No club needs a player more than Newcastle United need Saint Maximin

Posted on January 20th, 2021 | 2 Comments |

Allan St.Maximin
Careful now, Allan, we really need you!
It’s no secret that Newcastle United are on a poor run of form, and many fans think that the main reason is the defensive style of Steve Bruce. Whatever the merits or otherwise of Steve Bruce’s method though, there is one thing Newcastle United have been missing since November which has had a bigger effect than anything else, Allan St Maximin and his marauding runs down the flank.

Before I continue though, I think that a little evidence is in order. In the table below, games where St.Maximin has started is compared with games where he was out, or only played a few minutes as a sub at the end of games. The data is taken from the beginning of last season when St.Maximin joined the club. As you can see below, as far as performances with him and performances without him are concerned, the difference is stunning, and a little scary.

Newcastle United with and without Allan St. Maximin.

With St Maximin
P W D L GD GPG Win%
31 13 7 11 -3 1.2 42%
Without St Maximin
P W D L GD GPG Win%
25 3 8 14 -29 0.7 12%

But why is the difference so great? Because St Maximin carries the ball to the front in a way that no-one else can seem to manage in the current side. Without him there isn’t enough connection between the lines, leaving the front stranded. Although we don’t score prodigiously even when he does start, Newcastle’s form starts to look distinctly ‘Carveresque’ when he doesn’t. Actually, John Carver’s 15% win percentage as Newcastle manager was actually slightly better than the current side’s without St Maximin, which, as you can see above, is only 12%. Unlike here, that would lead to almost certain relegation.

Of course, it’s great to have a player in the side who can have such an influence on games, but of course it isn’t so great to be so reliant on one player, a player whose injury record isn’t exactly great so far too. Winning less than one out of every eight games, as the Magpies do without St.Maximin, Newcastle United would almost certainly be relegated. Whilst he should be back fairly soon now he has recovered from CoVid-19 and is back in training, the extreme dependence and lack of flexibilty will remain.

NUFCBlog Author: workyticket workyticket has written 1095 articles on this blog.

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2 Responses

  1. Looks like the natives are not only restless but fuming @the way this club has been run by our owner.
    It appears the series of managers (excluding Benitez) whom even he could do little with the funds available, guess our owner has his eye on acquiring more box stores for his expanding cheap rag trade business.
    But to offer ten million quid is an impossibility to any manager and I have to say I’m surprised we are not a regular second tier club , though we have barely escaped relegation a number of times and will struggle as long as both owner and manager are still in place.
    One must remember it’s not like a club can pick up decent players for under ten million as in previous seasons.
    Unfortunately no one is interested in moving to Newcastle, it has reputation as being a joke, that only hires the cheapest (god only knows why we went out and bought our only decent player St.Max.) who is going to be the next big sale, strange he did that once before and did well, bringing in some very good French and Dutchmen , face it Ashley has tried a number of different courses
    but has avoided going after decent players since.
    I just don’t get it ?
    Sure I understand it takes big bucks to run a Premiership side, so why get involved in the first place, if we are to believe Ashley, who presents the story that it’s impossible to run a club with only two billion behind you, that’s close to the truth but there are clubs with-out that kinda money and few clubs fill their stadium for each home game, as NUFC do, ensuring the necessary dosh to provide for decent players, which in fact I assume every penny goes to-wards the Ashley dream of becoming a major department store owner.
    But any future for this club is looking poor these days and unless we can remove ourselves from this leach-like owner, boycott being the most effective weapon, it’s going to add another great NE
    club on a permanent trip to the lower divisions, alongside Sunderland and Boro.
    Thats of course if the fans sit on their hands and do nothing it will happen quicker.

    i

  2. Workyl lets see what happens, this season and don’t expect a lotta W’s, as I believe we play an inferior game each season, to the previous one ,
    I mean who the hell are these useless players, obviously the result of a useless manager. who couldn’t put a decent side to gather even if he had the money, then Ashley went for cheap, giving our recent manager with a six year contract which any fan would recognize as a total waste of money and time as he was ridiculed by the fans.
    Of course the fans objected. but still filled the ground each other Saturday but didn’t have the cohones to discuss the game or either manager. never mind the kind of football that was laid out for the side, ten men behind the ball and no sign of any attempts at breakouts.
    Sure most admitted to the awful football and because OUR guy was a local, hope raised at each lousy game we played and sure Ashleys most prominent dream is to win a few and survive relegation, but you can’t play that game to-day, but he is surely hanging on to survival, so that he can get a reasonable price for the club.
    I certainly don’t appreciate his ownership but he’s usually ready to go beyond his stated maximum READ ten M., which keeps the fans attending as usual, even though we play that god awful game and buying their favorite seat is a comfort.
    And with player prices growing in leaps and bounds has little choice, but to bring in some new faces. but forget about NUFC ever becoming anywhere similar to the top eight sides of today.
    I’m afraid our beloved owner is too fascinated with those big box stores readily available, that could raise his stature in the community, and double his income yep ! he’s smart enough to stay in the rag trade which he knows well and wished he had stayed there and so do the majority of fans I believe, and so do we!
    Actually I don’t understand did it cost too much to bring the Dutch and French players because I’m sure he made a nice piece of change selling them.
    Though I believe I heard him mention it was a costly deal, but never said for who, it was a pleasure to watch those games and I believe
    for a while it would continue, the purchase of decent continental players, but nah !
    Ah well, see if we can still expect to advance from the second tier once again but ain’t that concerned, why could we not be like a Leicester, or Leeds instead, going from entertainers to producing some of the worst players and brand of football in Newcastle history and it’s folks lie Ashley where the blame lies.

    in the history of the club