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Allan Saint-Maximin – 17 word damning statement on Mike Ashley’s Newcastle United?

3 years ago
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Allan Saint-Maximin is now ‘looking forward’ to his third season at Newcastle United.

Only 29 days now until it all kicks off again.

Allan Saint-Maximin and his NUFC teammates have now had two weeks of pre-season preparations / training.

However, coming up to six weeks gone of the 2021 summer transfer window, not a single new signing added to the NUFC squad, which had already lost Joe Willock and his goals (which helped earn 17 points last season in the eight games he scored) from the end of last season.

Interviewed at the start of the week and asked about the most important things Newcastle United could benefit from in this week’s training camp near York, rather bizarrely, Steve Bruce said top of the list was the chance to integrate a few new players into your squad…that is, if you had actually signed a few new players!

Allan Saint-Maximin is always interesting, amusing, often creative, in his use of social media.

The French winger intriguing fans by putting up this ‘Fleet’ on Twitter:

“If you do the same thing over and over again you cannot ever expect a different outcome.” Albert Einstein

A ‘Fleet’ is something that can be added (though Twitter have now announced they will stopping the use of them on 3 August 2021) on Twitter than stays there for just 24 hours, then disappears.

This Allan Saint-Maximin ‘Fleet’ has now passed 24 hours and disappeared but the Albert Einstein quote he refers to is more often laid out as:  ‘Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.’

No clarification from Allan Saint-Maximin as to exactly what he was referring to with his enigmatic use of the quote but along with pretty much every other Newcastle United fans, I find it very difficult to believe he was referring to anything other than Newcastle United, as the quote perfectly sums up Mike Ashley’s running of NUFC.

Just look at these three Allan Saint-Maximin interviews, two of them only seven or eight weeks ago, then compare that to what has ‘happened’ so far in terms of Newcastle United strengthening for the new season…

Allan Saint-Maximin talking to Stadium Astro – 28 May 2021:

“I feel really good because I play in the best league in the world…it is really important for me to play in this league.

“It’s a little bit cold here [moving to Newcastle from Nice] but the people are not cold, the people are really, really hot…that is why I really love Newcastle.

“Sometimes you have to be honest and Newcastle don’t have to be in this position you know because I don’t think anyone wants to fight every year to not get relegated.

“For me, Newcastle have the opportunity, have everything [as a club] to try to fight for the top 10 and try to win some trophies because that’s why we play football.

“We play football to win games and win trophy, so that’s why a lot of the time I feel disappointed and that’s what I say, sometimes you have to be honest.

“I don’t want to do again a season where we fight relegation, so I hope the club and everyone tries to do the best to have a really good team for the start of next season and try to do everything to win a trophy because it’s the most important thing.

“Joe Willock is an amazing player, he can run fast, he can score goals, his technique, his ability…we need more players like him if we want to be in the top ten.

“When you bring in a player like Willock, I feel more comfortable…so it is really important to have more players like Joe Willock in the team.”

Allan Saint-Maximin talking to Sky Sports about Newcastle United and his future…- 19 May 2021:

“The club [Newcastle United] has given me everything, the opportunity for me to show to everyone my quality in the Premier League.

“When they asked me about a new deal, I feel that I have to give. Sometimes when people give you something, you have to give back.

“But before I signed it, I had always said Newcastle should not be fighting against relegation every year.

“We have to fight for the top 10, it’s what the supporters deserve.

“Sometimes you have to think about your future, you can see Leicester winning the FA Cup, you play football to win trophies, not to fight to stay up.

“We have to buy more players like Joe Willock, he can be really great for the team and for myself, I am 24 years old, and have to think about the national team, about winning trophies, and hope the club can give me that.

“My relationship is really good with Joe [Willock] inside and outside the pitch, and you can see how that helps a team when you have players like that – like Harry Kane and Heung-min Son at Tottenham.”

Asked about his longer-term ambitions and whether Newcastle United could / can fulfil them, Allan Saint-Maximin speaking to sport.fr – 9 October 2020:

‘You are fighting your second season with the Magpies, what do you think of the club? Do you plan to stay for the long-term?’

“The club has a lot of ambitions and everyone has followed the news around Newcastle in particular with the possible takeover which was ultimately not possible, compared to the Premier League. There are a lot of big investors trying to buy the club. We also have a president who invests a lot of money in order to strengthen the team and continue the development.

“For my part, everything will depend on this development.

“If the club is developing well and it is in line with my ambitions, staying is a possibility.

“If things don’t turn out like that, obviously the question of leaving will arise.

“Now we are in a huge league with a lot of big teams, so being able to play in Europe and the Europa League would be really great. The Champions League is a big dream, every footballer wants to play it.

“It’s a great, historic club that has a lot of dreams and there is everything around it to achieve this goal. ”

We all know as fans just how depressing this pre-season has been so far, not a single signing and the first friendlies starting tomorrow and the new season only four weeks away.

So just imagine how depressing it is for an ambitious exciting player such as Allan Saint-Maximin and when he looks around the training ground and instead of new signings he sees the likes of Hendrick, Muto etc etc.

Then wonder what Allan Saint-Maximin thinks when he reads that Newcastle United have no intention of even putting in a bid to buy Joe Willock and that the Mike Ashley budget allowed for new signings this summer is somewhere between £10m and zero?

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