What Newcastle United face is a season of destiny. No grey, everything written starkly in black and white.
Champions League joy or humiliation. Premier League challenge or a fall from current heights. A domestic trophy or another empty haul. It is the same for several individuals, none more so than Allan Saint-Maximin. Maxi effort or minimum return? Saint or sinner?
He is United's trampoline, up and down. Either the self styled main hope of success or an over rated footballer who inevitably comes up short. Even Maxi himself bounces from one outlook to another. Fired up and devoted to the Geordie cause or strangely indifferent and appearing to seek a way out.
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Saint-Maximin is no longer a prospect. While Elliot Anderson is 20; Anthony Gordon 22; Alexander Isak, Sven Botman, Joe Willock and new signing Sandro Tonali 23, Maxi is now 26. A bairn no more but a mature player rapidly approaching his supposed best years. Hence it is now or never. No slack to be cut.
One of the fascinating card marking suggestions which came out of SJP as to why United eventually decided not to press all the buttons in the chase for James Maddison was because they already had Saint-Maximin!
If that is the case it opens up two intriguing thoughts. First that with Eddie Howe demanding a high pressing, chase-back-as-well-as-forward style of play he felt Maddison would be unable to operate effectively in the same side as Maxi with neither given to automatically tracking back. Like David Ginola from the Entertainers days they only take part when they have the ball.
However perhaps much more significantly it also implies that Saint-Maximin as the sitting tenant is very much part of Howe's thinking for the new season with its extra burden of Champions League matches rather than he is about to be jettisoned.
That will surprise some people, none more so than my old friend Malcolm Macdonald who regularly highlights Maxi's stats. SuperMac insists that for a forward ASM's goals and assists record is nowhere near good enough and therefore he ought to be sacrificed in order to boost United's financial clout in the transfer market. So let us have a look at those figures.
Saint-Maximin has played 111 PL games for Newcastle scoring 12 goals and contributing 18 assists. Five FA Cup ties have brought one goal and two assists, eight League Cup matches no goals or assists. To save you doing the maths his current overall Magpie record is 124 matches, 13 goals and 20 assists. Make your own mind up whether that is good enough or not. Whether it tells the full tale or not.
By the way Maxi's career record stands at 35 goals from 293 appearances with Saint-Etienne, Monaco, Hannover 96 and Bastia on loan, Nice, and Newcastle.
Certainly no one splits opinion like the Frenchman. I confess I can be swayed either way. When I see him on a good day (Man City home last season) I can marvel at the frightening unpredictability he can cause. Kyle Walker, the fastest defender in the PL, was scorched by him. However when I witness the same guy disappearing up his own trouser leg I despair.
My presumption is that in Europe where a team needs that off-the-cuff ability to replace predictability at times and unlock hugely organised opposition in a tight match Howe could well see Maxi as his impact player. On the other side of the coin playing Champions League football for the first time will no doubt appeal to Saint-Maximin. As it stands a love-in offset occasionally by total exasperation will probably continue into a fifth PL season.
However ASM's attitude is the key that will determine Howe's final mindset somewhere down the line beyond the summer... dedicated believer buying into his manager's blueprint or loose cannon always with an eye on the door. Make your mind up Maxi and stick by it.
Meanwhile who is coming in dominates Geordie minds. With Sandro Tonali at last about to walk through the SJP portals concentration is moving on to who is next. There has been some twitching on social media with long term targets James Maddison and Dominik Szoboszlai opting to throw in their lot with two clubs of big reputation Spurs and Liverpool who are looking to haul back the upstarts who dared nick their Champions League place. Such activity elsewhere only heightens the competitive challenge lying ahead for Newcastle.
It's all a matter of judgement of course. Who out of the three has got the best deal? We must keep the faith no matter what. United's transfer record is good, nay better than that. We await the next arrival with welcoming open arms.
