Hibs boss John Collins today revealed in the Scotsman that he wouldn’t have signed French-speaking players if he didn’t speak the language.

Patrick Noubissie became the seventh member of Collins’ squad with a Gallic connection on signing a two-year contract, joining Guillaume Beuzelin, Thierry Gatheussi, Abdessalam Benjelloun, Merouane Zemmama, Yves Ma-Kalambay and Torben Joneleit.

But, while former Monaco player Collins insists he hasn’t made a conscious decision to target players from French- speaking nations, the one-time Scotland ace admitted his ability to speak French had been a factor in his signings.

Like most of the French- speaking contingent, 24-year-old Noubissie can converse in English although Collins’ ability to talk to them in their native tongue has been of benefit in putting his thoughts over to them.

Read this story on the Scotsman website.

Categories: Careers with languages