That Newcastle United's co-owners Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi were sat around table with David Ginola at all shows how far the club has come in a short space of time.
The flamboyant Frenchman's comments were once unwelcome at St James' Park and frowned upon by the powers that be at United. After Steve Harper's testimonial, Ginola stood in the club's Milburn Stand reception and chatted to journalists about what was needed on Tyneside. That was back in 2013.
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Ginola made very similar sentiments to his candid Super Sunday rant after the Spurs defeat nine years ago. Back then, after holding court with football writers, he concluded, while pointing upstairs the boardroom, with: "But, it depends on them".
If you haven't heard Ginola's rant yet, with many fans in need of a stiff drink as opposed to reliving the game in the immediate aftermath at Spurs, you may be interested to know it has gone viral on YouTube. After a deep breath, Ginola told the Super Sunday panel: "I think it needs to be rebuilt from scratch, tactically they try to copycat other teams without the quality you need.
"Yes. Reshape the team, not with the same players. We need to find a way that Newcastle is going to use their spirit and what they do on the field, they believe in what they do.
"What we saw was for just 15 or 20 minutes. We had two lines and everybody doing the same thing when they lost the ball, I think they have to have their own way of playing. There is no creativity. They need to be more accurate and have more spirit."
Ginola was then pressed and asked for an inevitable line on the Entertainers, and added: "Kevin Keegan didn't ask us to do much. Tactically it wasn't on the board like massive tactics. I was told (by KK): 'I don't want you to defend because John Beresford will defend, I don't want you there, I want you to provide something in the box."
Ginola then went on: "Don't ask somebody to do something they can't do." The Frenchman's remarks then resulted in laughter by fellow pundits Graeme Souness and Jermain Defoe before he want on the defensive.
The next bit made for compelling Sunday afternoon TV when he said: "If I was working for the club after that, conceding five goals, you think this is professional? Honestly?
"Defending wise was poor, at this level you need to defend better. I had defenders on me (marking him during his career) and it wasn't that."
Ginola dropped a hint of what will happen next, he said: "The project was never going to be done in a few months. The project starts next season and we will look at the period time it will take, maybe five or six years to build a club.
"When I say rebuild the club from scratch, it's not getting rid of everyone, it's to rethink the whole thing because if you think about the Entertainers, it's just players who really enjoy being together. We really enjoy playing together, being together and the dressing room for me is vital.
"If in the dressing room the players aren't getting on well, they can't work together on the football pitch - it's as simple as that. If you disagree with that tell me.
"But for me the spirit we had with the Entertainers was brilliant. "We knew each very well. My English wasn't good but I wanted to know more about the players. You need to build a family. A football club has to be a family."
The family element at Newcastle is something Staveley is keen to push as she looks to build a friendly environment rather than closed doors, which was the case under Mike Ashley. The previous regime didn't want to listen to people who know the club like Ginola. That the owners are receptive to his views as they move ahead can only be judged as a good thing.
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