Danny Simpson (now retired)

[Pata]

If he was French, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, German, etc. he would never have played football professionally. Says a lot about the state of football in this country when he's getting game time at the highest club level.

 

As a player, he epitomises everything that's wrong with football in this country.

 

I think to say he would never have played professionally is overstating it but he's an incredibly poor footballer in terms of what he can do with the ball at his feet, which is surprising when you consider which academy he came up through, and right to the top of it too.

 

I honestly don't think it is. Like I said in my last post, had he been born in any other decent footballing nation he wouldn't have made it, he'd have been laughed at for his ability on the ball. You can get away with lack of pace, size, whatever you want to name, if you're good on the ball. If you're not, there's nowhere to hide and not a lot you can fall back on.

 

I was at a coaching event a few weeks back with the England U17 manager who gave a presentation on how they are trying to change the footballing philosophy in this country. Whilst listening to him speak, the first player that came into my head that would be redundant if the FA can implement the change in philosophy was Simpson. They want every player on the pitch to be capable of actually playing football. They want the fullbacks to become more attack minded but still be able to defend. They're the two things that related most to Simpson. If he was coming through the ranks in 10-15 years time, again if the FA can get everything into place and develop their ideas properly, he wouldn't stand a chance.

 

On the ball, he's woefully inept. He's s*** scared of the ball being anywhere near him and his distribution is embarrassing. He adds nothing going forward and his crossing is farcical. His control and first touch are poor. It genuinely makes you feel like there's a bomb in the ball when he has it at his feet. You can actually see the panic appear across his face when he's placed under the tiniest bit of pressure.

 

Off the ball he isn't much better either. Everyone knows his backing off is terrible. His positional awareness for someone who's played in that position all of his life is awful. His lack of nous and footballing brain doesn't help his cause either. He just generally doesn't seem to think about what he's doing.

 

Then to top it all off, his attitude stinks. If you make an error or are out of position, fine, it happens, but work your bollocks off to get back into position and make up for it. The amount of time I've seen Simpson just jogging back to get back into position this season has been embarrassing. That's before the constant whinging on the pitch and the pointing and blaming of team mates, even when it's quite clearly his own fault. To fit right in with the current national set up, he's got a massive ego and an overinflated opinion of himself too. Rather than bleating about players who are better than him and for an England call up that is a million miles away, why not try and improve as a player to then actually have a right to clamour for that call up.

 

He does for me sum up what's wrong with football in this country and I'm glad that with a bit of work, a player with his limited ability should become a thing of the past over the next decade or so. I don't think it's that bad wanting a professional footballer to be capable of actually playing football, do you?

 

Superb post, exactly my thoughts.

[Gaz]

 

 

Any one can make goal line clearances, does that mean you should be in the team every week if cant even pass the ball?

 

If anyone can make them why is it nearly always him?

 

How many has he made like? I can remember 2 but not sure. I remember his Liverpool attempt

[Mick]

 

 

How many has he made like? I can remember 2 but not sure. I remember his Liverpool attempt

 

I'm sure someone said his last one was his 5th, the only other player I can remember doing it is Ryan Taylor once.

[Skirge]

 

 

Any one can make goal line clearances, does that mean you should be in the team every week if cant even pass the ball?

 

If anyone can make them why is it nearly always him?

 

How many has he made like? I can remember 2 but not sure. I remember his Liverpool attempt

 

Deffo two vs Man U. one home one away

[Gaz]

 

 

How many has he made like? I can remember 2 but not sure. I remember his Liverpool attempt

 

I'm sure someone said his last one was his 5th, the only other player I can remember doing it is Ryan Taylor once.

 

Ok fair enough but you cant play him just because of this.

[BONTEMPI]

 

 

Any one can make goal line clearances, does that mean you should be in the team every week if cant even pass the ball?

 

If anyone can make them why is it nearly always him?

 

If you are backing away so much as him you're always going to find yourself on the goal line.

[Mick]

 

 

Ok fair enough but you cant play him just because of this.

 

He also forced a mistake out of Heitinga which made it 1-0 against Everton, we won 2-1 so that was worth 2 points as we won instead of drawing.

[Mick]

 

If you are backing away so much as him you're always going to find yourself on the goal line.

 

Aye, right. 

[Carlito]

 

 

Ok fair enough but you cant play him just because of this.

 

He also forced a mistake out of Heitinga which made it 1-0 against Everton, we won 2-1 so that was worth 2 points as we won instead of drawing.

 

That doesn't really even the scales out though, does it? Forcing a mistake out of the opposition's keeper has nothing to do with his defensive qualities.

[Gaz]

 

 

Ok fair enough but you cant play him just because of this.

 

He also forced a mistake out of Heitinga which made it 1-0 against Everton, we won 2-1 so that was worth 2 points as we won instead of drawing.

 

Clutching at straws now, we can mention things about every player this season who has won us points, Taylor is average defensively but offers much much more going forward and from set pieces than Simpson.

[Spider Jerusalem]

 

If you are backing away so much as him you're always going to find yourself on the goal line.

 

Aye, right. 

 

One of the things that used to boil my piss most of all when Steven Taylor played at right back was the constant backing off.  Simpson has backing off down to an art form.  Making a challenge isn't one of his major skills.  Or passing.  Or crossing.  Or shooting.  Or recognising his fault in conceding goals.  Clearing off the line, fantastic, but that's because he's backed off from the edge of the oppositions penalty area onto our goal-line.

[Mick]

 

 

That doesn't really even the scales out though, does it? Forcing a mistake out of the opposition's keeper has nothing to do with his defensive qualities.

 

People are on about how many points he's cost us, I've highlighted 2 that we've gained because of what he's done.  That has nothing to do with defending at all, the clearances have.

[Mick]

 

 

One of the things that used to boil my p*ss most of all when Steven Taylor played at right back was the constant backing off.  Simpson has backing off down to an art form.  Making a challenge isn't one of his major skills.  Or passing.  Or crossing.  Or shooting.  Or recognising his fault in conceding goals.  Clearing off the line, fantastic, but that's because he's backed off from the edge of the oppositions penalty area onto our goal-line.

 

He does very well to get from the edge of the opposition penalty area to clear off our line for somebody who most people reckon can't run.

[Carlito]

 

 

That doesn't really even the scales out though, does it? Forcing a mistake out of the opposition's keeper has nothing to do with his defensive qualities.

 

People are on about how many points he's cost us, I've highlighted 2 that we've gained because of what he's done.  That has nothing to do with defending at all, the clearances have.

 

For the 2 points he's helped us gain he's cost us a lot more due to his constant inviting people inside, backing off, or being way out of position. He should not be in the first team.

[Mick]

 

 

For the 2 points he's helped us gain he's cost us a lot more due to his constant inviting people inside, backing off, or being way out of position. He should not be in the first team.

 

How many points has he cost us?

[Spider Jerusalem]

 

 

One of the things that used to boil my p*ss most of all when Steven Taylor played at right back was the constant backing off.  Simpson has backing off down to an art form.  Making a challenge isn't one of his major skills.  Or passing.  Or crossing.  Or shooting.  Or recognising his fault in conceding goals.  Clearing off the line, fantastic, but that's because he's backed off from the edge of the oppositions penalty area onto our goal-line.

 

He does very well to get from the edge of the opposition penalty area to clear off our line for somebody who most people reckon can't run.

 

Running's not a problem for him, he's quicker running backwards than most players on Earth going forwards as well.

 

[Mick]

 

 

Running's not a problem for him, he's quicker running backwards than most players on Earth going forwards as well.

 

 

He does make a habit of it. 

[Guest Rey Mysterio]

 

 

Ok fair enough but you cant play him just because of this.

 

He also forced a mistake out of Heitinga which made it 1-0 against Everton, we won 2-1 so that was worth 2 points as we won instead of drawing.

 

He also was supposed to be marking Rodwell for their goal so he didn't win us any points in that game.

 

If goal line clearances made you a good player btw, Russell Martin would be playing for England.

[Mick]

 

 

He also was supposed to be marking Rodwell for their goal so he didn't win us any points in that game.

 

If goal line clearances made you a good player btw, Russell Martin would be playing for England.

 

I can't remember much about the Everton goal but I'll take your word for it.  Goal line clearances must make a player better, I didn't say they made a player good.

[Carlito]

 

 

For the 2 points he's helped us gain he's cost us a lot more due to his constant inviting people inside, backing off, or being way out of position. He should not be in the first team.

 

How many points has he cost us?

 

The majority of the goals we concede come from our right-hand side. I can't count how many times this season Simpson has invited someone inside and they go on to score or assist someone else. Better yet, look at his lack of marking for the goals today, as well as his positioning, and you'll get the idea.

 

I'll not be as harsh as to put all of the blame onto him for today's loss mind, as the entire team were awful. I would say that he is prone to basic errors almost every game, though, and 7 times out of 10 he's involved, or at fault when we concede.

[Mick]

 

 

The majority of the goals we concede come from our right-hand side. I can't count how many times this season Simpson has invited someone inside and they go on to score or assist someone else. Better yet, look at his lack of marking for the goals today, as well as his positioning, and you'll get the idea.

 

I'll not be as harsh as to put all of the blame onto him for today's loss mind, as the entire team were awful. I would say that he is prone to basic errors almost every game, though, and 7 times out of 10 he's involved, or at fault when we concede.

 

It's all opinions anyway, I only find myself defending him because I don't think he's as bad as some make out.  I think he's our current best right back and when we have our best 11 he becomes our weakest player because every other position has a better player in it.  Santon plays well as home but he's a bit of a worry at times away from home like he was today but he'll get better with time.

[DJ_NUFC]

Ryan Taylor's just as bad on the left. I honestly can't see how anyone can win this "who's worse, Raylor or Simpson" argument as they're both absolutely fucking shit. One will have a game where he doesn't absolutely fuck up and the other one does, so automatically the former will be looked upon as 'better' than the latter. We need new full-backs, and with Santon hopefully finding his feet in English football by next year, we only have to worry about replacing the right-side.

[Ketsbaia]

Been the weak link for a long time, was at fault for the first two goals today and has no redeeming qualities - unless you count a couple of goallines clearances. Call it kneejerk if you want, but he has to be replaced ASAP. The damage he could do/is doing is unreal.

[AyeDubbleYoo]

Was he at fault for the first goal? Didn't see the highlights, but live he looked like he tracked another player into the box and that was why he wasn't marking Assou-Ekotto. Surely the opposition fullback is the responsibility of the winger?

[Ketsbaia]

From what I remember there was a big cluster of our defenders in the centre, whilst Assou-Ekotto could've had a picnic in the space at the far post. When he's that far forward, the right back has to be responsible too.