Southampton fans admire Flynn Downes' enormous midfield potential as the club's benchmark for new signings but those praises fall short in terms of consistency.
Though only Mateus Fernandes talked about the exhausting season from Southampton's camp, it's no secret that many of his teammates would be enjoying a welcome break at this stage. And why shouldn't they because it's a rare phase where their flaws and matchday decisions aren't called into question.
Plus, the icing on the cake is they will be relieved from Paul Merson's regular taunts for a while, unless and until he starts doing Championship predictions too. After all, he has lined up for southern neighbours Portsmouth, so it's obvious he won't let any Southampton criticism slip by.
Now, sorry to cut their joy short but Saints fans are quite mindful of the squad's steep decline in quality. Unfortunately, that includes former best player of the season winner Flynn Downes who didn't do enough justice to his permanent transfer in the eyes of the St. Mary's faithful.
Saints hint Flynn Downes to replicate his debut campaign
Consequently, Downes is now labelled into the category of transfer examples Southampton should think twice before repeating.
As quoted by the Football League World, fan pundit Martin Sanders echoed these feelings to disapprove a rumoured Lewis O'Brien swoop: "I still think we need players who are going to step up and play in the Premier League as well. Is O'Brien going to do that? We did it with Flynn Downes. We brought players in who we thought could step up, and it didn't work with him."
Overall, it's fair to have Premier League reservations about any speculated signings but it's more of a step-up call for the 26-year-old Saint. It wasn't long ago when the same fans celebrated his permanent stay, thus, they don't want him to pack his bags and leave but rather find his consistent form here itself.
Also, Downes is more experienced than all the present midfielders barring Joe Aribo, thus, he should lead the middle of the park by example.
The past couple of years have seen midfield anchors take home the best player of the season accolade and Downes making a strong case for a second nomination will undoubtedly work wonders for Southampton as well as his future Premier League ambitions.