Danny Simpson: “You wouldn’t get away with anything round here…”
Posted on November 23rd, 2009 | 22 Comments |
The 22 year old Salford lad has been one of football’s nomads since joining local giants, Manchester United, with other loan spells at Royal Antwerp (twice), the Wearside tramps, Ipswich and Blackburn along with his latest stint on Tyneside. Simpson has already made clear that settling down and making his move permanent would certinly not be an unwelcome proposition, with first team places at the Manchester giant being VERY hard to find.
Simpson started at the beginning, describing his upbringing on the mean streets of Salford, and how it made him appreciate life as a professional footballer at a big club:
“I was born in Eccles, near Salford. I didn’t grow up in a nice area and it had it’s fair share of problems but as I have got older I’ve got away from that. Every place has a bad area and that was no different. It makes you the person that you are.
“Coming from nothing makes you appreciate it a bit more when you do become a professional footballer. From nothing to playing in front of 45,000 – it’s a big thing.”
Simpson then turned to his family life, including the difficulties of playing for Manchester United when his family are Manchester City supporters!
“My family were a big thing for me. My mum supported me when I was young and trying to come through and she tries to get to every game that she can. She does make the games near Manchester so she’ll probably be at Preston with my brothers as well.
“It’ll be a big motivation for me. My brothers were all Manchester City fans who gave me plenty of stick about being a United player! But the big thing is they support me and it’s a great boost to have that behind you.”
“It’s a lovely place”
Moving on to his current time in Toon, he boasts about how he can now travel around without the need for a Sat Nav, or NUFC Blog’s very own Geordie Deb for that matter (she helped him to find SJP when he first arrived), and how he visited the Metro Centre, without losing the will to live seemingly.
“I’ve been in Newcastle three months and haven’t had a problem with anything. It’s a lovely place,” he said, continuing:
“I’m starting to know my way around the place – I don’t need my sat nav anymore! I went to the MetroCentre for the first time this week. I’m not a person for going out so I concentrate on my football during the week but I thought I’d have a look at it.
“As far as I’m concerned you have to do just as well off the pitch as you do on it. You’ve got to be careful, you’ve got to behave yourself and you’ve got to look after yourself too.”
No Crystal champagne and Lap Dancers for Danny then! I’m sure this will be music to the ears of many Toon fans weary of previous player exploits.
As his halo started to radiate, Simpson talked about his responsibilities to the local fans:
“It’s a big part of it and it’s a good lesson if you live in Newcastle. It’s a small city, everyone loves the players and the club and they recognise you as well. You wouldn’t get away with anything round here.
“I do try and stop and talk when fans talk to me. It’s not always easy when things haven’t gone well for you on the pitch or you’ve had a bad day.
“But you’ve got a duty to sign something for them, or say hello. That’s come from Sir Alex Ferguson – the best in the business.
“They tell you when you sign full-time and go to college and do your media training this is the way it’s going to be if you’re lucky enough to make something of football.
“My mates go out and do what normal 20-year-old lads would do but it’s not difficult for me. I know whose shoes they would rather be in.”
“I play football for a living – I train with the likes of Kevin Nolan, Nicky Butt, Alan Smith. They’re starting to become my mates so I’m coming into work every day and playing football with my mates for a living. It’s not too difficult to sacrifice that other stuff if it means being able to play football for a living for Newcastle.”
Blip.
In conclusion, Simpson spoke of Newcastle’s recent ‘blip’, where they suffered two defeats to Nottingham Forest and Scunthorpe, preceded by a dour draw against Bristol City. He moaned:
“It was difficult when we went through that period. The lads that we’ve got hate losing, so it wasn’t a nice place to be,” he said.
“When you lose you want it to hurt, and it did. The bunch of lads we’ve got, the morale we’ve got – we bounced back from it really, really well. It says a lot about this bunch of lads.
“We expect to win, we expect to get promoted – that’s the way it is at Newcastle and the way it is at Manchester United as well.”
NUFCBlog Author: workyticket
workyticket has written 1078 articles on this blog.
Really like the look of this lad, not a CH though but a good RB with time on his side. not a bad average age across the back 4 at the minute.