IT was hard to separate fact from fiction at the time, let alone almost two decades down the track.
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But as world football mourned the death of Terry Venables on the weekend, at the age of 80, it was hard not to admire the calibre of teams on his managerial CV.
Barcelona, Tottenham Hotspur, Crystal Palace, Queens Park Rangers, Leeds United, Middlesbrough, and both the England national side and the Socceroos.
And, depending on who you believe, the Newcastle Jets should also have been on that list.
Way back in 2004, the Jets announced a major coup - Venables had agreed to coach the Con Constantine-owned franchise in the inaugural A-League season.
It was exciting news for Novocastrians. Not only was "El Tel" regarded as one of the world's foremost tacticians, whose teams invariably played an attractive brand of football, but he also had an unrivalled network of contacts to potentially help the Jets recruit players.
Presumably Venables had fond memories of Newcastle, having played for Chelsea in a 6-2 win against Northern NSW at No.1 Sportsground in 1965.
Yet as kick-off for the new competition drew closer, the question of when Venables would arrive to start his tenure remained unanswered.
Eventually his London-based agent, Leon Angel, spoke publicly to declare that while he had been in discussions with Remo Nogarotto, the Jets' director of football operations, Venables had never committed to taking up a role at Newcastle.
"Things can always change in life but as we are today it is 100 per cent not happening," Angel was quoted as saying.
"We want to make it categorically clear that he is not coming ... Terry did have talks with Newcastle United a while ago, but at no time had he agreed to a deal.
"I don't understand why people are saying that he had."
Angel added: "Con Constantine can ring me if he wants but we have made Terry's position quite clear."
Even after that rebuttal, Constantine refused to concede defeat, declaring: "Every day you hear another story. It's all happening. I'm relaxed. Everyone should relax."
Eventually, however, Constantine accepted the reality of the situation and hired another slightly lower-profile Englishman, Richard Money, to oversee the Jets' first campaign.
"To me, a handshake is a contract written in blood, and that is what we had," Constantine complained.
