LONDON: By overseeing a 'French Revolution' at Newcastle United, outgoing manager Alan Pardew has had a more far-reaching impact on the club's heritage than almost any of his immediate predecessors.
While he failed to win over large sections of Newcastle's support during his four-year tenure, the stockpiling of French players under Pardew radically changed the make-up of the success-starved club's playing staff.
Of the 27 players signed by Newcastle during Pardew's time at the helm, 13 were French -- a testament to the influence of chief scout Graham Carr, for whom Ligue 1 has proved richly fertile territory.
In October 2013, a sequence of 13 consecutive Gallic goals saw Newcastle establish a new record for the longest run of goals scored by foreign players from one country in the English top flight.
Earlier that year, the club had hosted a 'French Day', which saw fans turn up for a match against Southampton brandishing Tricolore flags and wearing berets, while the Marseillaise was played before kick-off.
Pardew was rechristened 'Alain Pardieu' on social media and joked: "I think there's a good chance I could win French manager of the year."
The heavy French presence in the changing room has had the added bonus of making it easier for Newcastle to attract Francophone players to the club.
Including Papiss Cisse (Senegal), Cheick Tiote (Ivory Coast), Mehdi Abeid (Algeria) and Kevin Mbabu (Switzerland), there are currently 13 French-speaking players on Newcastle's books.
There have been French players at Newcastle before, such as the flamboyant wingers David Ginola and Laurent Robert, but for a club where the walls used to ring with the Geordie tones of home-grown heroes like Paul Gascoigne or Alan Shearer, it represents a cultural sea-change that has not been to everyone's liking.
"I don't think it's a healthy thing to have too many French players in one dressing room," Shearer confided in 2013.
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