Damion Downs

I don’t know who you’re arguing here. No one is saying he deserves abuse. You just seem to be bringing that in to every comment when no one is saying that. “Deserves” and “it comes with the territory” are two completely different points.

I can’t become a police officer and walk around shouting “in a decent society you would all like me! Stop being mean!”

 

There is a difference between arguing with someone and being rude within that to abusing a stranger you have never had any discussion with. Also, like he said, abuse is normal and it doesn’t bother him. When Downs says that I will be fine with it too.

 

Fans aren't exactly cheering him on but he's given the fans literally nothing at all to cheer. But you can't tar the fans who are indifferent to him with the ones who are abusing him on social media with the same brush. That's not fair at all. Every proper Saints fan will want him to succeed and get his first goal for the club ASAP. But it's hard to cheer a player who looks like he's playing well below Championship level.

 

Sure.

 

How many people on here have actually written him off as a footballer for all time? Barely any.

You seem to be taking the view of a small minority and applying them to everyone who thinks he's not upto it currently and has been disappointing so far.

I didn't hear any negative reaction towards him when he was subbed on on Saturday btw. Nor was he directly singled out for abuse at full time. No players actually got close enough at full time tbh from what I saw.

You won't get any disagreement from me about a general lack of support towards the team btw, I've been bemoaning our poor away support for a good couple of years!

But this idea that everybody is ****ing him off individually at games or online and it's a huge majority is just nonsense.

 

He has player 151 minutes of Championship football, Tom.

 

I'm aware of that and I'm not writing him off. But there's no escaping the fact he looks way off the required standard right now.

 

In 151 minutes of football.

 

I am not replying to everyone. I will rephrase it:

People who say he has earned this level of negativity after 151 minutes of Championship football are ****ing irritating me.

 

I just thought it was over the top Saturday personally. I did say though each to their own ultimately.

I gave out dogs abuse at Hull with Lincs so I'm certainly not trying to be holier than thou saying I'd never boo. Just that I didn't agree with it on Saturday.

 

Yes. What is so hard to understand? All anyone is saying is if we had maybe 2 other other strikers right now who had some goals, no one would be batting an eye at Downs and he would get all the time he so clearly needs. However, he is now basically expected to be thee striker and he is clearly nowhere near good enough and people are just voicing that while rightfully putting the blame at SR, whilst you’re complaining that everyone is bullying this poor adult man when by the sound of others in this thread, no one really is…and if it is online abuse then as mentioned, he is an adult and he is deciding to look at it.

 

Sure.

 

I don't disagree. But there's an important distinction to make here.

There are some people being very negative about him specifically and writing him off entirely. I don't agree with that myself.

There are then more people that are negative about the situation surrounding him but their ire is more towards Spors/SR rather than him specifically - that's entirely reasonable imo.

The reason this is getting so much attention as on the face of it relying on him and Stewart is a huge error which has massively impacted our prospects of achieving our goals this season. And it's an error which has been repeated again and again under the current ownership.

 

And that I have no issue with. I have only got an issue with these things:

1. There is already an SR thread, so this thread is clearly about Downs. It is not about SR.

2. People saying he earns enough to take abuse. I don’t see that as an acceptable supporter argument. Don’t tell me it isn’t his fault but that he should be able to take it anyway.

 

No one has said that. All anyone has said is that he is in a sport where you are paid highly and that it just naturally comes with criticism and abuse online, it just does. You can’t become a footballer in the modern day and not expect criticism.

 

Sure.

 

Deleted

 

Sure

 

Enough please.

 

If this kind of posting style is seen as acceptable, then maybe the rules need to be clearer. There’s a difference between strong opinions and the kind of sarcasm or hostility that shuts people down. Lately, it feels like certain posters are crossing that line - not by what they’re saying, but by how they’re saying it.

It’s fine to criticise a player, a decision, or another poster’s point of view. But when every comment drips with negativity, mockery, or condescension, it stops being a discussion and becomes a performance. That doesn’t add anything to the conversation - it just pushes others away or makes them reluctant to share their views.

If we’re all here because we care about the team, then we owe it to each other to keep it constructive. You can be honest and passionate without being unpleasant. Once it turns personal or sneering, everyone loses - and the forum stops feeling like a community worth engaging with.

What’s frustrating is seeing how inconsistently this is handled. Some posters get banned or warned for far less, while others seem to get a free ride no matter how they speak to people. That kind of uneven moderation just breeds resentment and gives the impression that tone and respect don’t really matter here - when they should.