Andy Carroll admits his love for Newcastle United remains unconditional as the big striker prepares to treat some of his new French team-mates to a big night watching the Toon here in Paris.
For Carroll will be roaring his old dressing room pals on in the Champions League at Parc des Princes and says he'd love to see his big mate Paul Dummett get just one kick against the oil-rich French giants, just so he can savour the remarkable journey of United with his own eyes.
At 34, the Geordie centre-forward can go to bed at night knowing he lived his dream as Newcastle's number 9 with an adoring St James' Park chanting his name. Now, he is enjoying a new chapter of life in France with Amien just 75 miles north of the French capital.
READ MORE: Newcastle notes from Paris with David Ginola's forecast & warning for fans
READ MORE: Bruno Guimaraes pays Newcastle United 'star' Lewis Miley ultimate compliment
The academy product, who once cost Liverpool £35million in a British record transfer fee, struggled for air at times in his career but in France trains late afternoon and enjoys meals with team-mates with a different pace to both life and the French game compared to the madness of England.
It is time to reflect in the autumn of his career and Carroll is happy to look back on the roller-coaster football CV that saw him thrown in as a raw teenager under Glenn Roeder back in 2006. There is time and distance between that balmy night in Sicily when Roeder made him the then-youngest European debutant in a 1-0 win over Palermo and his life with Amiens right now.
Carroll chats on the way to training about:
*His new life in France and the family club he joined last summer
*The disappointment of being told he'd earned a new Toon deal in 2021 only to then not receive a phone call from Steve Bruce to say things had changed!
*His one regret at Newcastle is that he didn't get the chance to play under Eddie Howe
*His intrigue at Howe's management approach after former team-mates told him they wanted him installed as boss BEFORE the takeover and in the final days of Steve Bruce
*Why he will never forget where he's from and plans to take his kids to St James' Park after retiring
When asked how a 6ft 4in lad from Gateshead ended up plying his trade in the picturesque city of Amiens Carroll told me in France: "I just wanted a little challenge and I have been wanting it for a few years but it never really materialised into something. When I was at Reading I wasn't really playing, so I wanted to challenge myself and try something different.
"I felt it could be the last challenge I could do before it was too late. So I got the opportunity to come out here, seen the club, met the manager and I thought: 'Two years out here won't be too bad at all'.
"The difference between French football and the English game, it is probably a lot slower paced. It is about waiting or sitting off for the right ball and waiting for the press. Where I think at the minute in England it is all about pressing. Especially Newcastle the way they are pressing now.
"Back home it is pressing as much as you can until the point you can't run any more. In France it is more reserved, a little more pass and move, creating chances to press. Rather than just going all out. It is a lot different really, the mentality of the boys are different as well."
Carroll has been watching Newcastle's rise to the Champions League from afar in France and admits he has been blown away by the work of Howe. It was only two years ago that Carroll found himself on the Toon bench with Sean Longstaff, Jacob Murphy and Fabian Schar but now they are major parts of Howe's revolution.
Carroll tells me: "Do you know what? When I was there, a few of the lads were saying: 'Eddie Howe needs to come in'. And that he would change everything. That's exactly what's happened. I just wish that even if I'd had a little spell with Eddie would have been great.
"Not that I am his type of player or wouldn't have expected to play under him the way he plays but just to see how he is around the training ground and how he coaches. Eddie gets the best out of the players. Even the players who when I was there were not even on the bench or not playing, he got the best out of them.
"I would have liked to have been part of that. When I was there, Callum Wilson and Matt Ritchie spoke so highly of him and how much he'd change this and that. Looking at it now from outside, wow. Look at Sean Longstaff.
"We all know he has got the talent but when I was there. He was on the bench, I was on the bench, Fabian Schar was on the bench, Jacob Murphy wasn't playing, they have been some of the best players.
"They are absolutely flying under him. It is madness. So I just wish I'd had that bit of time with him to see how he goes about his business. I have heard a lot of good things from him. Matt and Callum all said how good he was.
"You don't know until you see it yourself. Now you see it and the Newcastle fans are cheering for him it is unbelievable."
Carroll signed for Reading just a few weeks after the Saudi-backed takeover and a few days after Howe came in as boss. But by that time, the nine-times England international admits he'd already been left deflated by Bruce over a contract offer that never was.
Incredibly after Bruce had left Newcastle he ended up "re-united" with Carroll after he'd moved to the West Brom dugout. When asked if he felt he'd deserved such poor treatment after leaving Newcastle, Carroll said: "No I don't think so.
"The last time I spoke to the manager (Steve Bruce) before I left, the manager he said there was another deal there for me. When we finished after Fulham on the final day of the 2020/21 season he said: 'See you next season'
"And I didn't hear back from him! The next time I heard from him was when I signed for West Brom and he turned up there the next day! That was the next time I heard from him. It was a surprise that I did not get a phone call or anything saying: 'You didn't get a new deal'
"I didn't get anything. It was no contact at all, a strange one really. Whether I was or wasn't getting a new deal, I would have appreciated a phone call."
But Carroll is only focused on the task in hand right now. He has already scored a goal from 45 yards against Annecy that went viral on the internet!
So how did the move happen? The Geordie striker said: "I mentioned to my agent a few years ago that I wanted to try something in another country. When I left Newcastle I wanted to try to challenge myself.
"I had been in England since I was 17 as a pro. It's different but really good. Look I am driving into training now. We don't start until 3pm.
"You wouldn't have that in England, when I wasn't playing at Reading I went to see the manager (Ruben Selles) and he basically wanted 18 and 19-year-olds in the team, he didn't want senior lads. He said if you find somewhere you want to go I won't stop you.
"So I got straight on the phone and told my agent: 'Find me a club anywhere but England'. "I had a lot of options in England but I had my mind and heart set I wanted to try something different.
"I had different options, different countries, but I thought Amiens wasn't too far and I can drive to my home in London in three and a half hours, it's actually closer than it was in Newcastle.
"I can drive in some days from London. Once I'd met the manager (Omar Daf) and seen the city, I thought it would be great for me."
So far, Carroll has been proven right as he enjoys his football and the tranquillity of life in France. St James' Park will always be waiting for him 500 miles up the road when he's ready for his homecoming.
