2. Tino Asprilla
One player gets more criticism than any other when the subject of Newcastle's spectacular combustion in the notorious title charge that wasn't in 1996, and that player is Tino Asprilla. Unfairly seen as a wild-card, Asprilla's presence is often suggested as having unsettled the squad and cost Kevin Keegan's men near certain victory in the title race, but the simple fact is that it was the signing of David Batty, and not Asprilla that cost the team the most. Batty's appearance pushed Lee Clark out of the team, who had been a revelation at defensive midfield, and it was the Englishman, rather than the Columbian who unsettled the team and changed fundamentally the style of play. But, there's no denying at all that Asprilla was a wildcard in personal terms. A little too fond of the Newcastle night-life, and (apparently) of guns, Tino's off field antics have become more legendary than his on-pitch ones (which were incredible at times.) In 1996 he was arrested for using a gun outside a nightclub in Columbia, and since leaving he's been a reality TV star, a naked magazine cover star, and arrested again for firearm offences - this time a machine gun. He did have one infamous moment of clarity however, fleeing the country instead of signing for Darlington. Asprilla now makes a living on the after-dinner football talk-in circuit, mostly telling assembled Newcastle fans of his prowess away from the pitch, and John Barnes' passion for pornography.