Even for those who saw the swagger of David Ginola, the thunder-bolts of Laurent Robert, and the prodigious skill of Paul Gascoigne or Hatem Ben Arfa, one name stands above all others as the greatest player ever to wear black and white in the Premier League. Peter Beardsley's return to Newcastle as part of Kevin Keegan's Entertainers was a gamble at the time, and an expensive one at that, but it proved to be an inspired move as the ever-green 32-year-old formed an unreal partnership with Andy Cole and scored 25 goals to defy any suggestions that he was too old for his £1.5m price tag. Though he returned as a striker to play alongside Cole, Beardsley was just as comfortable in midfield, and in this team he would be the play-maker alongside Rob Lee. And while there wouldn't be a great deal of defending going on, the quality of the attackers, unlocked by Beardsley's vision would make such concerns obsolete.
