HE scored just 14 goals in 109 appearances, endured the calamitous reigns of both Kenny Dalglish and Ruud Gullit, and is best known for assaulting an advertising hoarding after scoring against Bolton - but few who saw Temuri Ketsbaia play for Newcastle will forget him.

The shaven-headed Georgian - football's answer to Uncle Fester of the Adams Family - became a cult hero during his three years on Tyneside, thanks to a series of all-action displays that illuminated a period of Newcastle's history otherwise starved of light.

At times he might have resembled a headless chicken. But with the likes of Andreas Andersson and Ian Rush testing the patience of a success-starved public, Ketsbaia's effort and energy struck a rapport with the fans.

The 36-year-old is now player-manager of Cypriot side Anorthosis Famagusta - his first foreign club after leaving Georgia in 1992 - but tomorrow night his attentions will return to Tyneside.

His loyalties will be split when he watches Newcastle take on Dinamo Tbilisi, the club with which he spent the first four years of his career, and despite leaving United in August 2000, he will take a trip down memory lane as his two biggest footballing loves collide.

"I've got some great memories from my football career, but I would say the best come from my time at Newcastle," said Ketsbaia, who also played for Wolves and Dundee before agreeing to a second spell in Cyprus.

"I loved playing for the club, and I loved living three years of my life in the city. It was the best opportunity I ever had in football.

"My time there was special and I will never forget. A lot of things stand out, but especially the two cup finals.

"I was lucky to play in both and, even though we didn't win them, they were incredible occasions. I can still remember the noise generated by the fans and the reception we got when we arrived back.

"The Newcastle supporters are like no others. They supported me through the good times and the bad, and I will never forget that."

Ketsbaia moved to Tyneside during Dalglish's first close season as Newcastle boss. But had Soviet politics taken a different course seven years earlier, he would have never have been allowed to leave his homeland.

After joining Dinamo Tbilisi as a 19-year-old, the lively midfielder spent the first two years of his career playing in the Soviet Union Championship.

As Georgia's sole representative, Dinamo were the only professional side in a republic of some five and a half million people, but the lack of competition was not the only reason why they were able to recruit the best homegrown talent.

All external travel was banned under Soviet Union rule and, if you were born in Georgia, you played football for Dinamo Tbilisi. No career progression, no choice.

But then, in 1991, the dissolution of the Soviet Union led to the creation of an independent Georgia. The remaining vestiges of the old Soviet Union were gradually demolished - politicians could stand in democratic elections, businessmen could invest in privatised companies and, for the first time, footballers could move abroad.

"When I started, it was always considered a bit of an honour to make it into the Dinamo team," said Ketsbaia. "And the whole of Georgia put time and resources into trying to make the club a success.

"We struggled to compete with the biggest Russian teams but, considering the size of the club, we always did quite well.

"Two years into my career, the Soviet Union broke up and everybody's outlook changed.

"Even in the first year of independence, there were a lot of restrictions that basically stopped footballers leaving Georgia.

"All the players I looked up to as a child started and finished their careers with Dinamo, but gradually things changed and players were allowed to move on.

"I think I was one of the first two players to leave Georgia to play football in a different country.

"I'd had inquiries from France and Switzerland, but they'd come to nothing because it was still impossible to go at that time.

"When the rules were changed, I was left with the choice of playing in either Cyprus or Russia. Independence was still very uncertain at that time, with a lot of political arguments being settled, so a Georgian playing for one of the top Russian sides would have led to a lot of difficulties.

"That made my mind up for me - I went to play in Cyprus and it did my career a lot of good."

Individuals such as Ketsbaia have benefited from the freedom of movement. But in a situation that has been replicated throughout the former Soviet Union, the domestic leagues they have left have suffered as a result.

"Players didn't really have the chance to make a lot of money in the past," he added. "But, because all of the best Soviet players were playing in the same championship, the standard was very high.

"Things are different now. None of the top Georgian players are playing their club football in Georgia, so the standard of the Georgian clubs has dropped as a result.

"Even to qualify for this stage of the UEFA Cup has been quite an achievement for Dinamo. I certainly don't expect them to beat Newcastle.