Friday 11 December 2015 14:53, UK
David Ginola is remembered for flamboyant skill, Hollywood good looks and shampoo adverts, but beneath the flashy exterior, his old Newcastle and Tottenham team-mates recall a fierce competitor who embraced the grittier aspects of 90s Premier League football...
The summer of 1995 was a thrilling time for Newcastle United. Kevin Keegan had the title in his sights and the club were showing their intent in the transfer market. Only Alan Shearer and Robbie Fowler had outscored marquee signing Les Ferdinand in the previous season, and Warren Barton had joined from Wimbledon as the most expensive defender in English football.
Nothing, though, captured the imagination quite like the £2.5m arrival of French winger David Ginola from Paris Saint-Germain. His reputation across the Channel had been tarnished by the infamous error in World Cup qualifying which cost France a place at USA '94, but that was of little concern on Tyneside, where his extravagant talent and flowing locks were greeted with a buzz of anticipation.
While Ginola had lifted three domestic trophies and reached the semi-finals of the Champions League in his final two seasons at PSG, however, he was a relative unknown to many of his new team-mates. Paris was one thing but could he cut it up north? Former centre-back Steve Howey still remembers his first training session.
"Everyone knew straight away how good he was," he tells Sky Sports. "At that time we used to have five-a-sides, and the quality and the pace of them was absolutely ridiculous. Every time a new signing came in, we'd have a five-a-side and we'd find out very, very quickly if they were up to it. We used to absolutely whack the ball into them just to see if they could cope with it.
"So about four or five balls have gone up to David and he's absolutely killed it stone dead, twisted and turned and stuck it in the bottom corner. Scott Sellers, who was at the club at the time, turned around to one of the lads and said: 'That's me out of the team.'" Sure enough, Sellars was sold to Bolton as Ginola took over on the left flank.
"One of his first games for us was against Middlesbrough and Neil Cox was their full-back," adds Howey. "I know Neil and he's a good lad, but I felt so sorry for him that day because he got absolutely twisted left, right and centre. David was that good on both feet. He could dip his left shoulder and go right and vice-versa. I think in the end Cox had to be taken off by the St John's Ambulance."
There were no airs and graces, just good young lads who wanted to win games. David blended in fantastically and I still keep in touch with him.
Cox was the first in a long line of Premier League full-backs to be humiliated by Ginola. But while the Frenchman's extravagance and audacity shone through on the pitch for Newcastle's Entertainers, Howey recalls a grounded personality in the dressing room. "In those days we didn't even have our own building," he says. "Not like now when you see these beautiful academies and training facilities.
"We used to train at a place called the Graham Sports Centre which was part-owned by Durham University. So although we had our own dressing room, if you wanted to have a shower you could be in with anybody. You could have David Ginola and Alan Shearer getting showered with a lad who had just come off the street and played badminton.
"That's just how it was, but it worked. He might have been used to bigger and better things but he wasn't in Paris anymore, he was at Newcastle. There were no airs and graces, just good young lads who wanted to win games. David blended in fantastically and I still keep in touch with him."
After two second-placed finishes at Newcastle, Ginola made the move to Tottenham in 1997, where former defender Justin Edinburgh - now the manager of Gillingham in League One - was left with similarly fond memories. "We had seen how well he had done since arriving at Newcastle," he tells Sky Sports. "It was a very exciting time and obviously the lads were buzzing with his signing.
"Straight away he came on our pre-season tour of Norway and he settled in immediately. He was a top fella. I think you always look at him and think he was a bit of a loner and a bit aloof, but he put that to bed within the first couple of days."
Ginola had already achieved celebrity status by the time he joined Spurs, but his determination and professionalism impressed his team-mates. "He took his football very seriously and he was someone who wanted to win," says Edinburgh. "He had an opinion, and it wasn't always what I thought was right or what was best for me, but he was a big character and a good mixer in the group.
"He wasn't stand-offish. He had time for everyone and he was very much a part of the team ethos on and off the pitch. If we ever socialised he would be there, and he worked hard on the training ground."
Ginola won a PFA and FWA Player of the Year double in 1998/99, an achievement made all the more impressive by the fact Manchester United had won the treble that year. "I'm not sure everyone thought [former Spurs manager] George Graham and David would be a match but I think it gave him something to prove and he certainly did that," says Edinburgh. "He won the two awards and he was outstanding as we won the League Cup."
For left-back Edinburgh, there was only one downside. "It wasn't always easy to play behind him," he says. "He was someone who would always demand the ball from you and could deal with it near enough anywhere. Whether it be one, two or three players around him, he'd still be able to secure it and command it.
"But I wouldn't say he would always be too helpful to track back and help you on the defensive side. We played a lot of games together and he was a joy to play with, but I did let him know on one or two occasions that he could perhaps do a little bit more to get back and help me."
Ginola could frustrate at times and he never hit the same heights at Aston Villa and Everton, but was he a luxury player? Edinburgh pauses. "Luxury players do other things," he says. "At times he would leave me exposed and I came in for some flak, but when you have someone who can produce that moment of magic then is that a luxury player? I think that's someone who is a creator or a catalyst. Everyone plays their part in a team and he played a massive part in ours."
Ginola had the flamboyant skill and the celebrity good looks, but there was substance behind the style, and at Newcastle and Spurs his success came from a willingness to muck in and embrace his surroundings. Just don't ask him to track back…
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