Having finished the season in right royal fashion this is decision time at Newcastle United. Now is when the club's immediate future will be shaped and that requires a real toughness.
Who to bring in and who to let go. Any dithering and United will suffer.
Not that I believe for one moment that Eddie Howe will dither. However one of his toughest decisions in my opinion is what to do about Allan Saint-Maximin, the darling of a lot of fans.
Well let me have my tuppence worth. I would get rid. I would cash in and move on. Saint-Maximin is the most frustrating, annoying player I've ever seen in black and white. He has so much talent, such pace, such trickery yet he flatters to deceive.
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For a player who sees so much of the ball in a game he does next to nothing with it. He scored five goals in the season just ended and none during a long run-in when United were playing their best stuff.
With his natural talent and self believe Saint-Maximin ought to be getting a minimum of 12 goals every season. As for assists who many does he actually make? Yes the last of Callum Wilson's two goals at Burnley but before that how many?
It is said that the Frenchman wants parity with Newcastle's top earners. Is he kidding? Does he contribute as much as Bruno or Kieran Trippier to the team not himself?
No, Howe and the owners have a huge, huge decision to make because if you keep him and play him then he dictates everything that happens, or rather doesn't happen, in the final third of the pitch. And if you put him on the bench regularly he could sour the special atmosphere in the dressing-room.
Suggestions have been that United would sell at £50m but have found there is no market for him at that price. Of course not. No Champions League club like Manchester City or Liverpool would contemplate buying Saint-Maximin.
He is a stand-out player in a below average Premier League side but not in a team above that. The market for him is a club trying to get established who need a crowd pleaser.
I remember watching him in astonishment against Norwich up here earlier in the season. He picked the ball up on the left wing and cut inside. He went past one man, then another, and another finishing up on the right wing but not a foot further forward. Defenders just passed him on.
If Saint-Maximin had played on the wing in my day I would have nailed him in the dressing-room because he wants to beat a man and then go back and beat him again. That is no good to a centre-forward.
Ask Alan Shearer who tells a famous tale about having David Ginola up against the wall for not crossing early but continuing to jink doing a one man show and Ginola was a better player than Saint-Maximin will ever be.
When John Tudor and I were in harness we had a word with Stewart Barrowclough telling him what was required and he became the best crosser of the ball in the club. He hit it like a missile to near or far post which was a delight for a striker.
Saint-Maximin reminds me a lot of Adama Traore when he played on the wing for Wolves. All powerful thighs, great speed, and excitement but little end product. Eventually Wolves let him go off abroad to play.
If United want to finish in the top six and get into Europe then Saint-Maximin is not their man. Cash in, take whatever you can get and move him on. The fans will quickly forget as new heroes are born.
