But we had one player in the ranks who came from London ... Scott Parker ... and he would never come to grips with the Geordie mentality.I once had a 'discussion' with a Londoner in a Spanish holiday resort a few years ago and he claimed you could tell a Cockney from a Geordie just by looking at them.
"It's not WHAT you wear ... it's how you WEAR it ... and Cocknies look the part and Geordies don't".
I laughed it off, but watching Parker in black and white probably confirmed what the guy said.
While the rest of the team (not just Geordie boys Alan Shearer, Lee Clark, Robbie Elliott or Steven Taylor) were rolling around in the clarts fighting for the cause, Scott was never that eager to tackle when the need was not ctitical.
Yes, he looked cool, never a hair out of place. But not the sort of man you'd like in the trenches.
He left Tyneside, and Sam Allardyce explains why he let him go ...
Big Sam: "At the time we had to let him leave to get Joey Barton in.