Reactions to the Jay Simpson signing

When the Philadelphia Union announced that they had signed forward Jay Simpson from English fourth division side Leyton Orient, my first reaction was “Who?” I don’t follow the English game at all, and I only know of Leyton Orient’s existence from playing Football Manager. Jay Simpson might as well be Homer Simpson to me, so I asked some folks what they thought of him.

Thomas Wachtel, Managing Editor at The Short Fuse (SB Nation’s Arsenal blog), asked one of his friends about Simpson. The response was... less than encouraging. “He was never an interesting prospect to me from Arsenal's perspective. Wikipedia reminds me that he was the first ever player to score a hat trick at the Emirates...…