STEWIE Downing should be wary of think Spurs is a dream move. It he goes - and we must hope he does not - it could quickly turn into a nightmare for him, especially if he thinks that in leaving the Riverside he will escape the attentions of the boo-boys. There are plenty of those seething with decades of frustration and stung by the success of their rivals at London's answer to Newcastle and they won't give him much time to deliver before the cat-calls start.
On Teesside Downing does get plenty of unfair stick, there is no doubt about that. There has always been a chickenrun mentality within the Boro crowd, an vocal minority for whom being top scorer, assist king and the first local lad still playing for the club to run out in a World Cup for a generation is just not enough; those who will not be happy that he is really playing for the shirt until he runs back the full length of the pitch and breaks his leg in a 30/70 tackle; those who are proud of their parochialism and who who see it as their sacred duty to ensure home grown heroes do not harbour any Fancy Dan ideas above their station.
But he also gets fantastic support. He is idolised by large sections of the crowd and the wider community who recognise that not only is he a great talent but also that he is a symbol of the unity between the raggy-arsed lads on the working class estates of Teesside and the ones who wear the shirt on the pitch. Teessiders in the team are a visible demonstration that Boro is our team, a representation of our hopes and desires and a burning pride in our town, our accent, our heritage being played out on the pitch.
He is not praised just because he is from Pallister Park though. It is because he is a genuine talent, a creative force and a potent force that has contributed to the team holding its own on the biggest stage. His arrival as a prodigious youngster was massively important because he provided a spark or entertainment just as the Steve McClaren's cold cloak of scientific professionalism was starting to stifle the team. He brought flashes of sponteniety and excitement and was in the vanguard of the Academy production line that brought hope for a bright new future of Boro born stars as the spine of the squad.
He has also been indulged because of that. When he has had dips in form, dropped the odd blob or gone off the boil he has been backed by the fans and the local media, partly because he was still developing and partly because he was one of ours. He will not get that at Spurs.
If he goes to Spurs it will be as an established star with high expectations and very little time to prove himself. He will also go with an image that has been created by a jaundiced national media who saw him as a handy proxy England scapegoat on the entirely understandable grounds that he played for the same club that McClaren used to manage.
At Boro he is a star because we have watched as he tore teams apart, delivered a string of deadly balls on a plate for Hasselbaink, Viduka, Yakubu and on some glorious Euro-nights for Massimo Maccarone to see off Basel and Steaua. Massimo took the plaudits but it was Stewie who carved out the chances and helped create history for Boro.
At Spurs he will be the no-mark from a team of provincial strugglers, the England flop who was booed off and vilified and hung out to dry by a malicious media who would prefer a wrong footed show pony from a glamour club to play in his place. And the Spurs snipers will be waiting for him to put his first stray cross into the crowd so they can slaughter him. That's how it works. Football is not fair. The Spurs fans message boards have already passed judgement: 'Donkey Downing' and 'a poor man's Darren Anderton' are just two of the comments.
I am not one of those who thinks leaving is a capital offence, far from it. But if Downing does go he can do far better than Spurs. And he can strength his position and his image before he goes by extending his stay at the Riverside long enough to show exactly what he can do. Let's see him ping those crosses in for Mido, Alves, Fred and Tuncay and be hailed as the creative genius at the heart of a new look attacking Boro. Let's see him win over the Boro boo-boys, have the Spurs fans choking on their humble pie and have really big clubs queuing up for him.
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