look at his phone bill and you can see he personally phoned me up desperately wanting to go back to Middlesborough, it was his home town club. We said we would like to to stay, we don’t want you to go and he said I don’t want to stay, he has now said he didn’t feel (loved), no-one asked him, he went for financial reasons and they then have to justify it and tell fibs. They just made him an incredible offer and he’s gone back to his home town club, they gave him a 4 to 5 year contract, I can see his point of view, we wish him all the best, we wish Middlesborough get promotion because we get a million and a half quid more, we will be cheering them on”
The reality is you left for the money Downing, we know it, you know it and know hopefully Martin Keown now knows it. Problem solved Martin, you only had to ask!
Keown is an idiot saying downing should stay in premier league. At his age it’s not going to make any difference to his career. I doubt hodgeson is going to pick him for England now no matter how well he plays. You’ve got to admire downing for being prepared to drop down a division to try and help his home town club back into the premier league. Sometimes you have to let the heart rule the head and to say for Downing it’s all about the money does the lad an injustice.
I must say, considering his position, he has really made a compleat arse of himself.
Martin Keown, that is. Disappointing. As for Downing, well …
If he’s earning more there than he is here and it’s his last pay day AND it’s his hometown club where he first made his name in the game, Of course he’s going to go there and good luck to him. Sullivan obviously didn’t want to keep Downing or wasn’t prepared to pay what Middlesbrough offered so he can’t complain that Downing wanted to go either. And to be fair to downing, he said he wouldn’t have left West Ham for Any other club than Middlesbrough. Why is David Sullivan slagging these players off in the media anyway. Austins injury crocked, downings a liar. Who is he going to have a go at next.
Monkey head is getting terrible theae days.Its like they are all in a competition to be w*nker of the week amongst the ‘experts’,so many inaccurate comments they make.They just open their mouths & sh*t pours out.
Doohhh bubs!,,,you are awful hahaa
But they still get paid !!!!
Amazing really !!
Just proves that so called ‘experts’, especially of the ex player variety are themselves taking the (easy) money for giving opinions that are often far less expert than the rest of us nameless majority. As Harry has shown, its the name and face that counts while what they say is often of more value to their employers in the media the less accurate it is, simply because it gets noticed and creates controversy. Which is why true knowledgable commentators are often less valuable than the idiots, and there are plenty of the latter in the football fraternity to choose from, so they really have a motivation to make an effort to be more stupid and speak more boll–ks than the next guy, as Paul Merson so ably demonstrates. What is it about Arsenal.
There should be a IQ test on these pundits before they are allowed near Media duties,
Would you let the youngest near these people in real life NO
Yet thousands of them will listen to these people SO WRONG,
if they tested Ex Arsenal Players the whole team would not have a IQ of 100
Monkeys are qute Keown is not,
Monkey head is really getting irritable these days about us.We must be doing something right & it annoys him,lol
Matt, at least Chesney Hawkesbury loves West Ham.
Keown can go back to swinging on his tyre in a tree.
Only today I was thinking how well he would have fitted into the present system.
In fact he could have finally made a name for himself.
We did not do badly, collected a lot of cash and replaced him with younger and possibly better players.
Sadly he chose the wrong option
i think it was plainly obvious that Downing chased the cash on a contract that will probably take him to his retirement home. Good luck to him, he probably had a Chesney Hawkes 1 hit/season wonder for us.
Do your homework before you shout your mouth off Monkey Face.
Just another day when a pundit makes a tool of themselves.If it aint Merson it is Keown,Lawrenson or Souness.Muppets!