How could I have dropped Ginola or Sir Les and gone defensive... it wouldn’t

KEVIN Keegan has insisted he wouldn’t change a thing about his tactical approach during the Entertainers era.

Back in the 1995/96 season, the Magpies were flying high and built up a 12-point lead at the top of the Premier League table.

But as the title race hotted up, Manchester United chipped away at that advantage before eventually overhauling Newcastle and lifting the trophy. Speaking at the Sage Gateshead for the launch of his new book, Keegan responded to a question of reverting to a more defensive approach.

He said: “I wouldn’t change anything. The players gave their best and we didn’t have a lot of experience from players who won it, including myself.

“I’d never been there as a manager so we didn’t know whether to stick or twist.

“Sometimes people say, ‘Why didn’t you play defensively when you were 12 points clear?’.

“But imagine me asking the lads, who were playing the best football that anybody has seen for years and years, and telling them we were putting two more defenders in and you can sit on the bench?

“Telling David Ginola to sit out and have a fag instead! Or telling Les Ferdinand he wasn’t playing.

“Imagine doing something like that.

“It’s only now when you look back with hindsight and think had we done that we might have got a point here and there.

“It’s something I get asked all the time. And you could speak in hindsight but you don’t get hindsight at the time.”

Keegan also felt a responsibility to his board to use the offensive players he’d asked them to buy.

He added: “If I am honest, (it’s) because the club gave us lots of money to spend on players compared to what it’s like now.

“I always said to Freddie Fletcher