During the summer months Louis Nicollin, the Montpellier chairman, said Cabella would be "an idiot to join Newcastle United ... just look at how Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa has struggled there".
Nicollin said Remy Cabella was "too good for Newcastle United" but he has struggled under Alan Pardew.
Nicollin: “He has the ability to succeed in England, that’s for sure, but not at Newcastle. He is frail, but he’s hard to catch.”
Newcastle’s problem is that there is no time to wait.
Cabella has to start producing right away, and he is doing his manager''s prospects of staying at the club no favours.
Questions were asked when Pardew said he was looking for a "tough target man" and brought in the light-weight Cabella and a kid who has never left sun-kissed Tenerife.
Let''s see how the pair handle the "clarts" at St James'' Park in January and February.
More fashion than football?
Alan Pardew: “We have to give him a platform on which to perform.
"We are trying to find a way we can do that for him.
"He has played on the right, through the middle and even on the left a little bit.
“We are trying to find an avenue for him where we can get the best out of him.
"He’s an individual who needs time to adjust to the Premier League because it’s so much more physical than he is used to.
“He’s had some terrible decisions go against him and been absolutely hammered and not been given fouls.
"The refs haven’t been giving them and that power is what he needs in the Premier League.
“Half of it he needs to do himself by building his upper body and making sure he doesn’t go over easy.
"The other side of the coin is that we like to think referees will give him more protection that he’s getting.
"He’s not getting enough at the moment, that’s for sure.
“Our policy here has been the same since I’ve been at the club. We have bought players we think have good market value and that means mainly the younger players.
“I’ve had to deal with younger players and some have been massively successful and some haven’t.
"At the moment we are not having as much success as we’ve had.
"We’ve produced some fantastic players for this club and we need to start producing a few more.”