OOH la la! New Villa boss Gerard Houllier is set to feel right at home in Birmingham, with the city already enjoying an entente cordiale with our chums across the Channel.

While the Holte End faithful may stop short of swapping their pre-match pies for a round of frogs’ legs and snails, 63-year-old Houllier will not be short of home comforts during his time in the Midlands.

The former Liverpool manager’s last role as a club manager was with French outfit Lyon, a city twinned with Birmingham.

The two share a similar industrial and cultural history, both producing world-renowned food and drink and acting as cultural hubs in the worlds of music and cinema.

And as he arrives in Birmingham, a thriving French community is waiting to make Houllier feel at home.

Rob Cartwright, the manager of French restaurant La Bastille in Corporation Street, said: “There are a surprising number of French people here. A lot of our customers are French and they say this is like a Parisian cafe. It makes them feel at home.