I think you're probably right; I don't remember it being controversial at the time. Maybe ironic that Le Saux had been at fault for the decisive goal when Romania had beaten us in the WC two years previously.
They did, on penalties. And beat Leeds in the semis.
Gareth Barry was in the squad, he was a perfectly fine LB at the time. Though I don't remember many calling for his inclusion. You'd think Phil Neville would be an injury-crisis LB option at best, but the position wasn't taken all that seriously. Most people just wanted someone as unflashy as possible. Probably also a tendency to default to the players at big clubs when there wasn't quite so much televised football.
Thanks for reminding me. There was a Turkish lad at school who gave it large to us Gooners for a few days afterwards.
I remember lots of calls for Barry over Neville ...but I was at secondary school in Aston at the time so appreciate my experience was probably not representative. Still got a soft spot for him.
My memory of them matches with yours, with the caveat that my memory going back that far is a bit vague. But almost every televised game that I can remember them playing was a great game. However, looking at their attacking and defensive records it doesn't really tally with the reputation, and Keegan did make some notably conservative selections.
I think Cox also said that they were much more solid in the first half of the season, but introducing Asprilla messed up the side's balance. Whereas United were the opposite, tightening up after Christmas. Everyone remembers the second half of the season more than the first, so it feels like Newcastle were constantly losing 4-3 while United were winning 1-0.
Haha I misread your sentence, and thought you had suddenly become Glenn Hoddle for a moment there.
I think Aspirlla is one of the reasons why Newcastle are remembered romantically as being so exciting tbh. Invariably every highlights package from that era involves Newcastle losing 4-3 to Liverpool, Keegan having his "Ah'd luv it" meltdown, and Asprilla doing loads of backflips. Definitely creates the perception that they were an unpredictable and extravagant side, even if they probably weren't.
"Them disabled people"
I think this just emphasises how strong some of Arsenal's reserve/rotation players were at that time tbh.
I think the signing of Asprilla says more about Keegan's poor decision-making rather than a consistently gung-ho approach. It appeared to unbalance the side and may well have been a factor in Newcastle's inability to hold onto their lead and win the league. Reminds me a bit of Malcolm Allison doing the same at Man City in 1972. They looked odds on to win the old first division, but lost their way after he signed Rodney Marsh. Keegan would have been aware of that, having been part of the Liverpool team that came within a point of winning the league after City fell away. And I do think that Keegan's mental frailties were a factor too. That meltdown must have transmitted to the players, at least to some extent. Those of us who remember him as a player will know that he sometimes had his toys out of the pram moments. Notably after Robson dropped him following the 1982 WC, and previously making himself unavailable for England after some perceived snub by the manager.