Ex Files - Paul Simpson (manager)
Thursday, 26th Jul 2007 09:24

Having looked at Paul Simpson the player, it's time to look back at Paul Simpson the manager's time at Spotland.

Manager Profile: Paul Simpson

When Simpson was appointed as Dale manager last Summer, the decision went down extremely well with supporters. Simpson had proved to be extremely popular with supporters in his brief time as a player, and he certainly talked a good game when interviewed. Indeed, a poll on this site had him down as being the fans' choice of our "prepared" shortlist.

Everything looked to be in place. In appointing Paul Simpson, we appointed a "bright, young" manager. He had made himself very popular with the supporters and board from his short spell as a player after joining Dale from Blackpool on a free transfer, and he had impressed the board at his interview after being asked to apply for the vacant manager's job following John Hollins' departure from the club. He spoke a good game, and with courses he had done, it looked like we were getting the first modern manager in the club's history.

The Summer was very encouraging, with signings getting the thumbs up from Dale supporters. The signing of Chris Beech looked to have solved our midfield problems that we'd suffered from since the departure of Gary Jones, and in Simpson's capture of Lee Hodges, we had signed one of the best players in the Division. We appeared to have a manager who had contacts throughout the game, and could talk proven players into signing for the club. Hell, that was enough for me to stick £50 on us winning the title!

The first seeds of doubt regarding the management of Dale boss Paul Simpson came very early on. Whilst that is not to say that it was clear that things weren't going to work out, concerns were being raised as early as pre-season, though it is doubtful whether any team could have lived with Manchester City that night. An opening day victory over Leyton Orient hardly set the world afire, and a gutless defeat at Lincoln a few days later had the first panic signs out, as we failed to trouble the relegation favourites at any stage during the evening fixture.

However, an upturn in results if not performances saw confidence return to the ranks, with Paul Simpson's on field performances overshadowing his performance as a manager. Supporters were saying that with results going "our way", we have every reason to be cheerful (part III) as when the performances kicked in, we would start flying. Wins against Wrexham and Bristol Rovers suggested things were starting to come together.

Dale finished September with a win over Macclesfield which left us in 2nd place in the Division with 21 points from 11 games. Only one goal in the goal difference column prevented us from being top of the league. However, this proved to be a clear turning point of our entire season as from this moment onwards our fortunes took a clear turn for the worse.

From that moment on, we were one of the worst teams in the Division. From the back end of September, we were the 23rd worst team in the Division, six points adrift of the team in 22nd above us. Form in October was poor to the extent that a protest in the Players' Lounge followed the home game against York City where we suffered a home surrender that soon proved to be the norm throughout the season.

However, the FA Cup proved to be the saving grace of the season. Victories against Peterborough and Bristol Rovers in the first couple of rounds launched an unbeaten spell but the only victory during this spell came courtesy of a freak 4-0 hammering of top side Hartlepool though their goalkeeper Anthony Williams was no doubt voted as the Dale man of the match that day. It wasn't long before league form soon reverted to type, but the FA Cup continued to be the only source of enjoyment for Dale supporters. A great win over Preston North End was soon followed by another home surrender to Lincoln City which had supporters calling for the manager's head and booing his every touch following his late substitution in what was an all round embarrassing night to be a Rochdale supporter.

But a matter of days later, and Paul Simpson became Rochdale's answer Carol Vorderman following a superb Dale display in the 4th Round of the FA Cup against Coventry prompting the first signs of the "When we do well it's the players, when we do badly, its the manager" debate and vica versa. That win proved to be the big talking point of the season. In qualifying for Round Five, we brought our FA income to nearly £700,000 of which over a quarter of a million was down to BBC choosing to broadcast Dale as one of their live games. The build up to that prompted Chairman David Kilpatrick to announce to the press that Paul Simpson would be getting a new contract.

However, that verbal offer of a contract proved to be something of a poisoned chalice as the season went on. Following our cup exit, we continued to slide down the table, with an ever growing hint that we were heading for a relegation battle. Crowds dropped to below 2000, and we suffered home defeat after home defeat to the extent that we finished the season with ten defeats at San Spotland. The season itself finished in typical style: having got ourselves into a position at Macclesfield where we thought we might achieve something, we waved the white flag and allowed Macclesfield in as we stole defeat from the hands of victory, conceding two goals in the last minute.

So where did the problems lie? Just what was it which prevented us from showing any signs of the League form in 2002-3 which saw us miss out on automatic promotion by just one point. Was it all just down to inexperience on the part of the management team? Well that was certainly a contributory factor. Paul Simpson was never going to find things easy in his first season in charge, and he wasn't helped by having a similarly inexperienced assistant manager. That is not intended as criticism of Jamie Hoyland, but Simpson and Hoyland were as inexperienced as each other, when both were needing an older head to guide them. Added to that the two other members of the coaching staff had a similar track record, experience was a major problem throughout the season, especially whilst Paul Simpson completed what was in effect a hands on work experience for him.

However, to put it all down to inexperience is naive. Tactics varied from non existent to over ambitious. We went through extremes ranging from the return of Barrowball to playing four different formations in four successive matches. Whilst it is an advantage to show flexibility in this regards, when teams are playing four different formations in four games as we have done at one point this season, especially with just one day of training to try out the new formation, it was no surprise that players struggled to understand just what they were expected to do.

Perhaps this is as a result of Simpson's lack of experience at lower levels, and dealing with players of a lesser talent to himself (it is believed Glen Hoddle has similar problems), but either way, tactically things have not worked. You are left to question whether the intention was to play the long ball game that we have done so much of this season, or whether it is a by product of the players unable to perform to the tactics that Simpson was hoping they would implement. For most Division Three footballers, a 40 yard pass will be a 40 yard hoof, which can see a passing tactic result in John Beck style performances.

The team selections haven't been a raging success either. Two players in the form of Kevin Townson and Lee Hodges have not been given a full crack of the whip this season. Whilst it was true in Hodges' case, that he arrived at the club in an unfit state (the same unfit state when he signed a contract for the club), but after proving his fitness, he was not allowed a chance to show what he could do. Brief cameos such as the Oxford and Macclesfield games showed what he was capable of, but he was not given a chance to prove himself within the first team after regaining fitness. His last appearance saw him come off the bench against Oxford, produce a great cross for Gavin Melaugh to win the game for Dale.

Obviously, there may well be reasons unbeknown to supporters regarding the non selection of Hodges, but despite hugely impressive displays for the reserve team, and glimpses of what he could do given half the chance, he still could not force his way into the first team, with YTS lads such as Scott Warner or Rory Patterson played ahead of him. The only clue we were given as to Hodges' time at Dale was when Simpson announced that Hodges had asked to leave the club after four months of non selection. There has been nothing but praise for Hodges' performances from supporters of Bristol Rovers during his loan spell down there.

Whilst it looked like there were strong reasons which suggested why Hodges wasn't picked, you could not fathom out what has become of Kevin Townson. Had he been ignored totally, then again you could put it down to similar reasons which saw Simpson neglect Lee Hodges, but Kevin Townson was in Dale's matchday squad in all but three games this season. If he did enough to make the matchday squad, then why was he restricted to brief five minute cameo performances at the end of games? Was it that Simpson didn't rate him, or did the tactics we employed suit the three bigger strikers? Either way, it can be said that Townson's career has suffered this season. He has gone from a 17 goal a season striker, who had been called up to play for England at his age group to a striker with less first team appearances than a loan signing, and half as many goals as Dave Flitcroft.

It must be acknowledged that the role of a manager is an extremely difficult one. To do so whilst still playing as an integral part of the first team in your first season in charge is creating too much for yourself. His playing career suffered as he tried to think about managerial duties whilst playing, and whilst being on the field, he failed to be able to take any sort of responsibility during game with a view to tactics and substitutions. It was clear early on that he was finding it difficult to succeed at both, but with the players failing to perform as they should, he understandably felt the best way to deal with this was to get out there and do it himself. Understandable, but you have to wonder what effect this has on the other first team players, and their interpretation of Simpson's role when things were not going swimmingly. Would they look upon this as an extra help from the boss, or is the boss showing a lack of trust in them and sticking his nose in where it wasn't wanted.

So with all this in mind was Paul Simpson's time at Dale a complete and utter disaster? Did he do everything wrong? No. It would be unfair and a long way from the truth to suggest that he had failed to get anything right. He had shown an ability to sell the club to players, attracting a number of decent players to the club, even if the signings never really worked out as expected. Beech and Hodges were big name signings, with excellent reputations to boot, and Macauley signed for the club ahead of offers from a number of other clubs. Gavin Melaugh signed for Dale whilst captain of Northern Ireland, as he saw first team football at Dale a better long term prospect than Aston Villa reserves. He managed to persuade Leeds to part with one of their starlet youngsters in the form of the Sherriff!

In addition to that, you have to look at his work with bringing the young players through into the first team. Whilst Townson may prove to be an exception, the likes of Scott Warner, Rory Patterson, Matt Gilks, Stephen Hill and most notably Simon Grand have all benefited from Simpson's time at Dale, all playing more games that they were likely to get had Simpson not been in charge. Furthermore, the decision at Rushden to give Simon Grand the captaincy showed vision and was a great tribute to a highly thought of defender.

Simpson showed a similar tribute to Richard Jobson on the final day of the season, when he allowed the former Manchester City defender one last appearance before retirement. At a time when his own future was undecided, Simpson put his own pressure aside to allow Jobson one final appearance in the Football League. The sign of a gentleman it is sure.

But the merits of Paul Simpson as a person was never an issue. It was always stated what a lovely bloke he was, but lovely blokes do not always make lovely football managers, and unfortunately for Paul Simpson, the facts speak for themselves. Finishing in 19th place, just four points off a relegation place is not good enough for this Football Club, especially when you consider the quality within the squad that Simpson had at his disposal. Whilst he can point towards the Cup run as an example of success, it was clear that he had been unable to consistently get the players to perform at a level which does them justice. The Cup run was down to two great results, and a decision by a BBC executive. The league form was down to over twenty poor results.

The Cup run merely papered over the cracks of the League Form with fifty pound notes, and each time we had any sort of decent showing, it was never followed up or built upon in the next game. Time and again, we suffered false dawns as the inevitable defeat followed draw or an oh so rare victory. We had back to back victories in the League on just one occasion all season long. Our form since September was relegation form and there were no positive signs to suggest that 2003-4 would be any better as form continued to be poor. Falling from 5th place to 19th place was unforgivable.

There is no disguising the fact that Paul Simpson did not do a good enough job as manager of Rochdale Football Club. Our fall from 5th to 19th was one of the biggest drops in league position from one season to the next that the club has suffered in our entire history. Our drop in home attendances was the largest drop of any team in the Division, despite record season ticket sales last Summer. Our league campaign has been nothing short of a disaster, and two good wins in the Cup or Simpson's poor treatment by the board in the last few weeks of the season should not disguise that fact. Paul Simpson failed as manager. He had to go. There were no arguments left for retaining him as manager.

Could things have been different? Well, we'll never know whether working alongside a more experienced assistant would have improved matters. Certainly he felt that he could have had more support from the board when things were at their lowest point. Their non committal on the contract came across as dithering on their part, and did him no favours in recent weeks, and added a huge amount of uncertainty to proceedings. The strain was showing on his face, and public backing of him from those in the top corridor could have helped his cause with both the supporters and players. However, the board could not make statements they did not believe in.

Perhaps a Fans Forum could have helped his cause. Whilst there was no doubt that it would have been a rocky ride for the rookie manager, but it would have allowed him to answer some of the criticisms and questions from supporters, and as he often maintained that the board and staff at the club could see what he was trying to do, he could have enlightened supporters about his plans for the club.

Perhaps if Paul Simpson had come directly into the club as manager, rather than the route which had him as just a very special player within the squad for his first three months with the club, then things might have been different. He may have been viewed with more respect within the dressing room, taking on a more managerial role within the dressing room, rather than as a former colleague following promotion.

But when it comes to it, such things are clutching at straws. We could look to things which could have made things better for Simpson but ultimately, any changes would be lip service and anything that board could have done to retain Paul Simpson as manager would be done to prevent them losing face following the Chairman's pre-Wolves comments rather than for the long term good of the Football Club.

So where now for Paul Simpson? Well according to his comments on GMR following his resignation, it seems a break with his family is his first priority, followed by a spell as a player whilst he completes his coaching courses. If he is to come back into the game as a manager, then he must make sure that he is fully prepared for that role. Hopefully, if he goes back into playing, he can utilise that time to shadow a serving manager and contribute in a coaching role to his new club and learning what is required for him to be a success at a career he so longs to be successful in..

But all in all though, Simpson's time at Spotland has come to an end. Whether it was a dignified resignation or a forced resignation will come to light in the next few weeks. An early appointment of a replacement would suggest the latter. But at the end of the day, this puts an end to what has been a hugely disappointing if not entirely uneventful season. What is beyond any doubt is that Paul Simpson has tried his best, and that the players have underachieved. Where the responsibility (a more apt word in the circumstances than blame) lies for that will provide arguments for the next few weeks. Was Paul Simpson given long enough to turn things round as he suggested, or was it a case of nothing required turning? The arguments will go on and on.

But this closes the chapter on what has been a poor season. The club has massively under achieved and the man at the top is the one who takes responsibility.