[4] He was initially required to pay compensation to the French club, but this was overturned by an eventual ruling of the European Court of Justice ten years later.
He formed a strong left flank partnership with fellow Frenchman Laurent Robert, being a part of Bobby Robson's side, which finished fourth, third and fifth as well as reaching the last 16 of the Champions League and the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup.
[6] He was a regular starter at the beginning of the 2004–05 season, but Robson was sacked on 28 August 2004 and replaced by Graeme Souness, who made drastic changes at the club, cutting star players like Craig Bellamy and Laurent Robert.
After leaving Southampton, Bernard signed a two-year deal with Rangers on 1 September 2005, after turning down potential moves back to the Premier League with Birmingham City and Bolton Wanderers.
[9] However, his second spell on Tyneside did not turn out as well as hoped, with Bernard struggling for fitness and a series of niggling injuries preventing him from making his second debut for Newcastle.
[10] He made numerous reserve team outings, and was an unused substitute in some UEFA Cup fixtures, including away to Palermo and Levadia Tallinn.
As a result of this, on 16 May 2007 it was announced that, following the appointment of Sam Allardyce as Newcastle boss Bernard, along with Titus Bramble, Oguchi Onyewu, Craig Moore, and Pavel Srníček would not be playing for the side the following season having been released from their contracts.