Who would have thought Danny Simpson could win the Premier League? Not Alan Pardew apparently, who replaced him with Mathieu Debuchy.
Alan Pardew has admitted to The Guardian that it was a mistake to replace Danny Simpson with Mathieu Debuchy during his time as manager of Newcastle United.
The Magpies signed highly-rated right-back Debuchy (below) from Lille as part of their Francophile recruitment drive in the January 2013 transfer window, with Moussa Sissoko, Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa and Yoan Gouffran also pitching up at St. James’ Park from Ligue 1.
Five months later, Simpson departed for QPR having been usurped in Pardew’s starting XI before eventually going on to lift the Premier League title with Leicester City.
And the current Crystal Palace boss has admitted that, in hindsight, he would have thought twice about dispensing with the former Manchester United youngster.
“You don’t always get it right,” Pardew, whose popularity declined sharply on Tyneside after winning the LMA Manager of the Year award in 2012, told The Guardian.
“When we finished fifth with Newcastle [in 2012] we felt changing Danny Simpson (below) and getting in a better right-back would be the way forward.
“He left and, a few years later, became a Premier League title winner with Leicester. We joke about that when we see each other.”
Debuchy’s arrival was billed as an impressive coup for Newcastle after the diminutive Frenchman caught the eye of a number of top clubs by impressing in Euro 2012, but he struggled for consistency in on Tyneside and joined Arsenal in a shock deal after just 18 months.
And, while Simpson polishes his winner’s medal, his now-31-year-old replacement has tumbled down the pecking order at the Emirates after injuries and the emergence of Hector Bellerin restricted him to just 12 Premier League appearances under Arsene Wenger.
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