Danny Simpson leaves City

[HappyClapper]

12 minutes ago, VT05763 said:

Odd he brought Wells on and not Conway then.

Is he planning to keep Wells ?

I don’t know for certain, do you? People have made assumptions based on the need for cost savings.

You constantly assert your opinions as facts. It is getting a bit tiresome to be honest.

[IAmNick]

The signing clearly didn't work out, but I'm slightly confused why people are quite so vitriolic about this one in particular?

We signed someone on a short term contract with good football pedigree - three promotions wasn't it... He played a bit, but seems to now be past it.

What's the huge deal exactly?

[Merrick's Marvels]

25 minutes ago, frenchred said:

Just James and King to go now hopefully. Get ridnof his mates and assemble a proper squad

From what you've learnt about Pearson in the last 12 months, do you think he's the sort of manager who signs players for no other reason than he's their mate?

In fact, do you seriously think Pearson is "mates" with anyone he's managed, past or present??

Your post is either badly worded, you've an agenda or you're thick as shit. I'm betting on all 3. 

Edited March 7, 2022 by Merrick's Marvels

[Davefevs]

Ooooh, was waiting for this thread, and it’s not disappointed me.

[Waconda]

1 minute ago, HappyClapper said:

I don’t know for certain, do you? People have made assumptions based on the need for cost savings.

You constantly assert your opinions as facts. It is getting a bit tiresome to be honest.

It was a question not a fact, is he planning on keeping Wells ?

Do you disagree with my point re-Conway ?

[Northern Red]

6 minutes ago, NcnsBcfc said:

James??????

Haven't you heard? James had a bad game on Saturday so the brains trust on here have therefore decreed that he's a shit crock who's only here because he's Pearson's mate.

[NcnsBcfc]

9 minutes ago, Simon bristol said:

I thought james was looking decent at the start of the season, but he is starting to look increasingly poor,,, he has a history of fitness issues which have continued here, offers little forward threat, not much in the way of defensive cover, and no one is offering much leadership. We looked much more accomplished in midfield with an 18 year old and 20 year old when he was out.

Definitely didn't look match fit on Saturday; and was off the pace.

The way Chong turned him for that first goal (after James was slow to push out, and left Chong in areas of space) was the making of a player that hadn't played for a while.

Not sure what to make of him at the moment. I thought James might come off for Massengo at some point. But of course we were forced to make the two subs at H/T due to the RB fiasco; and Klose injury; so NP's and was forced somewhat.

[Waconda]

4 minutes ago, NcnsBcfc said:

I agree @Simon bristol

If people really think that Simpson was only playing for a few hundred a week, then they are a bit deluded.

He would have had to rent in the City, or at least make a move for during the week/matchdays. Even if he was still living up north, he would have had bills to pay. No-one of his ilk will be playing for hundreds. It just wouldn't make sense for him financially.

If however his basic was in the hundreds, but his contract was based on inclusion in the first team; all of those times he was on the bench; and never ever came on would make more sense. Albeit a further waste of money on our part

The only players on those sort of contracts (hundreds), are the Under 23s on their first professional contracts, who are still living with their parents. Even player's like Conway, Towler, Edwards, Pearson would be on more than that (not that much more of course).

But there are people on here who actually believe it.

[Mr Popodopolous]

Whether we saved cash on him will depend on whether it was an agreement to terminate and Simpson foregoes part of his remaining wages for the opportunity to move elsewhere or we just paid him up to get rid.

If it's the latter, it's no saving.

As for on the pitch, thought he was past his best from early but then I have a possible blindspot to players in key positions above a certain age.

Williams was an interesting one, on one hand he had his uses but his lack of pace which was linked to his age and style, it inhibited us in terms of ability or potential to play a high line.

Brentford at home at the start of 2020 a good example..forget who it was- Watkins maybe- but a huge amount of ground was lost, Williams had an excellent headstart.

Edited March 7, 2022 by Mr Popodopolous

[Riaz]

I'm devastated. So many memories...

Good luck Danny! You will be missed!

Edited March 7, 2022 by Riaz

[firstdivision]

1 hour ago, Daniro said:

The whole Simpson saga is a mystery.   How many minutes did he play in total?    In a position where we have been so vulnerable, it's strange how few games he got.  What was the point?

He played 499 minutes for us in all: five starts, two sub apps; 18 times on the bench.

[Waconda]

3 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Ooooh, was waiting for this thread, and it’s not disappointed me.

Do you possibly have a "merits of playing an under 18's CF at RWB versus an experienced ex Prem legit RB who we are paying to sit at home and play FIFA", spreadsheet ?

 

[NcnsBcfc]

2 minutes ago, Northern Red said:

Haven't you heard? James had a bad game on Saturday so the brains trust on here have therefore decreed that he's a shit crock who's only here because he's Pearson's mate.

Yes, he's had his injury problems in the past. But was solid last season for teams in this division; and has certainly been probably a 6/10 for me this season so far.

It's just he looked off the pace on Saturday, and a bit rusty. Certainly not the time to play him as a sweeper. I was surprised we didn't play Williams in that role. James for me, hasn't got that bite your legs mentally that Williams has.

At the start of the season a James/Williams centre midfield must surely on paper be our first choice partnership?

 

[NcnsBcfc]

2 minutes ago, firstdivision said:

He played 499 minutes for us in all: five starts, two sub apps; 18 times on the bench.

25 bonus related appearances according to those in the know then...?

Those 18 appearances on the bench, when everybody knew he wasn't coming on were just bizarre...

Edited March 7, 2022 by NcnsBcfc

[Lorenzos Only Goal]

1 hour ago, And Its Smith said:

How much money has been wasted on shit old players ? 
 

Simpson, King, Mariappa, Brunt, Williams, O’Neill.  Anyone else?  
 

At least £2m on those lot. 

Simpson was on a tiny wage and the noise around him was more of an issue.

King to be fair was decent but has been injured the same with O'Neil.

Brunt waste of money.

Marriappa I thought was decent and did a good job with decent availability.

Williams (Joe) is only 25 and minus being crocked he would have been a great signature. 

It's not the quality its more their availability for some of these. 

[Carey 6]

40 minutes ago, VT05763 said:

Not sure where the "he was a model professional brought in to sort out the dressing room and to be a role model for the youngsters" has come from ?

Convenient excuse but not necessarily true.

 

 

As I mentioned in my post, was just me guessing. Managers regularly bring in players they’ve previously worked with that they know they can trust, however expect most will play a bit more than Simpson did.

Edited March 7, 2022 by Carey 6

[Waconda]

5 minutes ago, NcnsBcfc said:

Yes, he's had his injury problems in the past. But was solid last season for teams in this division; and has certainly been probably a 6/10 for me this season so far.

It's just he looked off the pace on Saturday, and a bit rusty. Certainly not the time to play him as a sweeper. I was surprised we didn't play Williams in that role. James for me, hasn't got that bite your legs mentally that Williams has.

At the start of the season a James/Williams centre midfield must surely on paper be our first choice partnership?

 

Poor mans Marlon Pack so far but has played injured most of his time here, so still hope ?

But a Williams/James midfield duo in this division is not an option for me.

[GrahamC]

Just now, NcnsBcfc said:

25 bonus related appearances according to those in the know then...?

I don’t have the issue with this that you appear to have.

At the start of the season with Vyner the first choice RB it seemed logical to me to have his experienced deputy on the bench.

He then got a couple of starts (I actually thought he was decent in the win at Reading) but dropped out of the side pretty sharpish afterwards.

He was on the bench on merit, not as part of some old pals act but his error at WBA plus the realisation he was past it saw him disappear from the first team squad by October, save the Luton game when we don’t seem to have had anyone else.

With 7 subs it is pretty easy to hide someone there, if NP was intent on doing so to help him out then he could have kept doing this for far longer, surely?

[The Bard]

9 minutes ago, NcnsBcfc said:

Yes, he's had his injury problems in the past. But was solid last season for teams in this division; and has certainly been probably a 6/10 for me this season so far.

It's just he looked off the pace on Saturday, and a bit rusty. Certainly not the time to play him as a sweeper. I was surprised we didn't play Williams in that role. James for me, hasn't got that bite your legs mentally that Williams has.

At the start of the season a James/Williams centre midfield must surely on paper be our first choice partnership?

 

We saw on Saturday why this '1st choice' thing is futile. Both are half fit and injury prone. No point planning for them as 1st choice. Statistically got about a 5% chance of playing together. Concentrate on the 95% when at least one of them isn't available.

 Massengo and Scott are our best partnership. They play together. What we saw on Saturday was a disgraceful hand wringing from experienced pros Williiams, Kalas, James, Weimann.  No one sorted the problem down the right.  I hope they were told so by the manager.

[KegCity]

10 minutes ago, VT05763 said:

Do you possibly have a "merits of playing an under 18's CF at RWB versus an experienced ex Prem legit RB who we are paying to sit at home and play FIFA", spreadsheet ?

 

 But then if he'd played and been unfit or got turned too often there would be those moaning about playing a past it old boy who's blocking the minutes of an academy player. From what I've heard he was brought in to help off the pitch and give Pearson a better idea about the culture in the dressing room. He's probably done that job so isn't needed anymore. 

He's been a disappointment, but no more so than any of the other old players we've thrown far more money at in recent years.

[Waconda]

1 minute ago, GrahamC said:

I don’t have the issue with this that you appear to have.

At the start of the season with Vyner the first choice RB it seemed logical to me to have his experienced deputy on the bench.

He then got a couple of starts (I actually thought he was decent in the win at Reading) but dropped out of the side pretty sharpish afterwards.

He was on the bench on merit, not as part of some old pals act but his error at WBA plus the realisation he was past it saw him disappear from the first team squad by October, save the Luton game when we don’t seem to have had anyone else.

With 7 subs it is pretty easy to hide someone there, if NP was intent on doing so to help him out then he could have kept doing this for far longer, surely?

if NP was intent on doing so to help him out then he could have kept doing this for far longer, surely? - Not after Saturday I would argue.

I think there is more to come from this story, there could be other reasons that Simpson hasn't been around, off the field for instance, we don't know but in pure footballing terms this whole episode makes no sense what so ever. It may well be that he hasn't in fact been available for selection ?

[NcnsBcfc]

9 minutes ago, Lorenzos Only Goal said:

Simpson was on a tiny wage and the noise around him was more of an issue.

King to be fair was decent but has been injured the same with O'Neil.

Brunt waste of money.

Marriappa I thought was decent and did a good job with decent availability.

Williams (Joe) is only 25 and minus being crocked he would have been a great signature. 

It's not the quality its more their availability for some of these. 

I think he means Ashley Williams, or at least I hope so.

[Waconda]

1 minute ago, The Bard said:

We saw on Saturday why this '1st choice' thing is futile. Both are half fit and injury prone. No point planning for them as 1st choice. Statistically got about a 5% chance of playing together. Concentrate on the 95% when at least one of them isn't available.

 Massengo and Scott are our best partnership. They play together. What we saw on Saturday was a disgraceful hand wringing from experienced pros Williiams, Kalas, James, Weimann.  No one sorted the problem down the right.  I hope they were told so by the manager.

Agree with this, basically plan for one to be available and in the side at any one time.

[frenchred]

19 minutes ago, Merrick's Marvels said:

From what you've learnt about Pearson in the last 12 months, do you think he's the sort of manager who signs players for no other reason than he's their mate?

In fact, do you seriously think Pearson is "mates" with anyone he's managed, past or present??

Your post is either badly worded, you've an agenda or you're thick as shit. I'm betting on all 3. 

Oh yeah because all 3 were injury free before they signed for us, legs gone but he still signed them!

I'd hazard a guess that it's you whose thick as shit, or you just accept mediocre crap

[Waconda]

2 minutes ago, KegCity said:

 But then if he'd played and been unfit or got turned too often there would be those moaning about playing a past it old boy who's blocking the minutes of an academy player. From what I've heard he was brought in to help off the pitch and give Pearson a better idea about the culture in the dressing room. He's probably done that job so isn't needed anymore. 

He's been a disappointment, but no more so than any of the other old players we've thrown far more money at in recent years.

I wouldn't have moaned if the option was a an under 18 CF playing there, if you are going down that route at least play James Taylor who is actually right back.

Agreed we have wasted far more on others.

[Lrrr]

6 minutes ago, VT05763 said:

I wouldn't have moaned if the option was a an under 18 CF playing there, if you are going down that route at least play James Taylor who is actually right back.

Agreed we have wasted far more on others.

Taylor hasn’t even been playing RB for the 23’s for the majority of the time, shifting in to play on the right hand side of a back 3, if he was under any sort of consideration for the first team he’d have been playing wing back. 

[Waconda]

4 minutes ago, Lrrr said:

Taylor hasn’t even been playing RB for the 23’s for the majority of the time, shifting in to play on the right hand side of a back 3, if he was under any sort of consideration for the first team he’d have been playing wing back. 

Yes, he is a right sided defender who can play RB or RWB and is not a Centre Forward.

[NcnsBcfc]

28 minutes ago, IAmNick said:

The signing clearly didn't work out, but I'm slightly confused why people are quite so vitriolic about this one in particular?

We signed someone on a short term contract with good football pedigree - three promotions wasn't it... He played a bit, but seems to now be past it.

What's the huge deal exactly?

I think it's the concept of financially we seem to not be in the position to sign any players on loan or otherwise.

We have this experienced player on the bench, who NP would rather play a 19 year old striker in that position instead; as well as countless other players.

If we were going to have a mutual parting of the ways, then surely January would have been a much better time for the club; to allow them potentially to explore other options.

The reaction to Simpson is more an outpouring of the fan's frustrations over the season; and the decisions being made. Any other year, then absolutely Simpson leaving would have been a footnote.

Now it is seen as an event to galvanise people's feelings over.

For what it's worth, the decision to send £1.6m on a L1 CB; when you know you have failings in other areas; now also seems somewhat of a mistake. Compounded of course by the further signing 300k signing of a L2 RB. I know they are signings for the future, but in hindsight were they signings we should have been making with the overall squad so unbalanced?

I know we've been unfortunate with their respective injuries. But little did we realise at the start of the season how that money could have been spent across the board.

Almost as if it would have been better to keep our budget intact; and see how the season pans out. Before possibly making some additions either short or longer term in the Jan window.

Anyhow that is, as I said above Hindsight is a wonderful thing......

[Lorenzos Only Goal]

19 minutes ago, NcnsBcfc said:

I think he means Ashley Williams, or at least I hope so.

See even Ashley Williams wasn't that bad, he filled a gap where we had a problem with injuries and for the most part did a decent job over stayed but he was handy.  I think seasoned pro's can if they have the right mindset do a decent job for a football club, especially when you have a lot of youth in the side. 

[NcnsBcfc]

26 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

I don’t have the issue with this that you appear to have.

At the start of the season with Vyner the first choice RB it seemed logical to me to have his experienced deputy on the bench.

He then got a couple of starts (I actually thought he was decent in the win at Reading) but dropped out of the side pretty sharpish afterwards.

He was on the bench on merit, not as part of some old pals act but his error at WBA plus the realisation he was past it saw him disappear from the first team squad by October, save the Luton game when we don’t seem to have had anyone else.

With 7 subs it is pretty easy to hide someone there, if NP was intent on doing so to help him out then he could have kept doing this for far longer, surely?

My only issue with this, is the people that are saying he was only on "hundreds"; and that he was on a "sizeable bonus" for being involved in matchday squads.

I of course treat that with a pinch of salt (as per earlier posts), but the fact is his last appearance on the bench was against Luton (a) on 25th Jan. Prior to that he hadn't made the bench for the previous 7 games.

If we were looking at a parting of the ways, then surely we could have done something in January; and at least given ourselves some other potential options in that position of the pitch.

You know how fixated I've been about our full back positions for the last few seasons. We've just been poor from both a defensive & offensive point of view for a number of seasons. With no manager able to grasp the need for change/upgrade in those positions.

As an aside, has any defender (other than Baker, and Tanner) actually scored for us this season?

Really is a paltry return from Corners, and set pieces isn't it.

@Davefevs I'm guessing we must be at the bottom of any stat table with regard to defensive player's offensive stats? Either goals or assists?