Flynn Downes

[HarvSFC]

The epitome of what is wrong at this football club. Some players were actually fine with losing every week and playing a style of football that saw them make the same mistakes every week and give up goals for fun. They were fine with sitting on five points after 16 games and heading towards becoming the worst Premier League side in the history of the league. They were fine with this because they could just doss about in training all week, passing the ball around a few times, enjoying plenty of days off and not giving a crap about the stain it was going to have on their career because their mate was in charge. Essentially, preferring an easy life over self-pride, lacking that elite mentality. 

It was only last season Downes was having a go about Ipswich fans after the reception he got there. Short memory. But, he has got a history of this, hence why the Ipswich fans didn't like him.

[Lighthouse]

1 minute ago, HarvSFC said:

The epitome of what is wrong at this football club. Some players were actually fine with losing every week and playing a style of football that saw them make the same mistakes every week and give up goals for fun. They were fine with sitting on five points after 16 games and heading towards becoming the worst Premier League side in the history of the league. They were fine with this because they could just doss about in training all week, passing the ball around a few times, enjoying plenty of days off and not giving a crap about the stain it was going to have on their career because their mate was in charge. Essentially, preferring an easy life over self-pride, lacking that elite mentality. 

It was only last season Downes was having a go about Ipswich fans after the reception he got there. Short memory. But, he has got a history of this, hence why the Ipswich fans didn't like him.

Absolute conjecture based on nothing. I've no idea what's gone on between Juric and Downes but to suggest that he's thrown his toys out of the pram because he isn't fussed about losing, CBA training and just wants loads of days off is pure fantasy.

[benjii]

Cockney wanker.

[Lee On Solent Saint]

20 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

Absolute conjecture based on nothing. I've no idea what's gone on between Juric and Downes but to suggest that he's thrown his toys out of the pram because he isn't fussed about losing, CBA training and just wants loads of days off is pure fantasy.

Is it? Seems odd that the players who aligned most with Martin aren't regular starters anymore.

[James G]

14 hours ago, Winnersaint said:

Juric damned him with faint praise a few weeks back. I’m paraphrasing this. “He is a good player, but  must understand the Premier League is another level.”

I'm just reading through the comments deciding how to think, and I found this quite insightful. It implies that this player, maybe alot of the players just haven't made an effort to step up their training and prepare properly for the Premier League. And I wonder if that is just down to Russ not having Premier League experience and not pushing players hard enough at the start of the season. From a players perspective they trust in the manager, and just expect everything to work out OK. Now someone else has come in and is pushing them harder, hence an unsettled period for all concerned. Russ had one learning point, Burnley, who tried the same thing and failed, but he continued nonetheless

[OldNick]

Juric will not suffer fools, and he says whats he believes. He is not scared of upsetting egos and will act accordingly. It is interesting that the main RM buddies are not playing 

[East Kent Saint]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/teams/southampton  

Made BBC website !

[Saint Fan CaM]

Think he’ll be gone in the summer. Smallbone will be favoured until then. Possibly, it doesn’t matter as either way our season was an irrelevance weeks ago.

[OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint]

6 hours ago, Saint Fan CaM said:

Think he’ll be gone in the summer. Smallbone will be favoured until then. Possibly, it doesn’t matter as either way our season was an irrelevance weeks ago.

When you're being overtaken by Smallbone in the pecking order, something is amiss.

Probably a bigger disappointment than THB in how this guy has turned out. Last season the analysis seemed to show that when he wasn't playing we lost. This year, when he played we lost. Absolutely ineffectual in midfield this year and those pointless, wafty yellow cards he seemed to receive every week to me summed up his attitude. Half hearted and half arsed.

[LiberalCommunist]

Yet more disappointment, in a endless sea of disappointments.  

Roll on next season. 

[Sir Ralph]

Good championship player, poor PL player. Doctor should prescribe him a dose of reality

[badgerx16]

1 hour ago, OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint said:

When you're being overtaken by Smallbone in the pecking order, something is amiss.

Probably a bigger disappointment than THB in how this guy has turned out. Last season the analysis seemed to show that when he wasn't playing we lost. This year, when he played we lost.

So no different from any other first team player.

[Whitey Grandad]

If he really wants a move away then he needs to be a modest professional and knuckle down to the hard work of earning lots of money. He is deterring other employers.

[Cabrone]

Not really bothered about him TBH. He didn't blow me away last season and I was a bit surprised that the club pushed so hard for him.

If he really wants to go he needs to get his head down and show other clubs what he's about.

[Saint Billy]

I was intrigued by the big fuss made pre season with that embarrassing Puma debacle where Downes walk out of the smoke like he was our messiah ready to push us on to a bigger and better future.

It was cringe worthy then and totally laughable now as he is nothing more than a championship player as proven this season, pretty much like most of the rest of them 

[VectisSaint]

3 hours ago, OnceaSaintalwaysaSaint said:

When you're being overtaken by Smallbone in the pecking order, something is amiss.

Probably a bigger disappointment than THB in how this guy has turned out. Last season the analysis seemed to show that when he wasn't playing we lost. This year, when he played we lost. Absolutely ineffectual in midfield this year and those pointless, wafty yellow cards he seemed to receive every week to me summed up his attitude. Half hearted and half arsed.

To be fair, that is true of just about everyone who has played.

[sadoldgit]

3 hours ago, Sir Ralph said:

Good championship player, poor PL player. Doctor should prescribe him a dose of reality

If he had gone to Ipswich there is still a good chance that he would end up back in the Championship anyway, so not sure why it was such a big deal for him.

[disconnect]

2 hours ago, Cabrone said:

Not really bothered about him TBH. He didn't blow me away last season and I was a bit surprised that the club pushed so hard for him.

If he really wants to go he needs to get his head down and show other clubs what he's about.

Was it the club or was it Martin? 

[tdmickey3]

30 minutes ago, sadoldgit said:

If he had gone to Ipswich there is still a good chance that he would end up back in the Championship anyway, so not sure why it was such a big deal for him.

Because SFC sacked his cuddle buddy 🤮and that nasty new man shouts and demands he trains hard and doesn't get so many days off

[beatlesaint]

The iroiny of him sulking about not going to Ipswich is that last season he had a moan cos they boo'ed him......yet lo and behold now its the answer to his prayers !

[captainchris]

On 09/02/2025 at 13:17, Lighthouse said:

Absolute conjecture based on nothing. I've no idea what's gone on between Juric and Downes but to suggest that he's thrown his toys out of the pram because he isn't fussed about losing, CBA training and just wants loads of days off is pure fantasy.

Harv didn’t even say that…..

It does appear that a lot of what he is saying is true. The players were definitely unfit - massively and are still not fit enough. They did have far too easy a ride and far too many days off.

Some players were obviously RMs favourites and were played repetitively despite poor performances and Downs was just one of those players.

This much we do know for certain. 

 

 

[The Realist]

Shame he hasn't stepped up this season but we should not re-write history here.  He was one of the major reasons for our promotion last year.  We were completely lost without him when he was missing last season and that was the reason Ipswich tried to sign him from West Ham in the summer. Unfortunately, he, like many others, has just not been up to it this season.  THB and Arma were excellent last season but not close to that form this season. The change in manager has not helped Downes and so I expect he will leave in the summer. I would still rather he stayed and was part of a midfield duo of him and Charles, playing for Rohl.

[warsash saint]

4 hours ago, Cabrone said:

Not really bothered about him TBH. He didn't blow me away last season and I was a bit surprised that the club pushed so hard for him.

If he really wants to go he needs to get his head down and show other clubs what he's about.

Is that the same Downes where we could not win a game when he was injured last season??  Some people have short memories!!

Agreed he has been the biggest disappointment this season, BUT if we want to bounce back up, we need him back on board.

Edited Tuesday at 14:30 by warsash saint

[ErwinK1961]

44 minutes ago, The Realist said:

Shame he hasn't stepped up this season but we should not re-write history here.  He was one of the major reasons for our promotion last year.  We were completely lost without him when he was missing last season and that was the reason Ipswich tried to sign him from West Ham in the summer. Unfortunately, he, like many others, has just not been up to it this season.  THB and Arma were excellent last season but not close to that form this season. The change in manager has not helped Downes and so I expect he will leave in the summer. I would still rather he stayed and was part of a midfield duo of him and Charles, playing for Rohl.

Question is, to who? Best thing he can hope for is Ipswich to stay up and they take the plunge at £15-18m. Will they spend that on him if they go down? Would we even want to sell him to a ‘promotion rival’? Can’t see a premier league team taking the plunge as all he’s proven so far is he’s not adequate at this level.

This is the issue a lot of them are going to face. It’s the same with Armstrong - championship is his level, but the only ones who will afford his fee and wages are premier league teams who will never buy him because he’s not good enough. 

We’re not going to sell these guys for buttons and most are on lengthy contracts. So they will need to either knuckle down, accept their level and play, or sulk and watch their career die a slow death. 

[Lee On Solent Saint]

2 hours ago, warsash saint said:

BUT if we want to bounce back up, we need him back on board.

Not quite sure I'd agree with that. There will be plenty of other options for us to consider in the Summer window. It's just the recruitment team need to identify them. 

[West end Saints]

He was decent / good last season, not amazing - in the championship.

I think we overpaid for him as he was key to how RM wanted to play and someone who knew him well.

He isn't premier league level, not close to people like JWP, Lavia and Romeu (and we finished bottom with that level!)

When you are 26 and played more in league 1 than prem league and have been one of our worst players this season it is time to be humble not strop!

[S-Clarke]

People are in danger of following the generic ''Player to leave script'', which entails entirely downgrading their past performances and impact for us and making them out to have always been poor. Happens all the time.

He has been poor this season, no question, but last season he was our best player. The best CM in the league IMO. You can't really start to call last season decent, or underwhelming, he was excellent.

I still stand by the fact that he 'could' be good at PL level, only if he has the right players around him. You can't expect him to do a number 6 job on his own at this level. If you put him alongside a Romeu type then I think we'd have different opinions on him from this year.

He's let himself down for sure, and has been the one player who has disappointed me the most this year. He hasn't particularly earned the right to stomp his feet after his showings this year, but let's not discredit his efforts last year.

Edited Tuesday at 20:00 by S-Clarke

[Gloucester Saint]

5 hours ago, ErwinK1961 said:

Question is, to who? Best thing he can hope for is Ipswich to stay up and they take the plunge at £15-18m. Will they spend that on him if they go down? Would we even want to sell him to a ‘promotion rival’? Can’t see a premier league team taking the plunge as all he’s proven so far is he’s not adequate at this level.

This is the issue a lot of them are going to face. It’s the same with Armstrong - championship is his level, but the only ones who will afford his fee and wages are premier league teams who will never buy him because he’s not good enough. 

We’re not going to sell these guys for buttons and most are on lengthy contracts. So they will need to either knuckle down, accept their level and play, or sulk and watch their career die a slow death. 

The market is quite niche - parachute clubs or the odd club with serious backing coming up from League 1 (Bham, maybe Wrexham). WBA already enjoying AA but wages of £65k pw rumoured even with a 40% reduction that’s still beyond most Champ clubs to attempt to make permanent. And Downes only recently went for £18m. Only way I can see is if Ipswich stay up and pay Saints what he cost from West Ham. Otherwise as you say, it’ll be about knuckling down, getting fitter and re-integrating.

[Saint Fan CaM]

The lad has burnt his bridges - again. If he stays he should train by himself until a decent offer comes in. We’ve been a damned charity for too long and we need cast iron solid battlers next season.

[Andrew Watson]

Pathetic over grown  baby,imagine if all britains work force threw their toys out of the pram after a disagreement with their boss. Another alleged 18 million thrown down the drain.

[goodymatt]

Wasn’t the fee £15m rising to £18m, doubt we are meeting the criteria for the add ons? So we would break even if we sold him for £15m, you’d think at the price Ipswich might maintain interest going into the summer, whichever league they are in.

Ideally we can resolve this issue with Flynn and get him back to being the star player but as I said in my previous post, should he not want to be here when all the dust settles, I’d rather he leaves and we look to someone else that will give 100% and might even have the ability to become a PL player at a time that is useful to us.

Easily the biggest disappointment of the season for me, thought he would step up no problem. Shows how big the gap is with Downes, THB and Armstrong all struggling with the step up.

[Charlie Wayman]

On 09/02/2025 at 13:38, Lee On Solent Saint said:

Seems odd that the players who aligned most with Martin aren't regular starters anymore.

You don't need to be a footballer to play "Pass the Parcel".

[Fabrice29]

15 hours ago, S-Clarke said:

People are in danger of following the generic ''Player to leave script'', which entails entirely downgrading their past performances and impact for us and making them out to have always been poor. Happens all the time.

He has been poor this season, no question, but last season he was our best player. The best CM in the league IMO. You can't really start to call last season decent, or underwhelming, he was excellent.

I still stand by the fact that he 'could' be good at PL level, only if he has the right players around him. You can't expect him to do a number 6 job on his own at this level. If you put him alongside a Romeu type then I think we'd have different opinions on him from this year.

He's let himself down for sure, and has been the one player who has disappointed me the most this year. He hasn't particularly earned the right to stomp his feet after his showings this year, but let's not discredit his efforts last year.

100% this and also there’s some massive assumptions being made about what the issue is, what it means and how it’s manifested itself. All based on a line or two from one side of the story.

[Gloucester Saint]

3 hours ago, goodymatt said:

Wasn’t the fee £15m rising to £18m, doubt we are meeting the criteria for the add ons? So we would break even if we sold him for £15m, you’d think at the price Ipswich might maintain interest going into the summer, whichever league they are in.

Ideally we can resolve this issue with Flynn and get him back to being the star player but as I said in my previous post, should he not want to be here when all the dust settles, I’d rather he leaves and we look to someone else that will give 100% and might even have the ability to become a PL player at a time that is useful to us.

Easily the biggest disappointment of the season for me, thought he would step up no problem. Shows how big the gap is with Downes, THB and Armstrong all struggling with the step up.

£15m is still close to the record Championship transfer fee which was Ruben Neves at Wolves (worth every penny) at £15.8m, so if Saints needed to get rid to strengthen elsewhere he’d probably be going there at a loss of some description. 

[LGTL]

Hopefully the little pussy has put his big boy pants on and trained properly this week. I know he’s been unbelievably shit, but anyone other than Les is a massive improvement. 

Edited 13 hours ago by LGTL

[Turkish]

8 minutes ago, LGTL said:

Hopefully the little pussy has put his big boy pants on and trained properly this week. I know he’s been unbelievably shit, but anyone other than Les is a massive improvement. 

You called..

[washsaint]

It's unfortunate JUric went public with this - we only know his view and there are always 2 sides to every story.

No way Juric maintains the support of the dressing room with the way he is publicly throwing his players under the bus.  Criticize in private (1-1) not in public

[Anthony]

11 minutes ago, washsaint said:

It's unfortunate JUric went public with this - we only know his view and there are always 2 sides to every story.

No way Juric maintains the support of the dressing room with the way he is publicly throwing his players under the bus.  Criticize in private (1-1) not in public

 

Whilst I 99% agree with you, I also think that if a new manager walks into a locker room which is in a chaotic state, then drastic action needs to be taken.

Sometimes, it is worth throwing someone under the bus, to scare the rest of the players into action.

Not necessarily saying this is the situation here

[Wade Garrett]

40 minutes ago, washsaint said:

It's unfortunate JUric went public with this - we only know his view and there are always 2 sides to every story.

No way Juric maintains the support of the dressing room with the way he is publicly throwing his players under the bus.  Criticize in private (1-1) not in public

Fuck the players.  Bunch of lazy cunts need to be called out.  I couldn’t give two shits whether it hurts their feelings.

 

[Osvaldorama]

Yeah as much as it seems juric is another bad appointment, I can’t fault anyone for throwing abuse at these players. 
 

They’re all fucking pricks 

[washsaint]

56 minutes ago, Osvaldorama said:

Yeah as much as it seems juric is another bad appointment, I can’t fault anyone for throwing abuse at these players. 
 

They’re all fucking pricks 

But no-one was saying this last eyar when we got promoted.  The players are simply not good enough for the PL - that fault lies with the club recruitment not recognizing this.  Bringing in 2 forwards from a relegated, very poor Sheff Utd side was an act of madness, let alone many of the other signings such as Cornet, Fraser, etc

[Wade Garrett]

47 minutes ago, washsaint said:

But no-one was saying this last eyar when we got promoted.  The players are simply not good enough for the PL - that fault lies with the club recruitment not recognizing this.  Bringing in 2 forwards from a relegated, very poor Sheff Utd side was an act of madness, let alone many of the other signings such as Cornet, Fraser, etc

Nothing to do with not being good enough, I can accept that.  It’s more to do with shelling out £700 to watch those lazy fuckers barely break into a sweat every week.  Fucking criminal.

[Lighthouse]

7 minutes ago, Wade Garrett said:

Nothing to do with not being good enough, I can accept that.  It’s more to do with shelling out £700 to watch those lazy fuckers barely break into a sweat every week.  Fucking criminal.

I understand the frustration but I’m not buying this bit. The players are trying, they’re just extremely limited in their ability.

[Teamsaint1]

35 minutes ago, Lighthouse said:

I understand the frustration but I’m not buying this bit. The players are trying, they’re just extremely limited in their ability.

Against Tottenham and Brentford they did a bloody good impression of not trying and also being useless.

there are ways to play against more talented sides. Exeter did this stuff last night. 
 

And to stay on topic,despite his antics and form, I’m still convinced that FD can do a decent job in the PL.