Saint-Maximin’s brilliance won’t be enough to keep Newcastle up

Posted on September 24th, 2021 | 11 Comments |

Allan St Maximin
Will ‘the Saint’ be enough to save Newcastle?
There is only one thing that stops the “we want Brucey out” chants at St James Park and that is the expectant roar whenever Allan Saint-Maximin gets on the ball. Indeed, even the most fed-up Geordie will momentarily put his grievances with the manager to one side to appreciate the spectacle that follows.

The French winger breathes life into the terraces of St James’ Park and reminds fans of why they fell in love with the sport in the first place. Indeed, Saint-Maximin’s carefree nature with the ball at his feet is a throwback to simpler times given that his approach is so refreshingly straightforward: run at the opposition and put the fear of God into their backline.

It is wonderfully exciting and gets everyone off their seats but we need to talk about how it won’t be enough to single-handedly keep Newcastle up this season. That’s not a slight on Saint-Maximin’s ability but rather a statement on how deep the problems run at Newcastle. First, let’s focus on Newcastle’s points tally this season.

In five games the Toon have managed to rack up a mere two points. Naturally, everyone hopes that will change going forward but for now, it is enough to anchor the club in the relegation positions and leave them at 11/10 in the latest Premier League betting markets to be relegated. Not quite odds-on just yet, but getting closer every week.

Now, let’s focus on the games where Newcastle have picked up their points. Steve Bruce’s men got off the mark in late August against Southampton at St James Park with a 2-2 draw against the Saints. It looked like for all the money in the world that Saint-Maximin’s 91st-minute strike would be enough to secure all three points, but then a James Ward-Prowse penalty in the 96th minute cancelled that out. Our first reminder that the 24-year-old’s genius won’t be enough to get Newcastle out of jail this season.

Moving on to Newcastle’s second point of the season in a 1-1 draw with Leeds at home again. Yes, Saint-Maximin’s superb equaliser brought the scores level, but once again, it wasn’t enough to move the Toon out the relegation places by registering three points.

You could look at it as; for every step forward that Saint-Maximin helps Newcastle take, his teammates and manager contrive to take two backwards.

The bottom line is that no matter how pulsating the Frenchman’s wizardry on the field of play, it won’t be enough to save Newcastle from the dreaded drop for the third time since 2009. What then needs to happen for a more complete team performance to take place, so that those draws can be turned into wins? In reality, there needs to be sweeping changes in the dugout and hopefully the boardroom too.

Sadly, none of those outcomes look forthcoming at this stage which means that Allan Saint-Maximin will be fighting a losing battle in his bid to prevent the Toon from going down.

NUFCBlog Author: Frankly Various Frankly Various has written 67 articles on this blog.

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11 Responses

  2. Nah you could help yourself out by abolishing passwords etc. so as to eliminating bulls**t and let those with summat to say. say it. and have a lively blog. or simplify things.
    Now here’s one guy I got no time for even the sound of his name and spelling of his first name puts me off Greaeme ffs a real loser who thinks he’s summat special , possibly responsible for poor old Steves last game, hustling him outta his way.
    Anyone who thinks we had a good day @ Palace is fulla sh8t, get rid of him, as I’m sure the Portuguese new guy will suss him in a minute
    But on that point give him (the new manager a shot) who knows ?
    it’s gonna take a while to rebuild from a useless side to a league leader but I’m sure the Saudis know that, but a good top management guy is essential.
    That and a decent bunch of scouts a development program with the necessary grounds and home free, which could take years.
    However, leave those who are money people to do their jobs and don’t interfere with those who do the picking and choosing and of course the final say should be that of the manager, always !
    add bye the way what happened with Workey he get a better offer ?
    Soh that’s it then, possibly for me anyhow.

    palace

    p

  3. it’s gotta be said, but it’s tough being a NUFC fan these days !
    I get sh*t from Man. u. fans being The Toon have more dosh, which paces the blame directly on us for their fall from grace , etc.
    Plus every other ailment or loss can be directly assigned to the Toon, from most clubs.
    So called sports writers and ex players have a direct target painted
    pained on them, only lately as the news exploded on the EPL,
    Oh sure have a meeting and wipe NUFC off the list, by all 19 other EPL clubs even those who have just arrived and don’t get it yet, get what ? The fact becoming one by the wealthiest clubs in the league
    and understanding that wealth means to top clubs throughout the known world of fooball means success eventually, its a known fact that money breeds success.
    So enjoy the vicious articles and view them for what they are symbols of jealousy and a certain amount of fear !
    Apparently everyone (including our own fans) expected the club too go out and buy or bid on the worlds most expensive players, even before a top management squad of those involved in the purchase of players were arranged, (one of the questions to be answered) but instead a thorough examination of both Man. Citehs course and others to avoid the early mistakes made by the arrival of new and more dosh at most EPL sides., has been (at least I expect) put into effect. and a slow but sure course taken, I mean what the hell we have waited 14 years for such a situation, and can await a Premier League championship surely,
    Soh ignore the rumblings and have a bit of faith in the results of being the wealthiest club in history, as everything can be assured by dosh and a willing partner.

  4. Martinez or Emory, you gotta be kidding, two guys who a wouldn’t have anywhere near the players, both talk a good job but Martinez wants to keep his national coaches job for Belgium just in case things don’t work out for him @nufc, Emry claims he hasn’t heard owt from NUFC, liar !
    Both talk a good job but check out their last jobs and see how good they were, both fired !
    The present coach/ manager @Brighton is better than both of them.
    unfortunately we have a bunch of know nowts in charge of the club from the present coach to Stavely and her crowd to the Saudi’s, who obviously know absolutely nothing other than how to sign check’s.
    In other words ‘up sh*t creek without a paddle’, who knew ?
    Just when things started to move the Saudi’s broke out of their slow and secure method and we are about to realize when things started to look ok, it was purely a case of we look bad here somebody make a decision.
    ughhhhh !

  5. Comparing this present side with the teams put out by SBR is like comparing Barca vs Gateshead and one player with obvious head problems is Shelvey an arrogant player who if he chooses can deliver some decent games, as a playmaker and can score even though he’s a midfielder.but his deliberate sending off and his attitude need to be attended too.
    Sell him while you can as we can afford better playmakers than him.and the fact one sports writer described his playing style and movement as languid, no Shola Amiobi had a languid movement style , often interpreted as lazy, but they would have been right if it had been directed to-wards Shelvey.
    The arrogance of the man is too much, but then quite a number of the present side are in the same boat get rid of the whole bunch as there are no irreplaceable’s except the recent signings the frenchman and the midildd from the Arsenal.
    And while we are on the subject of arrogance how about that Man. U. retuned (a day late and a dollar short Christian Ronaldo), now there is a person that only Christian Ronaldo could love.
    returnee and his recent goals for thtdecent midlevel club.

  6. Soh ! finally someone has obviously had to make a decision or look like a bunch of amateurs investing in something they have no clue about. Good !
    Howe who has local ties, possibly the best English choice so far and a carbon copy of the deal that went down with Citeh and the ex- United striker, not my particular choice but the best of a second bunch, who if he has any success may last a few more seasons than the Welshman, but who I believe will never be a Guardiola, who I believe has finally met his match in the EPL and wants away, supposedly to be replaced by Leicester’s manager the Irishman.
    Brendan which if he doesn’t do better may not get the job being footy is all based on winning and he’s not doing a lotta that recently.
    soh now who are Newcastle about to hire as a director of football ?
    Now that could easily develop into a rivalry, hopefully not but it could also develop into a reason to keep the Saudis off Howe’s back, plus could be a buffer also for the Saudis, the lesser the number of cooks in the kitchen, the better.
    The secret is to hire someone in agreement with Howe on who they eventually sign, which will be the next hill to climb.
    Oh sure there’s a bankrupt two top clubs in Spain. plus there are a number of clubs in Italy on the verge of going broke while the EPL slowly but surely are becoming the new “Super League”there ya go
    Real Madrid”, that’s how ya do it !
    But hold on a second, will that be good for football in general, nope!
    I think not, oh sure the EPL fans will love it, a sort of homecoming for the so called inventors of the game, personally I believe the
    Jock’s have a better claim, looking at who was the better side and who invented which tactics but I’m sure there are plenty who may disagree
    In any case it’s up to the rest of the world to back up those other countries, by investment as the EPL has beat em at their own game by investing tv money as a method of increasing revenue as opposed to bums in seats.
    And acknowledgement of that has not been missed by investors in the the “US”, especially the variety of ways that are now chargeable
    by the major networks, notably in streaming.

    Well I tend to wander in differing ways about different happenings snd projections soh ! I’m gonna call it a day, now that a new manager is on the way , that I don’t reject, for at least a couple of years, depending on how he makes out.

  7. Chuck, well I think most fans will hope that Eddie Howe is a stop gap as they target some top world manager. Unlike Man City, they can’t the sponsorship dodge where another member of the al Saud sponsors them for £100 millions to get around the fair play regulations, they might end up being thankful for Ashley being a tightwad when he owned the club. If we’re still where we are now in January, that would make it harder to sign any big name players too.

  8. I guessed right, once we became clear of all the crap thrown from the rest of the league, then came the choices of who we decide to sign, in other words who will save us from an obvious relegation,
    Being it is clearly on the way.
    Actually Big Sam has already suggested a number of his candidates
    just to keep his name in front of the public and like other’s I call
    “The retreads” ex managers who’s job it has been to save clubs from an inevitable relegation, can’t resist naming players we could and should buy.
    Sure, this is no more than expected, even Shearer has added his voice and will accept some sort of job offer , just as long as he can continue blathering away on tv as a pundit.
    Not to mention half or more of the regular fans have their opinions
    posted on various blogs, in which case I am not about to indulge myself with choices .
    Though there have been plenty whoso far appear to have over-indulged themselves, giving their opinions on mostly players one has never heard of from clubs from Turkey too South America, well you know what I mean !
    And I see we have also hired a club overseer, who once worked for Chelsea, can’t be bad after all it’s a well run club.
    Soh, let em get on with it I suppose as this is a critical period and may have a lot to do with the clubs future, to ensure it is built on solid decisions.
    Hopefully we will not go throwing around lots of dosh for a bunch of over the hills stars, whom there are plenty still hoping for that last paycheck, whether they play or not.
    But find a group that can almost guarantee no relegation, oh ! don’t worry about the threat of refusing to sell to us, clubs will still act on their interests as usual.
    And I believe that one of the so called owners has a ten year period
    that we ave to win a title, so no rush folks.
    Just ignore the pleas of fans and the so called “a word in your ear about proceeding ” from the pundits and use the skills and advice of your two top men, after all that’s why they were hired, No ?
    As I always noted this club has been without a decent upper management group for fourteen years, well we appear to have two decent guys, just leave them alone, as they both appear to have some kind of faith in their abilities, ok !

    w

  9. Soh ! 3-3 the second worst side in the EPL vs the worst, something new for the Geordies to score at least three goals, of which our big name center forward (all forty thousand quid of him) got at least one.
    Watched the Wolves game, which turned out to be decent, with the home side the better of the two and did in fact get a win, though
    West Hams Rice was outstanding as usual, Sez something about
    what you want or need in a football squad, perhaps nufc should make a note of, being they are in the market for an entire side.
    This may in fact be a good time to use up any flight vouchers, certainly to catch some of the South American qualifiers, which are still in effect I believe, And having watched the recent Brasil vs Argentina game the other night, believe those countries verging the
    Rio Piatta Basin plus Brasil know something about football
    and it’s important to have proper scouts and listen to what our former players from the area have to recommend, instead of dumping them.
    Also the bi-annual , African tournament is about to take place once more and by declaring Liverpools CF to be the worlds best player sez something about north and west African players now being joined and considered by the former cricketeers of ex colonial east Africa, who are currently making a name for themselves in football.

    What I am saying is the better clubs and those with money, appear to be loaded with South Americans and in general north and west africans, due to their scouting systems, no ?
    And now we have a need not only for re-inforcements but an entire side, plus a bunch of prospects for our youth sides, don’t you think a proper scouting system is a necessity.

    And to give this some real meaning, remember the time that Ashley gave the old scout a train ticket, around France and Spain, which ended up by
    buying the best side since SBR, however all were sold to top sides the following years, for big bucks and for a short time our dear owner had considered becoming a buyer and re seller to the Epl, unfortunately he never acted on it, ah well !
    and if the Epl despise this club so much, the world has enough football players to fill the gap !

  10. Well they need to avoid getting relegated before anything, Chuck. On current form, they’ll get 19-20 points at the end of the season and it’s a resurgent Arsenal next, but we have two relegation rivals after that so they’ll be important. They’ll have to gel quickly with the new manager. If the next three games go wrong, the pressure will really be on. Big time Charlies will be dubious about coming to a club that’s facing relegation in January.

  11. Well here we are, following an eight game run, something I never expected and can almost guarantee, will keep us in the epl, at least until the end of this years run.
    Most unexpected I may add and who gets the credit, well it appears to be our manager…….
    Of course it could be those who were afraid they may be traded and wanted to hold onto their gig’s. rather than be replaced by some ex
    player from Bournemouth, that our manager appeared to have more faith in, which is why he was heavily involved in bringing them to St. James’, which concerned me.
    Well I suppose we have weeded out who is going and who is staying and had I been in his shoes would have been quite concerned about bog standard defensive players only.
    The summer is rapidly approaching and I have yet to hear mention of goal scorers or any decent additions, and we need a decent replacement for our mid-field general, who doesn’t really put himself about defensively and who obviously fouled out of a game purposley , who believes he is there until he decides differently.
    I believe he described himself as having a languid style, no Shola Amiobi had a languid style of movement he imo is lazy and stays at clubs because of the occasional goal or pass, that’s it !
    Though when I see what the club can do as a result of our previous owner, we ended up as a poor side who should all be sold .
    Soh ! I’m a bit concerned about the next widow, no more ex.
    Bournemouth players and at least a goalscoring forward or two,
    There will be opportunities to sign some decent youngsters and a couple of top level forwards , with backup players for all, resulting
    in a top eight side.
    After that, who knows but I’m curious about the owners and their policies , I mean why is the guy the defensive Holland player, going to Milan, which is another Saudi owned side and are they proposing to be part owner of a number of both Euro Sides and possibly South American clubs
    But what I do understand is things tend to change over time and
    when one owns a variety of clubs one tends to get in each others way whether meant or not.
    Yeah I find that there appears to be the possibility of the Saudis to invest in a number of clubs, though I hear nothing about the intentions thereafter, and wonder why ?

    b

    y