Danny Simpson

[The whole world smiles]

What's going on with our Danny, very surprised no one has snapped him up on a free. His solid defending and leadership and experience and good injury record made me think he would be very appealing to the bottom 5 or so in the premier league or an ambitious championship club.

 

As a free agent has the window shut for him too? Or does he have a little longer? Maybe he will end up playing abroad. Can't see them appreciating his ultra defensive style in Spain though, maybe Italy!

[davieG]

He can join anyone at anytime provided they've got a space in their squad and before they have to declare them..

 

I would imagine clubs had more important deals to do before the dead line.

[sdb]

Safe bet for Palace I thought. Also a move to Rangers looked close at one point and then seemed to fall through?? 

[Benguin]

13 hours ago, The whole world smiles said:

What's going on with our Danny, very surprised no one has snapped him up on a free. His solid defending and leadership and experience and good injury record made me think he would be very appealing to the bottom 5 or so in the premier league or an ambitious championship club.

 

As a free agent has the window shut for him too? Or does he have a little longer? Maybe he will end up playing abroad. Can't see them appreciating his ultra defensive style in Spain though, maybe Italy!

Bosman 

[Jattdogg]

Am i the only one who'd sign him for backup purposes? 

[MC Prussian]

Yes, what he did was wrong. He paid for it. He came back, he performed as a pro. End of.

 

Still, why bother rehashing old stories?

https://www.footballscotland.co.uk/spfl/scottish-premiership/celtic-handing-danny-simpson-trial-16609656

[The whole world smiles]

1 hour ago, MC Prussian said:

Yes, what he did was wrong. He paid for it. He came back, he performed as a pro. End of.

 

Still, why bother rehashing old stories?

https://www.footballscotland.co.uk/spfl/scottish-premiership/celtic-handing-danny-simpson-trial-16609656

People make mistakes. Some people learn from them and grow from them some dont. 

[MC Prussian]

7 hours ago, The whole world smiles said:

People make mistakes. Some people learn from them and grow from them some dont. 

Yes, obviously.

 

Just find it extremely weird for Celtic fans to slag off Simpson now, knowing how well he has performed for us following the domestic abuse issues and how professional he's behaved.

Otherwise, we wouldn't have kept him for five full years.

[davieG]

Former Leicester City defender Danny Simpson is reportedly training with West Bromwich Albion with a view to earning a contract with the Championship side.

The 2015-16 Premier League title winner is without a club following his release by City this summer, with fellow champion Shinji Okazaki departing the King Power Stadium.

The 32-year-old has been linked with a move to French side Amiens and it has also been reported that Celtic were set to take him on trial.

Crystal Palace and Brighton, too, were also said to have taken an interest in the former Manchester United trainee.

 
According to the Sun, Baggies boss Slaven Bilic has allowed Simpson to join up with the club and he has been training with the club's Under-23s.

As he is a free agent, he can sign for clubs despite the transfer window shutting last month for Premier League and Championship clubs and earlier this month for Scottish and European sides.

Simpson made 133 appearances in all competitions for City, signing from Queens Park Rangers in 2014.

He was limited to nine outings last season as Ricardo Pereira ousted Simpson as City's first choice right-back.

 

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/former-leicester-city-defender-training-3294879

[Sly]

I didn’t realise it, however he’s training with the Under 23s, get get some fitness whilst he looks for another club.

 

Nice move by us, great having his experience around.

Edited 4 September 2020 by Sly

[Wymsey]

Would be a great buy for clubs like Burnley, Leeds and West Brom.

Excellent top-flight experience and has the know-how of the threats posed by clubs in the league.

 

 

 

[Fox92]

He was very good for us but it seems disrespectful saying "he'd be a good signing for..". Leeds have had Ailing at right back for years and he seems steady enough.

[filbertway]

On 05/09/2020 at 11:02, Fox92 said:

He was very good for us but it seems disrespectful saying "he'd be a good signing for..". Leeds have had Ailing at right back for years and he seems steady enough.

I don't think it's disrespectful on purpose, I think the people saying this genuinely don't follow much football outside of the Leicester city bubble haha.

[SouthStandUpperTier]

Danny Simpson interview: Leicester City favourite on his search for a new club | Football News | Sky Sports

 

In an exclusive interview with Sky Sports, former Premier League winner Danny Simpson opens up on his search for a new club and a new adventure in his long career

Adam Bate

Comment and Analysis @ghostgoal

 

Speaking from his hotel room at St George’s Park, Danny Simpson is in the midst of another gruelling week of training. Monday is a double session. Tuesday is tough as he looks to go again. Wednesday brings greater focus on recovery, gym-based work and ice baths. On Thursday, it ramps up. "That is when they get right into you," he tells Sky Sports.

 

Ordinarily, the 34-year-old defender, without a club since the summer, would be doing his training at Leicester City, where he was part of their famous title-winning team in 2016.

 

The heroes of that triumph will never be forgotten and Simpson retains a strong relationship with his old employers but his recent thigh injury combined with the complications caused by the lockdown make that impossible for now. "I am outside the bubble," he explains.

 

"As good as Leicester have been to me and continue to be, I cannot expect the physio to give me two hours of his time when I am not contracted and they have their own players. If I am fully fit I can go in and train but to ask a physio to spend that time with me is not on." Instead, it is another night alone in the hotel room at St George's Park, just a two-minute walk away from the gym. "It is England isn't it, the facilities are unbelievable."

 

In one sense, as he waits to collect his healthy meal, Simpson might be wondering whether he need to do all this. He has already scaled the mountain, after all. It is approaching 14 years since he made his Premier League debut for Manchester United.

 

He has gone on to play in the competition for Blackburn, Newcastle and Queens Park Rangers, as well as Leicester, winning promotion to it with three different clubs. His stint at Huddersfield came to an end in the summer. So why continue?

"This is probably the biggest challenge that I have had because I could stop," he admits. "But I miss it. I just miss it."

 

He knows that any exhilaration that the game can offer is highly unlikely to match the thrill of being part of the Premier League's greatest ever story. But he is still chasing it anyway. "It cannot end this way, you know. When you get an injury like I have had and you have an operation it just gives you even more drive to get back and play again. I still feel like there is one more thing to achieve. I don't know what it is going to be and it doesn't matter what level it is. I just feel that there is still one more thing that I can do. There will be that one thing for me that will make me realise it is what I came back for."

 

Part of the motivation stems from his conviction that he can still do it, a view reinforced by his recent experience training with Leicester when he felt better than he had in years.

 

"The previous summer, I kept myself fit just by running on a treadmill. So when I went into Huddersfield I was not football fit and there is a big difference. I had been running in straight lines and all of a sudden you are twisting and turning. The whole season I was really fighting against the early part of that season, not being football fit. So I decided in early summer that I would go to Leicester and dedicate myself to football, football, football. Living in Manchester, it meant staying in a hotel but I felt amazing. I was in some of the best shape of my life and all of a sudden the injury happened."

 

Simpson on his love for Leicester

“I grew up as a Manchester United fan but when United play Leicester now I want a draw. It is my team now. What we went through as a group, we are like family, and it is not just the players, it is the staff. We are all still in touch. It is a special club and a lot of it comes from Vichai and how he built it.

“I have been to the new training ground. You are obviously a bit jealous because you are thinking that it would have been nice when we were winning the league!

“But, at the end of the day, it all starts from somewhere. I am so glad to see where the club is, still in the top positions. Brendan Rodgers is class. Jon Rudkin, I cannot speak highly enough of. If you have done well for them, the type of club they are, they will help. There are not many like that. They pick up the phone.” 

 

 

 

 

Simpson might not have felt at his best at Huddersfield but he still had an impact. This was a team that had lost 30 of their previous 35 games when he arrived, winning only one. Eight games into the Championship campaign they were rock bottom and already six points from safety with new manager Danny Cowley talking of a team that had forgotten how to win. On his debut against Millwall, Simpson helped to end an eight-game losing run and he started each of the next six games too as Huddersfield went unbeaten through all of them. Being part of that turnaround is a source of pride.

 

"I became a different player in the dressing room," he says. "I had always been the one looking up at the other characters who were there. At Newcastle, it was Nicky Butt, Alan Smith and Kevin Nolan. At QPR, it was the same with the big characters like Rob Green, Bobby Zamora, Joey Barton and Richard Dunne. I went in at Leicester in my mid-20s and we kind of grew together as a group. There was me, Jamie Vardy, Kasper Schmeichel, Wes Morgan. But I still felt a little bit under them. At Huddersfield, I had a part to play off the pitch as well as on it. If you ask Danny Cowley, I think he would agree that I did a lot off the pitch to get that group out of the mentality that they were in because they were shot to bits. So it was a different role for me but it was something I enjoyed, trying to pass on what I have learned over the years."

 

Does he envisage this mentoring role at his next club? Even after dropping down for a season in the Championship, he is not ready to rule out a return to the top division.

 

"I have been watching football a lot more than I probably would have before. I watch a lot of full-backs and I still feel there should be a Premier League option for me. Now, I am not saying necessarily playing week in and week out. I am talking about going in to bring some experience when needed. You know what you are going to get from me. If you want to keep a clean sheet, someone to dig deep and help a team get some points, I can do that. If there is a young full-back to help, I have done that many times with players like Ben Chilwell, giving them advice in training. I still believe I can play at that level. I still think there is a lot in me to do something good, whether that is helping out a team at the lower end of the Premier League, or helping a team out of the Championship."

 

As a free agent, Simpson is not bound by the transfer window but he knows that the next weeks are when moves start to happen and as he approaches full fitness he is hopeful.

 

"Now I am at a point where I can go in on day one and train. So conversations can be had and I am excited. I feel like something is going to happen and I am going to be back soon."

 

Still chasing that next big football moment, then. In the meantime, there is another session awaiting him at St George's Park. "Tomorrow will be another tough day," says Simpson. "But I just love playing football."

Edited 14 January 2021 by SouthStandUpperTier

[fuchsntf]

Any of the Bottom 10 PL teams, could do worse...

 

[themightyfin]

Signed till the end of the season. Hes eligible to play for us in the FA Cup if required! 

Welcome back to a real leicester legend. 

[The People's Hero]

34 minutes ago, themightyfin said:

Signed till the end of the season. Hes eligible to play for us in the FA Cup if required! 

Welcome back to a real leicester legend. 

Bet Vontae Campbell is delighted!

 

Good to have him back though!

[AjcW]

Interesting to see he clearly wants one more challenge next season. I quite enjoyed him as a pundit and thought with his Man Utd connections he'd get loads of work, so i'm surprised he hasn't just packed it in and taken up that option.

 

Edited 12 February 2021 by AjcW

[Fox92]

9 hours ago, themightyfin said:

Signed till the end of the season. Hes eligible to play for us in the FA Cup if required! 

Welcome back to a real leicester legend. 

Where's this confirmation?

Edited 12 February 2021 by Fox92

[goose2010]

Like I said when he was playing for us week in week out. He was the best defensive right back in the league. Having him around the club and i imagine with the under 23's will be great for the likes of Daley-Campbell and Thomas. 

 

He very rarely had a bad game for us. 

[AjcW]

33 minutes ago, Fox92 said:

Where's this confirmation?

Probably no need is there, signed a contract incase we have a crisis and need him in the cup and in all likelihood will play right back for the U23's for the rest of the season so that Daley Campbell can train with first team bubble full time

[filbertway]

I'd rather play Danny Ward at right back at this point

[Fox92]

45 minutes ago, AjcW said:

Probably no need is there, signed a contract incase we have a crisis and need him in the cup and in all likelihood will play right back for the U23's for the rest of the season so that Daley Campbell can train with first team bubble full time

Hopefully not another defender on the bench

 

Just wondering where you're / OP is getting the info from?

[AjcW]

5 minutes ago, Fox92 said:

Hopefully not another defender on the bench

 

Just wondering where you're / OP is getting the info from?

Fin isn't it.... still like to take his ITK info as gospel where I can  

[brucey]

3 hours ago, AjcW said:

Interesting to see he clearly wants one more challenge next season. I quite enjoyed him as a pundit and thought with his Man Utd connections he'd get loads of work, so i'm surprised he hasn't just packed it in and taken up that option.

He's said in interviews that he left Huddersfield on a sour note and didn't want his career to end that way.

 

Reckon he'll be much happier officially retiring with our U23s/on our bench.