We’re not to blame

ON THE DEFENSIVE ... Stewart Downing

STEWART DOWNING may have known of the famous Scouse wit before he arrived at Anfield.

Yet he never planned to be the butt of it.

But within hours of director of football Damien Comolli’s sacking, the quip doing the rounds was that it was Downing’s first assist of the season.

It may have been intended as a joke but it was also a thinly-barbed dig at the winger’s first Kop campaign.

Yet for all his laid back air, the £20million summer signing soon finds his teeth if anyone suggests the new boys are the key reason for the Reds woeful league form.

For as much as the ex-Aston Villa star knows his own displays could have been better, he reckons anyone pinning the blame solely on those who joined under Kenny Dalglish is way off the mark.

Since Dalglish returned to Anfield 16 months ago, there have been NINE additions to the senior squad.

Downing insisted: “It’s easy to think just because it’s not gone well in the league it’s the new players.

“Others might take it hard, it doesn’t bother me, it happens at every club.

“There are more than four or five players in the squad and we’ve all not done it, not just the new ones.

“Sometimes the new ones haven’t played and we have lost games. It takes time, it’s not overnight.

“You’re expected to come in and set the world alight but sometimes it doesn’t happen.

“You have seen people at other big clubs take time to settle in but then become big players for them.

“That’s how it is for us at the minute. It’s taken time but there are positives there.

“If we add another one or two in the summer, we will have a good squad.

“And to win the Carling Cup in the first season, and potentially the FA Cup as well, would be a great start.”

Downing himself is still to open his Premier League account for eighth-placed Reds, and has managed just two goals — in the FA Cup wins over Oldham and Stoke.

Yet he is on first name terms with the woodwork and it is harsh to blame him for a lack of assists, as he has set up plenty only to see the chances go begging.

He admitted: “The goals have been disappointing but I can’t remember how many times I’ve hit the bar or the post in the league.

“We’ve created the chances, just not finished them off, all of us. If we had, we’d probably be second or third.

“Performance-wise it’s there, it’s just killing teams off that’s not been.”