Kevin Keegan’s rant in April 1996 is regarded as one of the iconic moments in Premier League history.

The then-Newcastle United manager was in charge of a title challenge with Manchester United. His team had just overcome Leeds United 1-0 and it helped Newcastle move three points ahead of United with a game in hand. This was seen as a huge advantage for Newcastle, but Sir Alex Ferguson tried to bring in the mind games by suggesting that Leeds United and other teams do not try as hard to win games against other teams as they do against United.

This infuriated manager Keegan, who was adamant about the integrity of the competition. Former Manchester United midfielder David Beckham has revealed the moment that led to Newcastle slipping down in the title race. From being 12 points clear at the top of the table, Newcastle slumped to a four-point deficit and eventually conceded the league title following this rant. Beckham has revealed how he and his young teammates were laughing about the rant from the Newcastle manager. Beckham believes that there is no one better than Ferguson when it comes to mind games.

The tactic from the Scot to cause tension within Newcastle United worked perfectly, as Keegan took the bait.“I’ll tell you, honestly, I will love it if we beat them [Nottingham Forest]. Love it.It really has got to me. But the battle is still on and Man United have not won this yet,” said Keegan in 1996. “It’s amazing because it was my first full season as a Manchester United player in the first team. Watching that game, we all came in the next day to training and we were all laughing about it. We were that young but even as players, we knew we’d got to Kevin and Newcastle,” said Beckham about the incident.