Allan Saint-Maximin (now playing for Fenerbahce, on loan from Al-Ahli)

[Ronaldo]

22 minutes ago, buzz said:

 

Three away wins all season. Loads of stupid last minute equalisers against us, including infamously Lua Lua's. 

 

The mood was very bad even in spite of finishing 5th and getting to a semi final.

Think it was 2 away wins, Boro and Fulham.

 

Shearer didn’t score an away goal after November. Was rather bizarre how passive we were that season.

[madras]

I think we saw that the tide had turned and Sir Bob wasn't the one to turn it back, thise two 5th place finishes were hugely different. Similar happened at Sunderland, they had back to back 7th place finishes but the second one was a much worse season. If they had got rid of Reid then their downturn may not have been so spectacular 

[Ronaldo]

We finished 3rd season before. Played mostly great stuff. Crazy looking back that Andy O’Brien was a fixture. 

[Kanj]

Mind boggling we finished that high with 2 away wins  

[Jonas]

The above post about rose-tinted specs is it for me.

People are using the context that people were unhappy at finishing 5th based on what's happened since when the context at the time was 5th was a massively detrimental needless own goal by the club and things needed stirred.

 

We probably got booed off 10-20 times under Sir Bobby. Even earlier that season at home to Bolton and Birmingham.

Its a time honoured response at the end of exceptionally awful performances - its not hounding out.

I didn't stay back after Wolves to give them something to think about, not condone it.

The ground was half-empty for the walk around after 00/01 too. Is the reason that wasn't hounding out because he wasn't sacked 4month after like 04?

Was there even one "Robson out" chant or banner or protest?

 

Everyone, including the players, knew Sir Bobby was leaving at the end of the season. Every time that seemed to happen things fell apart at clubs. That's ultimately why he was sacked, to break that situation up. Everybody would have preferred to get rid of Bellamy, Jenas and Dyer but that's not how it works.

 

The fans worry and frustration ended up being fully vindicated. Abramovic has just arrived and there was one place left to fight for. It was ours and they messed it up and doomed us to the stagnancy that followed, not the fans. Any clubs fans fearing that and seeing it would react that way. Its arguably what fans are supposed to do rather than just accept decline (see the Ashley era)

 

 

Edited December 20, 2022 by Jonas

[Tiresias]

For all the doom and gloom on here, thought he looked on it last night, more minutes may have produced a goal. 

[AyeDubbleYoo]

Thought he was quite good. 

 

The people behind me were set on hammering him even before he came on, which I think is the case with a lot of fans. Straight away they started criticising him for stopping, turning back, not passing it instantly etc. Even if he wasn't doing anything particularly bad. 

 

I have doubts about whether he'll ever be a long-term fixture for us, but I thought he looked quite sharp last night. 

[Ikon]

Agree. He looked sharp. 

[Hanshithispantz]

He was class, I used to think his end product was a weakness but his incisive passing in the final 3rd is probably even better than Trippier’s.

 

 

Edited December 21, 2022 by Hanshithispantz

[mighty__mag]

Created a few chances putting players through on two occasions, and also seemed to add a lift to a dull game, not long after he came on Bournemouth instantly played chess, swapping players out to double up on him, he still managed to ride the wave. This is what managers/teams do, they don't look see Murphy in the team and panic, but if ASM starts or comes on they have to consider his threat to them, it works in our favour if it does or doesn't affect ASMs game, doubling up on the left helps free up space in other areas. But he handled it well at times. 

 

 

 

 

[Doctor Zaius]

Needs to start V Leicester 

[Lush Vlad]

Based on his cameo last night, I'd start him.  He never used to work off the bench, but he changed it in our favour, I thought.  

[The Butcher]

Do wonder what the point in all the bandages are? Both wrists and knees. Looks well daft. 

[SUPERTOON]

34 minutes ago, Lush Vlad said:

Based on his cameo last night, I'd start him.  He never used to work off the bench, but he changed it in our favour, I thought.  

I’d start him simply to get Joelinton back in the middle.

[NWMag]

I too thought he was good last night. Still wanted to take people on but certainly is more focused on passing the ball, set up a chance for Bruno and could have had a number of assists really. 

[Wallsendmag]

Thought he did very well when he came on and would have had an assist to his name if it wasn't for Wood's dreadful miss at the end. I'm sure ASM alluded to Wood playing so much in Wilsons absence last season as a reason for his own poor assist statistics but can't find a direct quote. Something just sticks in my head about it.

[Manxst]

9 minutes ago, Wallsendmag said:

Thought he did very well when he came on and would have had an assist to his name if it wasn't for Wood's dreadful miss at the end. I'm sure ASM alluded to Wood playing so much in Wilsons absence last season as a reason for his own poor assist statistics but can't find a direct quote. Something just sticks in my head about it.

‘The day I get a team-mate who is able to convert the chances I create, I will have 10 to 15 successful assists every season,’ Saint-Maximin told French publication So Foot. ‘That will change people’s minds.’

‘Those who have played alongside me know full well that when it comes to pure quality, I have no cause to be jealous of [someone like] Sadio Mane. But the difference between these great players and me is that they show a lot of things on the pitch.’

[Wallsendmag]

1 minute ago, Manxst said:

‘The day I get a team-mate who is able to convert the chances I create, I will have 10 to 15 successful assists every season,’ Saint-Maximin told French publication So Foot. ‘That will change people’s minds.’

‘Those who have played alongside me know full well that when it comes to pure quality, I have no cause to be jealous of [someone like] Sadio Mane. But the difference between these great players and me is that they show a lot of things on the pitch.’

 

Cheers mate, that's the one.

[HawK]

Looked great last night. The team needs to do better at moving off the ball when he has it, though. A lot tend to just stand and watch to see what he does rather than making runs, reminds me a bit how the team was when Hatem ran with it. Difference being now that I'm sure Howe will be in Maxi's ear telling him to find an open man, and I can see him looking for the pass much more often last night. The team needs to realise this and do their bit too. For all our possession, we don't do attacking movement well when we're trying to break a team down.

[Shak]

Aye, definitely excited to see more of him with Wilson or Isak as the CF instead of Wood.

 

When he does get his head up he plays some tasty little passes at times.

[JonBez comesock]

1 hour ago, The Butcher said:

Do wonder what the point in all the bandages are? Both wrists and knees. Looks well daft. 

Looks cool inniiitttt

[Lush Vlad]

2 hours ago, Wallsendmag said:

Thought he did very well when he came on and would have had an assist to his name if it wasn't for Wood's dreadful miss at the end. I'm sure ASM alluded to Wood playing so much in Wilsons absence last season as a reason for his own poor assist statistics but can't find a direct quote. Something just sticks in my head about it.

Whistle went ages before that for handball. Don’t think Wood realised, mind  

[TRon]

3 hours ago, SUPERTOON said:

I’d start him simply to get Joelinton back in the middle.

 

I thought Joelinton was one of our best players last night, but it was more general contribution than as a specialist wide man, so I get where you are coming from.

[Minhosa]

His cameo last night was played out pretty much right in front of me/where I sit.

 

He impacted the game and made a positive contribution but, even with that said, he still frustrated me a bit;

 

1) He does not contribute to the team when we are out of possession at all. Literally doesn't partake in the press at all so the approach is entirely lopsided when he's on the pitch.

 

2) For some reason he stands at least 15-20 yards deeper than our focal point up top (be that Wood or Wilson) and, when he then gets possession he then has to beat his man and normally a covering midfielder from the opposition. If he was further up the pitch, he'd literally be one on one and closer to the goal/box. It's particularly frustrating when, even though he's too deep, he still does not contribute defensively so we can't even offset that against it - see point 1 above.

 

3) I feel he drops deeper to enable him to cut inside which he tends to do rather than get past their full back and whip a ball in so it's almost like he's playing for him, and what he wants to do, rather than the good of the team.

 

He can get away with all of the above when he has his, once a month, worldies but I still think he's on borrowed time as he's more an individual than a team player and he's not suited to how we now function without the ball.

[Minhosa]

Based on the above, I'd not start him at Leicester btw. In this system, he's an impact player from now (mainly when the opposition are tired) for me.

 

He's now a walking curveball/wildcard option and I'm not convinced he'll ever be coachable to the extent you can fully rely on him performing a role in a set system in the way you can a Joelinton or Willock.