Downing Has Been Boro's Best

STEWART DOWNING was always going to leave the Riverside this summer – even if Boro had stayed up. Nevertheless, his inevitable £12m move to Aston Villa last week was still tinged with sadness.

Downing is – by some margin – the finest player to have come through the academy ranks since I have followed the club. Until he broke into the first team squad in 2003, the best home-grown talents to emerge from Teesside in the post-Ayresome Park era were Andy Campbell and Jamie Pollock.

Boro’s youth set-up has of course taken a much-trumpeted turn for the better – Adam Johnson, Andrew Taylor and David Wheater have been regulars for the England-U21s under Stuart Pearce. (In fairness to Campbell and Pollock, both won U21 caps before their careers took a bit of a nosedive.)

But none of the current crop of academy graduates – including former players Lee Cattermole and Ross Turnbull – has shown anywhere near the sort of promise Downing did on his breakthrough. Plenty of the Riverside faithful will tell you the aforementioned Johnson will go on to greater things than his left-wing predecessor, but not from what I’ve seen.

Downing can go on to become an England regular

Downing has been Boro’s most important player for the last four seasons. His delivery of the ball – with both feet – is pin-point, while his striking from dead-ball situations is superb.

It is no coincidence that Downing’s dip in form last season clashed with the team’s demise. Without him firing, we were left devoid of attacking threat. However, I have little doubt that he will prosper when he returns from injury in October alongside quality players at Villa Park. And hopefully, he can finally prove himself at international level.

Downing has been a target of the England boo-boys but the 24-year-old – despite regular selection under three national managers – has never won an extended run in the first-team. Once he does, he will quickly silence his critics, just as former scapegoats Owen Hargreaves and Peter Crouch eventually did.

It is a good move for the Teessider and also good business for Boro, who are braced for a huge financial shortfall should they manage to find suitors for stroppy strikers Alves and Mido, who are both finally back in training. But while Downing’s sale boosts Gareth Southgate’s transfer kitty, it leaves us without another leader in the dressing room.

One of Southgate’s biggest mistakes of the relegation campaign was failing to replace the experience and influence of George Boateng, Mark Schwarzer and Luke Young. Downing’s departure – with club captain Emanuel Pogatetz likely to follow – leaves the squad seriously lacking in leadership.

His vacated left-wing berth, however, is less of a worry. Adam Johnson would have been a first-teamer much sooner had it not been for Downing’s presence and the 22-year-old should be too good for most Championship defenders. Meanwhile, Nathan Porritt is a promising left-footer who Chelsea allegedly tried to tap-up a few years ago.

I’d be ecstatic if either went on to make even half the impact Stewart Downing has.