Danny Simpson interview in the Times (1):
Danny Simpson turns all serious when contemplating the toxic fall-out over Claudio Ranieri’s dismissal as Leicester City manager. “It went crazy,” the defender says. “We were getting it from all angles, even from some of our own fans. We were called ‘Snakes’.
“It was disappointing to see Claudio leave and we got that much stick it made us angry. We felt it was unjustified. We appreciated what he’d done, he’s a top man, an infectious character. At the time, it [Ranieri’s sacking on February 23] was seen as a loss for football.”
Simpson looks bemused at reports of a players’ meeting with the chairman Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha on the morning after the game in Seville. “We don’t know where this came from. There was no meeting. The chairman made the decision.”
Claudio brought in sweet potatoes and pasta after games but the lads liked what we were used to, chicken and wedgies
But had concerns about Ranieri’s post-title management been transmitted somehow to the chairman? “He will come in the training ground, come in the dressing room, and we see him in hotels but ‘these meetings’ to make that decision? It’s not the case. I’ve not spoken to the chairman like that and from what I’ve heard none of the other players had. It made us angry.”
The Leicester team were seen as Public Enemy No 1 and the run-in to their next game, under caretaker Craig Shakespeare, was ugly. “The build-up to that Liverpool game [on February 27] was tough,” Simpson says. “Going from last season’s heights, being everyone’s second team, to we’re are all villains all of a sudden. There was the whole ‘snakes’ thing. We knew it wasn’t the case. Against Liverpool, we were a bunch of angry players.”
In the opening minute, Jamie Vardy flew in on Sadio Mané. “Jamie set the tone for that game,” Simpson says. “We knew everyone was watching us. That’s the group of players we are, we stick together. That game we got a lot of anger out of ourselves, and we got the win which was a really good feeling after everything that had gone on.”
Criticism also focused on the fact that none of the players took to social media to post their thanks to Ranieri. “We had a talk. We can tweet all we want, but it is football that will do the talking. But it [the players’ 48-hour silence] was more because we knew Claudio was coming to the training ground, and we wanted to tell him in person. He came in before the Liverpool game, said his goodbyes, thanked us for that year we had, for sharing it all together, and he wished us good luck. Most of the lads spoke to him on their own. I spoke to him. I said, ‘Thanks for everything’. ”
But what of Ranieri’s tweaks to the menu at the training ground? “After games, we’d have chicken burgers and potato wedges and he changed them to sweet potatoes and pasta. I understand his point but the lads liked what we were used to, chicken and wedges.”
The recriminations rumbled on with Simpson and Jamie Carragher exchanging terse views on social media. The former Liverpool defender wondered where Leicester’s work ethic had come from after Ranieri’s departure. Simpson responded by pointing out who had more league medals. “I had a little spat with Carragher on Twitter,” he adds. “And he kept bringing it [the meeting] up, but I couldn’t reply, because there wasn’t a meeting. Carragher’s been in a dressing room, so before he jumps on the bandwagon at least try and get the information, he will know somebody who knows somebody [in the Leicester dressing room]. We beat his team [Liverpool] that night, didn’t we, anyway? I respect Carragher 100 per cent: he captained Liverpool, won the Champions League, played for England. I’ve watched documentaries on him, saw him go round his old estate, a similar council estate lad like me, just wanted to play football.
“We hold our hands up as players; we should have been doing better. What’s not been spoken about is it was difficult all of a sudden trying to fit in the Premier League and the Champions League. When we won the title, we had the whole week to prepare for our opponents, and then all of a sudden we were flying around. If we’d played on the Wednesday, come Friday some of the lads were having a cool-down, so we never really trained as a group. I spoke to Ryan Giggs at the BBC [Sports Personality of the Year] awards when we won the [team of the year] award, and he said it took them [United] a while to get used to the Saturday-Wednesday-Saturday-Wednesday regime.”
It seemed that the Leicester players were reserving their best performances for Europe. “It looked like that from results. Other teams in the Champions League looked at us and thought, ‘It’s only Leicester’, similar to how teams thought when we won the title. This season in the Premier League we’ve got the gold badge on our shirts, and everyone wants to beats us.
“Last season, it was basically the same team but this season we had new players coming in, the tactics changed, I missed some games, we lost Kasper [Schmeichel] and Drinky [Danny Drinkwater] for a little while. So there was no flow. We never settled.”
Ranieri’s assistant, Shakespeare, stepped up as caretaker, initially interim, and now to the end of the season, and had an immediate impact. Simpson was not surprised. ‘Shakey’ has always been a popular coach at Leicester, respected for his man-management as well as tactical nous. “Even the year I was here when Nigel [Pearson] was the manager, and I wasn’t playing and found it difficult, Shakey was good at keeping me going. He’s been an influence on everyone,” Simpson adds.
There was a feeling that the champions were being made to be more cautious under Ranieri, but Shakespeare immediately changed, getting the ball forward to Vardy quicker, and telling his right back to attack more. “He’s encouraged us to go forward more,” Simpson says.
He has probably been Leicester’s most consistent outfield player this season, and has been allowed to push on, supporting Riyad Mahrez more, even contributing assists. “Riyad wants me to attack, as there are more players round him this season than last season.” Losing N’Golo Kanté was clearly a blow, although Wilfred Ndidi is increasingly impressing. “Wilfred has settled into the team; him and Drinky have that midfield relationship.”
