Danny Simpson will be joining Blackburn Rovers on a season-long loan, following previous stints at Sunderland, Ipswich and Royal Antwerp.
Just as Tom Heaton and Febian Brandy have secured temporary moves away, to Cardiff and Swansea respectively, Simpson will be starting 2008-2009 with Paul Ince’s men down the road.
Whilst loan time away usually provides players with invaluable experience they would not get at United, it begs the question why Simpson isn’t ready to be introduced to our first team squad.
Simpson certainly seems more promising than Phil Bardsley, who tried and failed to break in to the United team as a full-back, and has got several hours of playing time under his belt in the pre-season.
Next season would have started with Simmo behind Gary Neville and Wes Brown in pecking order for the position, so it seems to make sense that Sir Alex Ferguson would offer him time away.
However, after selling Gerard Pique, United are rather exposed at the back. With Gary Neville still not sustaining fitness and Nemanja Vidic emerging as a bit of a ’sick note’ last season (predominantly through his bravery, rather than his fragility), we are very thin defensively.
Whilst Owen Hargreaves showed himself as a decent right back, we shouldn’t be forced in to playing a talented holding midfielder as a full-back because of injuries. It’s good to know that in a worse case scenerio we can be covered, but we’re far too close to that scenerio at present. Injuries to Vidic and Neville see Brown in the centre and Hargreaves on the right. Having the option of Simpson would surely be a good thing?
Also, going on loan doesn’t necessarily result in something positive for the club or player. At the start of 2006, promising forward Giuseppe Rossi was loaned to Newcastle, in hope of him getting some valuable experience. However, between August and October, Rossi got just 6 games, just 2 of these for longer than 20 minutes. In total, he got 13 run outs in 4 months, the majority by far as a substitute, and nothing was really gained.
He never played for United again, sadly, and was sold on to Villarreal, where he’s just enjoyed a very successful début season.
Who knows whether Simpson has what it takes to play for United, but in his appearances last season, both in the league and Champions League, he seemed capable enough. Being loaned out at another Premiership club, particularly one that should be finishing inside the top 10, could prove to be an excellent move. However, with the money Blackburn are likely to give Ince considering his new appointment, there is no guarantee Simpson will even get a look in on the team, and could be better off with our Reserves/sporadic appearances with our first team.
I like danny boy, especially being a local lad n all but ive seen him a couple of times and he’s always looked a bit too weak and gets caught out of position alot. He needs to be playing week in week out to get the experience he needs but i think its too big a gamble for Fergie to chuck him in the first team now so , i think its great he’s going to Blackburn… we’ve still got nev, o’shea and hargreaves who can back up wes at right back
I don’t see you mentioning Silvestre, O’Shea and Evans as options in the back four…
Therefore, I think United AND Simpson would be better off with a season on loan in the Premiership to add to his experience…
Fready – if Vidic and Neville were out for any period of time, you’d be happy with Silvestre/O’Shea/Evans playing as right back? Aside from anything to do with their ability, it is not their position.
If you check the United website, it says we have a new goal- keeping coach from BLACKBURN, his name is Steele, this coincides with loaning out Simpson…so put 2 and 2 together and you get four….
Scott, i don’t quite get your above post, do you think Simpson is better than any of the above three players you mentioned? Maybe O’Shea, but i still rate Silvestre and Evans over Simpson any day of the week. He won’t have gotten lots of games this season, so i say loaning him out is an excellent idea, though selling him would be a horrible idea.
O’shea has infact got a reputation of being arguably United’s most versatile player, and he has previously filled in at right back successfully for a long period of spells.
We therefore do have cover (brown, neville, owen or o’shea) . And it is a good idea to send simpson on loan for XP.
(NB: in the worst case senario, we could use one of our reserves, or even more likely, use fletcher, and HE also has filled in at right back in emergency.)
yeah, I would have wished for him to stay, but i think loaning him might have the same effect that it had on Evans – more confidence and familiarity with the premiership – with regular play. Although, I would have preferred Aston Villa as they are in more competions abroad and have more talented experienced players plus a better manager at the helm. But seems like Fergie opted for Blackburn as a bribe for their goal-keeping coach, so it’s ok!!
OTRed – Neither of those three players mentioned are right backs though. Christ, can you imagine any half decent left winger coming up against O’Shea or Silvestre? It’d be embarrassing.
shin – Lol the fact that O’Shea is versatile does not mean I’d be happy with him filling in at right back for any longer than a match or two against shit opposition.
‘Scott the Red’ – so you’d rather have unexperienced Simpson to play at right back, who would be rattled shitless when someone like Ashley Young is running down his flank…
Rather than O’shea who has many times played at right-back (including in the champions league and on regular for Ireland)
Hmmm….
We need to let the kid have a chance. The one thing is that even if he isn’t the most technically gifted defender we have he looks like a decent player. The last hard-working, not that skillful player we had at right back come through the ranks is now our Captain. I’m really beginning to worry about how few of our youngsters are able to make an impact in our team.
Shin – people probably said the same of a 20-year-old Gary Neville in 1995.
Hmmm…
JoS has had his chance and he’s not good enough to start for us, we know that. We’ll know nothing about Simmo until he’s given the opportunity, like JoS was.
I think this deal is for the best both for United and for Simpson. Hopefully he will get loads of experience which he wouldn’t get if he stayed with us, and in the case of injuries we have decent cover as well.
If both Neville and Brown are out with injuries you guys forget that the brazilian twins are able to play for us this season. In fact they are both set to play against Peterborough today.
I don’t know which twin plays as a right back, but if I remember correctly it’s the one whos’ supposed to be the most talented of the two.
I think it’s possible that Fergie has sent Simmo out on loan because he rates the brazilian above him, and wants to give both good experience. In other words a win win situation for us
Fabio Da Silva has not played for a year and i’ve only seen 45 mins vs peterbrough but if he carries on like that i think we’ve found a new right back/right wing/centre forward roled into one. I don’t know what it is but the foreign lads seem so much more technically advanced and more confident on the ball than the young homegrown players coming through these days
SImpson looks good coming forward but shaky in defence in all honesty he is behind wes,nev,oshea , owen h and possibly evans at right back
so a loan move looks a good idea to me
if he does really well hell have gained p/l experience and can become a 1st teamer next year, if he does well but isn’t united class we can sell him for a few quid to a lower level prem team and if he is awful , well have found that out withour dropping any points
good luck to the lad hope he does well
‘Scott the Red’ – but why should we be gambling with an unexperienced defender?? let him gain experience on loan before we reel him into the first team in the future. For now, O’shea can be ‘COVER’ instead of simpson…im not exactly saying that O’shea should be in the first team, all im saying is that i’d rather use O’shea as RB cover than Simpson. (and i cant believe you’re disagreeing to that)
NOTE: (having done some research) In Simpsons last ‘competitive’ game, he was taken off at half time, due to a bad perfromance, and replaced by O’shea in right back. Coinceidence? Hmmm…
Never fear, the Da Silvas are here.
Rafael Da Silva at right back was AWESOME today…danny who?
Theirs a new kid on the block…
Shin – you’re a whole mass of contradictions. You start by saying that Simpson is too inexperienced, then after one game in the shirt against bloody Pboro, you’re bigging up Rafael lol. Is that serious??
You completely ignored the Gary Neville comment. How do you expect players to make the transition from the Reserves to the first team if they’re not given a go? Thank god the people who thought like you didn’t get their way, otherwise Beckham, Scholes, Butt, Nevilles, Brown etc. never would have got in the team!
If you wanna do ‘research’, have a look and see how many bad games JoS has had lol.
We KNOW JoS isn’t good enough, so why keep relying on him as cover, when we’ve yet to see exactly how good DS can be? It’s backwards. Our club is built on its reputation and pride for bringing through youth… and you think we should play JoS instead of doing that? I can’t understand that way of thinking. We’re a progressive club.
Who would play in front of him at Blackburn? Emerton has slotted in at right back but he prefers and most likely is preferred to play as a midfielder. If Simpson gets one good performance at Blackburn he may find himself with some regular football, and regular Premiership playing experience would be impossible to get at United, this may be the way youngsters break into our squad nowadays. I think it’s a good move and I hope Danny does well and can come back to prove himself at United.
Unrelated: Everyone is talking about Saha like we’ve already transferred him, but so far a deal hasn’t been done. Any thoughts? (Sorry Scott, didn’t know where to put this thought)
I saw Danny in a restaurant in Ipswich in March. He had ravioli then gave the waitress his phone number. That is the sum total of my contribution.
‘Scotty the Red’ – Your going off the point. Your simply reading far tooo much into it. You’ve completely ignored the spine of the argument. The fact that your saying you would rather have simpson in RB than O’shea during the present affairs is totally bonkers. With your seneseless thinking, your talking about the ‘transition from the Reserves to the first team’, but whats that got to do with this argument?? Im just saying that O’shea would be a better choice at RB than Simpson, at this current time. Im not saying nothing about how he should come through the ranks, and so your argumentative comeback is absurd.
All im ’simply’ saying is that Simpson should go on loan to get experience, for when he eventually may join the first team in the future, in which Oshea is a safe emergency cover in RB…whereas your simply exploding the argument into something that its not.
“Thank god the people who thought like you didn’t get their way, otherwise players like webber, bardsley, spector and eagles would still be in the team”
gopher brown – priceless information mate. was she fit?
scott – i think what the others are getting at (albeit in a confused manner) is that evans is a centre half and that would therefore allow wes to go right back, where he was our most consitent last season. mickey can play either full back (left rather than right though) or centre half. i do agree with comments about paddy, but he did score a last minute winner, against the vermin, in front of the kop. so for that reason, no one should ever bad mouth him.
i still think we should’ve kept hold of simpson.
we are looking very short of numbers at the mo though. perfect timing!! let the kids have a go. it’s worked before!
The argument (as defined by me, in this article) was whether Simpson should be given a shot at the first team or not. You’re saying he shouldn’t, that JoS should be given that responsibility if it comes to it, and I’m saying he should. That’s not blowing the argument out of proportion at all.
So Shin, if not now, when should Simpson be given the opportunity? How many times should be sent out on loan before we deem him good enough? You’re ’simply’ saying he needs to be loaned for experience… which he’s been doing for the past THREE years. Suddenly, with four years of loaned out experience, he’ll be good enough to try out? Or should we make it five years? Six years?
You still haven’t responded to what I said about Gary Neville. Let’s not forget that Simpson is a year older than Gary was when he was brought in to the first team.
It’s not absurd to want to try someone new over having JoS as a RIGHT back. If it was the left back position up for grabs, then I’d agree, but JoS gets dicked on good and proper at right back, and we all know that. I’d much rather see Simpson given his chance to prove himself over this season, than watch JoS do what we already know he does.
Firstly, in reference to what I said about Rafael. I was only merely giving a compliment to a great debut (in which you will agree – pending on if you wore ur glasses). Rafael had not played a game for a whole year, and then for him to play how he did, was worthy of credit. (If Simpson had played aswell in his first game, I would have done the same…but he didn’t). So I did not contradict myself – as in no way of manner did I say he should be put into the united team, i merely just congratulated him.
Secondly, ‘the argument’ was not in reference to your article, but in reference to OUR argument, in that Oshea should be given the responsiblity not Simpson, as RB cover.
Thirdly, in response to your Neville quote, i did not answer it as i felt my comeback answer would be rather obvious and self-explanatory. People probably did say the same to neville, as everyone always rise eyebrows to all new young players, but gary neville is only part of a small handful of success stories from the youth system. Yes – i agree in that neville, beckham, scholes, giggs etc, all came out good, but in the era we are in, that generation of breeding players has become scarce and in reality United will now end up buying thier players instead of breeding.
Firstly, in reference to what I said about Rafael. I was only merely giving a compliment to a great debut (in which you will agree – pending on if you wore ur glasses). Rafael had not played a game for a whole year, and then for him to play how he did, was worthy of credit. (If Simpson had played aswell in his first game, I would have done the same…but he didn’t). So I did not contradict myself – as in no way of manner did I say he should be put into the united team, i merely just congratulated him.
Secondly, ‘the argument’ was not in reference to your article, but in reference to OUR argument, in that Oshea should be given the responsiblity not Simpson, as RB cover.
Thridly, as for Simpsons opportunity, what do you expect…you cant expect players like neville and brown (who get paid millions) to be put on the bench while danny plays in the games. Thats why he’s being loaned, to gain fist team xp, (and to catch the eyes of others, so his value increases for when/if they sell him). If he’s successful under Ince, then we give him the opportunity nxt season …if not, then its more loans, until someone snaps him up (like eagles story). Harsh but ture.
Fourthly, in response to your Neville quote, i did not answer it as i felt my comeback answer would be rather obvious and self-explanatory. People probably did say the same to neville, as everyone always rise eyebrows to all new young players, but gary neville is only part of a small handful of success stories from the youth system. Yes – i agree in that neville, beckham, scholes, giggs etc, all came out good, but in the era we are in, that generation of breeding players has become scarce and in reality United will now end up buying (majority) thier players instead of breeding.
FINALLY, lets look at this through danny’s eyes. Would he rather be bench warming (if even that) at utd, or would he rather get a run of first team games at bburn. When u look at it like that, its obvious…
My glasses? Why do you feel the need to throw about insults? I’m a United fan, first and foremost. Why would ‘my glasses’ stop me from seeing a great performance from one of our youngsters? Don’t come on my blog and slag me off needlessly, ta. I’m happy for debate but there’s no need to be bitchy, lad.
If you want to talk about debut’s though, let’s look at Simpson’s, which undoubtedly was better than the young Brazilian’s, to the point I find it odd you’d even bring up Danny’s debut to make your argument.
The Independent: “Danny Simpson, making his debut as O’Shea’s replacement, crossed perfectly from the right to set up a rare headed goal by Rooney.”
ManUtd.com: “A patched-up Reds defence saw Gerard Pique and Danny Simpson included alongside Rio Ferdinand and Patrice Evra, and the two youngster turned in outstanding performances.”
The Guardian: “Then the England striker added a fourth – his second in as many games after failing to score in the first two months of the season – with a determined header after Danny Simpson supplied another excellent cross from the right.”
So how do we know if the players are going to come good or not? By palming them off on loan with second rate clubs? The only way we can find out if they’re good enough for United is if we play them for United. If it goes horribly wrong and he shows he not good enough, then we sell him and move on. But we’re only wasting our time and his by sending him out on loan again. It gets beyond a joke when a player has spent four years out on loan, he’s not a kid anymore.
He’ll be Rooney’s age now by the time he’s given a chance to play for United’s first team. I can’t see a good reason for that, JoS isn’t good enough.
At no point did I see Neville and Brown should be benched so Simpson can play as much as he likes. If you read the article, I simply pointed to the likelihood of Vidic and Neville being injured at the same time. But in case of full fitness, for trips up to Sunderland and the like, throw in Simpson instead of Neville.
You’re assuming Simpson will get played at Blackburn. Ince has got money to spend and Simpson could just there to make up numbers because of us pinching Steele. Just look at that lad Rossi!
‘Scotty the red’ – Loll, insult? I hope your not taking this personally. I thought this was just friendly banter. As a fellow mancunian, i would never have implied any offence to a fellow follower, inwhich i was purely seeing the humour over two very opiniated Utd fans in our derision.
If i am not allowed to express my views in this blog, then maybe im in the wrong place
. I actually enjoyed witnessing our debate, rather than seeing at it with disgust.
At this point, i normally would have made a comeback to your last post (possibly by sending positive quotes towards o’shea), but i feel that you are not rather appreciative of my comments.
The fact that fergie sent him on loan, means that it was the right decision, as we cant disobey the man him self.
Moreover, i feel you need to give oshea more credit than he deserves. He may not be techincally the most gifted player…but for anyone to sink the vermin scousers in the 91st minute – has to be a legend in my books.
Shin – think about it. Look at the vast comments on this blog, from United fans and rivals alike. Obviously expression of opinion is welcomed. However, implying I wouldn’t be able to see a great début from a new signing because I had ‘my glasses’ on is not your opinion about United, is it? It’s a personal dig and it’s uncalled for.
Like I said about O’Shea earlier, at left back, I wouldn’t be complaining, but right back is a completely different kettle of fish.
“If Simpson had played aswell in his first game, I would have done the same…but he didn’t” – so you think Rafael’s performance against Peterborough in a friendly was better than Simpson’s performance against Wigan in the league? Honestly? Lol well, I guess we are just going to have to agree to disagree on most things, because we quite clearly are wearing ‘different glasses’.
Fergie sent Rossi on loan and he never played for us again, whilst we were struggling for forwards (and has since gone on to prove himself as a top scorer in La Liga). I support Ferguson in whatever he does, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t recognise he sometimes makes mistakes. We won’t know if loaning out Simpson is a mistake or not yet… but I imagine it was a decision borne out of United trying to make nice after pinching their goalkeeping coach a fortnight after he’d signed for them, not a decision made because it was ideal for the club or player.
StR : Looks like we indeed are wearing ‘different glasses’…so agreeing to disagree is the only way forward…
(although my glasses comment was intended to evoke laughter…)