Downing left with no regrets

STEWART DOWNING was accused of being just another football mercenary when he quit Aston Villa in the summer, held up as another painful example of how little loyalty remains in the modern game.

But Downing will undoubtedly feel vindicated in his decision after returning to his former club and viewing just how far Villa have fallen since he was branded a rat for deserting a sinking ship.

There was an air of ambivalence around the sparsely populated stands of Villa Park last night as Kenny Dalglish secured his first ever managerial victory at a venue that is nowadays resembling a flimsy wendy-house, as opposed to a fortress.

Downing and Dalglish will probably never experience a less stressful afternoon this season. Not even the most ardent Villa supporter remaining at the end — and the exodus started way before the final whistle — can argue that Downing’s hopes of challenging at the top table would never have been fulfilled had he remained in the west midlands this season.

This was a canter for the visitors and Dalglish would have been well within his rights to light up a fat Havana cigar on the touchline even before the interval. Goals from Craig Bellamy and Martin Skrtel secured Liverpool’s fifth away win of the season but the disparity between the two teams was embarrassing.

Despite the win over Bolton Wanderers last weekend, these are increasingly fraught times for Alex McLeish whose team never looked like threatening the team with the best defensive record in the Premier League.

The absence of England internationals Darren Bent and Gabriel Agbonlahor, through injury and suspension respectively, were glaring and only Charles N’Zogbia appeared capable of lifting the gloom as Villa crashed to a third home defeat of the season.

McLeish was arguably never afforded a honeymoon period due to his affiliations with Villa’s bitter rivals Birmingham but knows he faces a bleak winter.

He said: “We’re going through a period of transition trying to stabilise things at the moment and Liverpool had too much nous and experience for us.

“We had two kids on the bench who haven’t kicked a ball for us yet so it does highlight how short we are when we’re without experienced players.

“We tried to keep the momentum going from the win at Bolton but we’ve got three players missing who played in that game. Fingers crossed he will be okay for the game against Arsenal on Wednesday but we lacked a cutting edge without Darren and Agbonlahor, just like it would hurt Liverpool if they were without Luis Suarez.”

Dalglish cannot have envisaged such a routine afternoon, after six previously fruitless visits, while Downing rammed the early and inevitable taunts about his supposed betrayal down the throats of his critics.

The winger, who spent two years at Villa before a £20million move in July, was involved in the opening goal on 11 minutes.

Downing’s corner was flicked into the danger area by Jonjo Shelvey and though Guzan repelled Luis Suarez’s close-range effort, Bellamy could not miss the rebound from three yards.

Liverpool inched further ahead five minutes later after Villa’s defenders once again displayed a propensity to go AWOL. This time it was Alan Hutton who was caught out as he allowed Skrtel to rise unopposed and nod Bellamy’s corner past a static Guzan.

McLeish’s team did respond, in fairness, with £9.5m signing N’Zogbia producing flashes of individual brilliance.

But Liverpool’s pace caused the hosts problems and it was always a question of how many goals they would add.

Suarez had one of his more quiet afternoons but came close early in the second period, arrowing a drive against the upright. The Uruguay forward hit the woodwork for a second time just before the hour, sending an exquisite chip over Guzan only to see it come back off the post. Incredibly, it was the 17th time Liverpool have hit the woodwork already this season.

Villa battled to find an equaliser as time ebbed away but by then Downing had concrete evidence his decision to leave was a no-brainer.