[bertil]

His tone is controversial: he’s happy to say things that will make some people unhappy.

You are quoting a highly respected peer-review journal. Those were set-up to avoid appeals to individual authority and replace them with (anonymous) peer review. His presentation is certainly promising but it hasn’t gone through such a review yet.

[j88439h84]

I don't think 'controversial' is the right word for "he’s happy to say things that will make some people unhappy."

[stubish]

How does his tone compare to other French researchers? The work is the important bit, not the accent or even individual personality.