Blunt evaluation of Southampton’s out-on-loan striker comes as no surprise

Southampton have experienced some unwanted striker problems as of late.

Cyle Larin has been in and out of the side due to injury, and has been stuck on seven Championship goals since collecting a brace against Bristol City last month.

This has culminated inTonda Eckerthaving to play Lewis Dobbin up top to hit-and-miss results, with Dobbin wasting several chances against Bolton Wanderers, only to redeem himself with his first ever Saints strike away at West Ham United.

There is also Divin Mubama to throw into the equation, who has been utilised very rarely by Eckert this season.

Despite these well-known striker issues, Damion Downs would likely be nowhere near the first-team conversation if he was still at St. Mary's, after a horror-show of debut season.

Indeed, Downs would fail to score across 14 Championship appearances last season, leaving many wondering how on Earth he had cost £7m to snap up.

Sent out on loan to Saint Louis City SC this summer, the hope would've been he could find his shooting boots again in the MLS.

Unfortunately, they continue to be misplaced...

Downs' slow start in the MLS

Southampton's lavish spending did make sense at the time.

Downs had just come off a ten goal season in the 2. Bundesliga with FC Koln. If he could light up the German second division, the logic would've been he could transform into a potent attacker in the Championship.

In reality, he didn't look up to the required standard, despite his goalscoring exploits at the RheinEnergieStadion sticking out, and with Larin, Dobbin, and Mubama at Eckert's disposal, Downs was shipped out on loan to the MLS during the late stages of the summer window.

At the time of writing, he's yet to find the back of the net for his new loan employers from ten outings, as his goal-shy South Coast appearances haunt him in Missouri.

Downs' MLS numbers since joining:

He is yet to nail down a consistent starting spot, as he was substituted off at the half-time mark against the Portland Timbers last time out.

Downs deserved this early bath, as well, as he managed just 12 touches of the ball, and somehow gave away possession five times from so few touches.

Southampton fans already know how frustrating he can be, so these no-show performances will come as no great surprise.

It won't be an almighty shock either that his new boss, Yoann Damet, hasn't been the most complimentary of his efforts so far...

His new manager's comments come as no shock

Damet would comment on the brand-new number 42's unspectacular start to life at St Louis after the Portland loss.

The Frenchman would state: "For Damion Downs it's about finding a rhythm.

It was good to get him out for 45 minutes, but I expect more from him. Slowly he's getting up to speed with what we expect."

These comments will ring true for Saints fans who were constantly frustrated with Downs last season, as he could never get into the swing of things at St. Mary's, hence his abysmal goal return.

For his sake, hopefully he can break his St Louis duck sooner rather than later, as he has now gone without a goal across his last 36 appearances for three different clubs - including Hamburg last campaign - which is a very worrying stat.

The writing does appear to be on the wall for Downs at St. Mary's, even if he was to suddenly spark into life under Damet, as he has proven he isn't cut out for the Championship, and the Premier League would likely swallow him whole if Eckert and Co. sealed promotion.

Downs won't be looking this far into the future just yet, as he simply aims to get into his groove finally at Energizer Park over the next couple of matches to place himself in the good books of Damet.