Nous. At Newcastle United it has become a frequently used and somewhat loaded word. Alan Pardew is dismayed by his otherwise talented squad's shortage of such practical intelligence and streetwise common sense on Premier League pitches but knows it is an inevitable consequence of the club's recruitment policy.

Newcastle have transformed their financial position from bright red to matt black, largely by sticking rigidly to a blueprint involving the importation of players, aged no older than 26, from competitively priced overseas markets, most notably France. It has brought them wonderful talents, such as Hatem Ben Arfa and Yohan Cabaye, at bargain prices but left Pardew's relegation-threatened, primarily Francophone squad low on experience and leadership while struggling to communicate properly.

"It's about nous," said Newcastle's manager as he prepared for Saturday's important visit to his former club West Ham and a potentially uncomfortable reunion with those wily, battle-hardened St James' Park old boys Kevin Nolan, Andy Carroll and Sam Allardyce. "Nous is a word I use a lot about Kevin Nolan. He really knows how to win Premier League games. That's what we're up against. Kevin finds scoring positions through nous. It's a worry for us. West Ham have a lot of nous."

In contrast, the Newcastle team that lost 6-0 at home to Liverpool last Saturday was both young – at 29 Jonás Gutiérrez was the oldest player in the starting XI – and lacking in miles on the Premier League clock. Five of the seven French nationals who began the game arrived from Ligue 1 in January, and their inevitable culture shock is compounded by the need to communicate through an interpreter.

"But the main problem I face with this group is not language or culture, it's inexperience," said Pardew, who dismisses suggestions of dressing-room splits as erroneous and xenophobic.

With Fabricio Coloccini finally fit again, he is expected to rest the gifted but shell-shocked France centre-half Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa at Upton Park. "As Coloccini found when he first arrived in England, it's not easy to adapt," said Pardew. "Colo's been a great player for us and always gives seven, eight or nine out of 10 but, when he first came here, he wasn't like that. Mapou needs time."

Coloccini remains Newcastle's captain but the personal problems that meant he was desperate to return to Argentina in January are one of a myriad of, mainly injury-related, reasons why Pardew has been unable to reprise last season's fifth place. It might have helped had he possessed a natural leader in the manner of Newastle's their former captain Nolan but the midfielder was offloaded two summers ago when the St James' Park hierarchy decided against offering a lucrative new contract to a man sometimes perceived as a barrack-room lawyer.

"We've leadership but in different ways," says Pardew. "I wouldn't say Colo or Cabaye or Shola [Ameobi] are like Kevin but they are kind of our leading group and we look to them now."

If Nolan's pivotal role on Newcastle's then so-called "players' committee" in negotiating a hardball deal with the board over squad bonuses possibly hastened his exit, as a footballer he polarises opinion. His knack of scoring regularly from midfield is invaluable but his link play and passing are arguably substandard for a team harbouring European ambitions.

This season's paradox is that Newcastle impressed in the Europa League, with their tactics and personnel drawing lavish praise from Anzhi Makhachkala's coach, Guus Hiddink, as the expensively assembled Russians were overcome en route to a tight quarter-final defeat by Benfica.

Pardew, very much a tracksuit manager, does much of his best work honing and polishing individuals on the training ground but Europa League involvement necessitated a dramatic reduction in the hours available to spend on the practice pitches.

This shortfall shows, particularly at set pieces, and there are plans to reinforce the backroom with an additional, high-calibre coach this summer.

The new recruit will be charged with improving players selected primarily by Graham Carr, the influential chief scout, rather than Pardew. Confident as the manager remains that recent imports including Yanga-Mbiwa and Moussa Sissoko will become Premier League stars, he would ideally prefer to augment them with the odd older, experienced head. "In the summer we'll have a discussion about where we're going to trade, where is best for the group," said Pardew. Might that be France? "That's a question I don't really want to answer."