Club toughens stance on Simmo contract
Posted on November 25th, 2011 | 33 Comments |
Further to my article a few days ago in which I mentioned the contract situation with Danny Simpson, it seems the club is toughening its stance a bit more if Pardew’s latest comments are anything to go by.
Pardew said:
“It will be as dangerous for Danny as it is for us to delay any longer.
“He is a player who within 18 months has broken into the first team and established himself. We are a big club and he has done very well.
“Now we have a situation where he has a contract and feels he should be rewarded with a new one. I agree with that. I believe that really all we’re talking about are the figures, but is very difficult at this level to say we think negotiations are at a particular point when he probably thinks they are somewhere else.
“But if we can’t reach an agreement, he will have to move on, it’s as simple as that.
“My personal preference is for him to sign quickly because he has got a lot of competition in that area. Danny needs to secure his future with us because he does not have long left on his current contract.”
Meanwhile Simpson himself still thinks his future is at Newcastle. Simpson said:
“I’m happy here and they want me to stay, but contracts don’t get sorted overnight. My family is here and it’s a great time to be here. The city is buzzing.”
It will be a shame if the club and Simmo can’t reach an agreement because our back line has been excellent this season and keeping them together is, I think, important. However it seems that the club is taking an ever tougher stance on contract negotiations these days and won’t pay more than they think a player’s worth.
It’s understandable that Simmo is pushing for the best deal he can get – wouldn’t we all? – but we’ve heard this sort of stuff from the club before and it generally means that things are at an impasse and the club has made their final offer. As such, I wouldn’t be surprised to Danny Simpson leaving the club in January.
But you never know – perhaps there’s time for a settlement yet.
Sad to see him go. But we have cover in that position in Ryan Taylor and Davide Santon. So, not too worried, if we do get Pieters or another left-back in by February.