Father of Arsenal star Max Dowman, Robert Dowman, has called out a coach over comments about the 16-year-old wonderkid.
Dowman registered his first Premier League strike at the weekend for Arsenal, coming off the bench against Everton to play a major role in Viktor Gyokeres' breakthrough goal, before the teenager took advantage of an empty net to double the Gunners' lead.
“I've seen a lot of players with talent but at 16, very few that can cope with that level of demand,” Arteta said in his press conference after the win, which sent his side nine points clear at the top of the table.
Arsenal starlet Max Dowman's dad: Coach only played ‘a small part of his journey’
On Monday morning following Dowman's heroics, Temisan Williams appeared on talkSPORT with Ally McCoist and Gabriel Agbonlahor, speaking about his rise through the academy – but now, Robert Dowman has slammed the coach in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
Dowman Snr even claimed that he has already spoken with Williams, asking him to “refrain” from what he described as “a really sad piece of attempted self-promotion.”
“I remember him putting the cones out at training a few times but that’s about it,” Dowman's father wrote. “We have so many fabulous coaches who we are so grateful to. He is certainly not one of them.”
Temisan – who has coached at Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur and Fulham, has since reacted himself, in a post of his own on X (formerly Twitter).
“Following Rob Dowman’s comments today: I have spoken with Rob Dowman and apologised to him and his family,” Williams said.
“Going forward, I will not be discussing Max Dowman’s development. I wish Rob Dowman and his family nothing but continued success.”
Although Dowman is now the youngest player to have ever scored in the Premier League, the playmaker isn't the youngest-ever appearance holder in the division: that record is held by Arsenal team-mate Ethan Nwaneri.
As surmised by FourFourTwo's Joe Donnohue in The Boy's A Bit Special, “Dowman is a duck-and-weave player, dodging challenges as best he can while making a bee-line for the byline. The second point is an important one to make because Dowman has not always been a right-winger, which is where he's getting his minutes under Mikel Arteta. At younger age groups, the teenager has been more of a No.10, but his skillset is indisputably winger-y, cutting in off the right, putting his preferred left foot to good use.”
Dowman has already signed a pre-contract agreement with the Gunners, which allows him to sign professional terms when he turns 17 in December of this year.
Arsenal take on Bayer Leverkusen tonight, as Champions League action returns to North London.
