French Disconnection - Part 1
Taking French Leave
When David Ginola was signed from Paris St Germain by Kevin Keegan for £2.5m he became the first player from France to play for Newcastle. Since his arrival a whole team of Frenchmen have come and gone (although one came back). .
It's fair to say that almost without exception each player has contributed in his own way to the "entente (not so) cordiale" that exists between the Toon Army and French imports in general
1 - Lionel Perez [Months: 21 Appearances: 0]
Signed on a free transfer from the Makems in the summer of 1998 after conceding 11 goals in the play-off final against Charlton. Thankfully he was never given a competitive outing and he was shipped out on loan a couple of times before eventually being granted a free transfer (to Cambridge). He claimed he "had lost his football" on the Tyne, but he still managed to earn approximately £500,000 during his stay enabling him to feed his peroxide passions.
Lionel (married with 2 children) can currently be seen at the rear of the Stevenage Borough team
2 - Laurent Charvet [Months: 27 Appearances: 50(3) Goals: 1 ]
Another of Dalglish's many buys during the summer of 1998 , he arrived from Cannes for £520,000 (after failing to secure a long-term contract at Chelsea). In his first season he did relatively well proving to be very versatile and improving as the season went on. 1999/00 however proved to be a disaster. He picked up an injury in pre-season and only made a couple of appearances all year where he gave away a goal and a penalty.
Robson sold him to Manchester City for £1.5m where he never settled. In fact when Keegan took over he was so impressed with him he was given a cool million just to get him off their books. He later returned to France.
3 - Olivier Bernard [Months: 38 Appearances: 55(23) Goals: 6]
In the summer of 2002 Bernard, frustrated by a dearth of first-team opportunities believed he was free to leave the club and signed a pre-contract with West Ham. United were furious; believing that the Hammers had illegally "tapped" the player and knowing that they had an option on a third year.
But Bernard was adamant that he wouldn't return to the club. "Whatever happens, I don't want to play for Newcastle United and would find it very difficult to go back. I was disappointed at my lack of first-team opportunities at Newcastle and that is why I turned down their offer of a new contract. I'm confident common sense will prevail and I will be able to play for the club (West Ham) in the new season.''
When the tribunal found in United's favour Bernard performed an amazing u-turn and agreed a new three-year deal. Then just as he had established himself in the side Bernard was quoted in a Sunday tabloid as saying the "wrong people" are running the club and that "too many businessmen and not enough people passionate about football are at the head of Newcastle." He went on to describe the North East as "grey" and "boring," "It's a football town, there is nothing else to do." Shepherd was supposedly: "spitting blood", but appears to have accepted Bernard's claim that he was misquoted
4 - Alain Goma [Months: 21 Appearances: 40(1) Goals: 1]
Recruited by Gullit from PSG for £4.8m in the 1999/00 close season he seemed to spend long periods injured, he soon became unsettled made it clear that he wanted to leave. He was sold to Fulham for £4m.
After he left Goma slagged United off for lacking ambition; "we did not work hard enough at Newcastle - and that is what I missed. I don't think Newcastle shared the same motivation and ambition and that is what I need. I always did my best yet I needed this challenge. I'm very ambitious and I want to improve as a player."
5 - David Terrier [Months: 6 Appearances: 0 Goals: 0]
The 24 year old Terrier was snapped up by Dalglish on a free at the beginning of 1998 and was given a 6 month contract. He had been with West Ham but had failed to make an appearance; he got injured and then left for "personal reasons". He never even the subs bench for united and was released in the summer.
6 - Sylvain Distin [Months: 10 Appearances: 27(8) Goals: 0 ]
The French have a saying: 'amour fait beaucoup mais argent fait tout' which means; love does much but money does everything. It is probably Distin's motto. Robson signed him on loan from PSG and it looked as though a permanent deal was going to be struck with both the club and the player making positive noises. A £3.8m fee was agreed but Distin's (alleged) wage demands of £25,000 a week prevented the move from being completed
Kevin Keegan muscled in and signed him for Man City and a disgusted Freddie Shepherd accused him of being a "mercenary''. The club also lodged an appeal, but nothing appeared to come of it. Altogether now "Un bātard avide, il y a seulement un bātard avide"