Ok, so this guy isn't exactly the John Lackey equivalent in their soccer, sorry, football world. What makes Steward Downing Lackey-like, is the fact that Fenway Sports Group spent an obscene amount of money for a talent-less joke. So, why did they spend so much money on nothing? They were duped by a doctored youtube video (shown above) showing Downing kicking soccer balls into trash bins from 30 yards out. Much like those old Powerade commercials showing Lebron hitting jumpers from 93 feet away. It's all clear to me now. That commercial sealed the deal to make James the face of Liverpool.
Five months in, Liverpool’s $31 million signing of Stewart Downing has been an epic fail. The man hired to pump balls into the box for Andy Carroll has more arrests, one, than assists since joining the club.
It is hard not to call Henry and Werner idiots. They saw this video and heart shape cut-outs were coming out of their computer screen. Instead of bringing this guy in and, maybe, have him workout and test out his skills, they decide to throw a bag of cash at him. Here are some actual quotes from the mouths of these brilliant soccer owners.
“There was some footage of Stewart where he was, from 30 yards away, kicking a football into five different trash cans and it was brilliant,” said chairman Werner.
“John and I said: ‘Oh my God, this player is brilliant, we’ve got to figure out a way to make a deal with him’.”
I'm glad Tom Werner is proper and calling it a "football". I'm glad these guys are willing to spend the money to try to make their teams better, but DO SOME SCOUTING! Do they not pay a scout or someone who knows anything about the game? Did no one know this guy? All it took was John Henry to say "Oh my God, this player is brilliant..." to throw $31 million in the shredder. Seems like Liverpool FC is a well-oiled machine.
For those of you trying to make it big, use your $50 Adobe software, edit your baseball or soccer video, and send it to Fenway Sports Group. Just make sure it is brilliant.
This actually helps Lackey's case, I mean, at least he has won a few games.
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