IN June 2012, Newcastle United announced the retention of one of their key performers on an eight-year contract. “He has been instrumental in our success, and has deservedly built one of the best reputations in the business,” said chief executive Derek Llambias. “It is excellent news the club will continue to benefit from his expertise.”

It was the kind of statement that usually accompanies the signing of a new star striker; instead it was trumpeting holding on to a 67-year-old chief scout. Such was the esteem in which Graham Carr was held at the height of his success.

The events of the last few years, with Newcastle suffering relegation, have removed much of the lustre that once attached itself to Carr, the journeyman midfielder who reinvented himself into a scouting guru, but just as he got a lot wrong towards the end of his time at St James’ Park, so he also got a lot right in the early years.

Having been appointed to work under Chris Hughton in 2010, Carr transformed the way Newcastle did their business. Uncovering hidden gems in the French market was his forte, and for two or three years, the Magpies were the envy of the rest of the country.

Carr’s biggest success was identifying a policy that enabled Newcastle to sign a quality of player that would have been beyond them had they been shopping at home. Some of the best players in Ligue 1 were offered wages way beyond what they were earning in a French league that lacked financial clout, with Newcastle promoted as a club that could usher them towards the biggest employers in Europe.

In the winter of 2012, Newcastle were so well respected in French agency circles that they were able to set up a base in a French hotel to court potential recruits. Carr worked closely with former QPR striker Simon Stainrod, an influential advisor with significant power in French football, and who would often be seen on Tyneside as new signings were unveiled.

Those signings came in a steady stream – Yohan Cabaye, signed for £4.5m because Carr was able to exploit a buy-out clause in his Lille deal. Moussa Sissoko, recruited for £1.8m and eventually sold for £30m. Mathieu Debuchy, nabbed from Lille for £5.5m and punted on to Arsenal for £12m a year-and-a-half later.

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Success in the transfer market was matched by success on the pitch, with Newcastle finishing in fifth position under Pardew and qualifying for Europe. In hindsight, that summer of 2012, with the Magpies riding high and Carr revelling in a new long-term deal, was the beginning of the end.

Newcastle would not match their finishing position over the next few seasons and would be relegated in 2016. Carr would also be unable to replicate his success, and his reputation would be severely damaged as he became a totem for systemic failure.

Why did things go so badly wrong? Multiple reasons, but in any walk of life, if you identify a way to be successful, others will copy it. It did not take long for Newcastle's rivals to work out what they were doing, and start to adopt a similar tack.

Premier League clubs quickly realised France, Holland and Belgium were attractive markets, and flooded them with scouts and agents. To compound Carr’s problems, Newcastle’s unique selling points were unique no more.

A lucrative television deal meant the whole of the Premier League could match Newcastle’s wage offers. At the start of the decade, it would have been unthinkable for Bournemouth, Swansea and Stoke to match Newcastle financially. It is not anymore, and when teams like Crystal Palace and West Ham can offer the lure of living in London, it becomes harder and harder for the Magpies to compete.

It didn’t help that Newcastle were tumbling down the table, and while Carr could previously claim the Magpies were the ideal club to put players in the shop window, it was suddenly teams like Southampton and Everton finding themselves in Europe.

To exacerbate the issue, Carr’s ability to spot a bargain was also beginning to wane. In part that was inevitable – if you’re constantly looking for a knock-down price, you’re inevitably going to get some things wrong – but it became apparent he was fixated on a restricted market and a restricted type of signing.

Having had his fingers burned with Hatem Ben Arfa, why did he push so hard for Remy Cabella and Florian Thauvin? Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa was an expensive mistake, as was Emmanuel Riviere. The less said about Henri Saivet the better.

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Carr’s alchemic touch was deserting him – Leicester managed to sign N’Golo Kante and Riyad Mahrez for a knock-down price; Newcastle’s Francophile chief scout wasn’t interested - and most crucially of all, there was a failure to acknowledge the flaws that were increasingly apparent in the Magpies’ methodology.

For all his faults, Pardew spotted them, and for the latter half of his reign, he was constantly urging those above him to sign older players with Premier League experience. The likes of Darren Bent and Rickie Lambert were put forward as potential acquisitions, but Carr persuaded Ashley they did not offer any value.

It didn’t matter to him that Newcastle were assembling a squad full of mercenaries, ill-equipped for the Premier League and constantly eyeing their next move. His remit was numbers on a balance sheet; Newcastle needed points on the pitch.

Increasingly, the targets did not marry up, and just as Pardew found himself at loggerheads with Carr, who remained Ashley’s closest confidante, so Rafael Benitez has positioned himself in opposition to the man who has been leading his scouting team.

Benitez likes to have control over the recruitment process, and has always led teams that have blended young players with a core of experienced pros. Last summer, Carr found himself ostracised, but he reasserted his authority in January and the transfer window was a mess.

Resentment festered, and with Newcastle having failed to land a number of targets already this summer, there was a danger of it bubbling over. Carr’s departure has calmed things, and the exit of such a politically-powerful figure is a ringing endorsement of Benitez’s authority and power.