He had a playboy image with long flowing blond locks and Ferrari at his door, football's equivalent of James Hunt if you like. Or perhaps a rock star, opinionated and brash.
However Gunter Netzer was so much more than an individualistic rebel who marched to his own tune. He had an original mind and turned round the fortunes of not only Hamburg upon taking over as general manager but Kevin Keegan.
The outcome was KK being voted European Footballer of the Year twice in succession as well as winning the German championship and reaching the European Cup final before coming home to Southampton and eventually Newcastle United.
Netzer gives a fascinating insight into Keegan when he was christened Little Mouse by Hamburg fans ahead of being crowned King Kev on Tyneside.
Having worked closely with Keegan both as a player and manager at Newcastle I recognise the early traits Netzer shares with us in his new autobiography "Wembley 1972 And Other Big Feats."
Indeed on the very first day of Netzer's appointment at Hamburg when he went to introduce himself to the players KK told him he was on his toes!
"I went over to greet Kevin first but he had no words of greeting for me," recalls Gunter. "He was shaking with rage. 'You might as well know,' he told me without any preliminaries, 'I am on my way.'
"He had been in wretched form but I knew he was a formidable player and letting him go was not the way I wanted to begin my time at HSV."
Ahh, the threats to go. A stunning player and extra special manager, Kev nevertheless could from time to time be accused of spitting out the dummy. He regularly 'quit' while building the Entertainers at Newcastle.
During those nervous early days with Hamburg players refused to pass the ball to him, jealous of the salary Hamburg had to pay to get him from Liverpool. Then he had got sent off in a friendly and was suspended for eight weeks.
However Netzer admits that Keegan had a valid point upon their introduction.
"Kevin ran through his grievances in my office. Despite having been promised a house he was still, a year after his arrival, living in a small one bedroom suite in the Dammtor district's Hotel Plaza. Not just him but his wife, baby, and two big dogs. 'HSV,' Keegan complained to me at this first meeting, 'is the most rubbish club I have ever come across. I want to leave.'
"It was less than an ideal start for me. The worst thing about his tirade was that it was justified."
The new boss got the problem sorted double quick.
Netzer was a footballing legend and a playboy with an entrepreneurial streak. He had become involved with HSV after offering to run the club's magazine. Instead they hired him as general manager.
"When he came, the great age of HSV began," Felix Magath, Hamburg's midfielder would later remark.
With Netzer at the helm the sleeping giant truly awoke. Since the foundation of the Bundesliga in 1963, they had not won the title. To help rectify that Netzer brought in as head coach Yugoslav Branko Zebec who was a disciplinarian but also had a drink problem!
Next tirade: Keegan didn't like him.
"As Zebec put his training programme into place Kevin became a frequent visitor to my office," Netzer tells us. "'Now I really am leaving,' he would begin. 'The coach is completely nuts.' Having to train harder than ever before in his career was one problem. Another was the partnership between Kalz and Hrubesch. 'It's like at Liverpool,' he moaned, 'with Toshack up at the front totally unaware of me.'
"Kevin remained a frequent visitor to my office with a steady stream of grumbles, demands and transfer requests. He was, how shall I say, a little capricious. Life with him was never easy. From time to time he would play the diva.
"Whenever he phoned I would tighten up automatically. Knowing his worth he was able to make clever use of the high volume of interest shown in him.
"The following year we played in a tournament in Madrid. Once more he was outstanding. Barcelona subsequently offered him the then unimaginable salary of two million marks net. Kevin understood that we were unable to pay anything like that but the fact that he didn't pack his bags says something about him. 'At least try and find some way of closing the gap,' was his suggestion."
Keegan’s second season in Hamburg, 78-79, started with a 3-0 demolition of Borussia Monchengladbach, at the time one of Europe's best sides. Thrashings of defending champions Koln, as well as Hertha BSC, Schalke, Dortmund and Fortuna Dusseldorf would follow and by the time HSV beat Bayern Munich 1-0 in December their title credentials were clear.
In the New Year Keegan cut loose. He was instrumental during the run-in, scoring 11 goals in the last 12 games of the season, combining wonderfully with Hrubesch and Magath. From March 10 to June 9 Hamburg never lost a match, almost three months undefeated. When they finally succumbed to Bayern in the final round of the season they were already Bundesliga champions.
Keegan, who had been integral to the drive, had made himself a legend in Germany. He won the Ballon d'Or again that year and the HSV fans christened him Machtig Maus (Mighty Mouse).
The day of the Bayern defeat Kevin released a record, Head Over Heels in Love. Hamburg, it seemed, had fallen in love with Keegan just as it had with a group of English musicians called The Beatles who had recorded their first single in the city all those years before.
The following season Hamburg's industrious attacking team was unleashed on Europe. They cruised through the early rounds and in the semi-final faced the might of Real Madrid who boasted a player known as 'Black Lightning', England's Laurie Cunningham.
A 2-0 defeat at the Bernabeu left HSV reeling but the loss merely served to set up one of this team’s hallmark performances. Against a defence shielded by Vicente del Bosque, Keegan and Hamburg ran riot swarming all over Real.
They won 5-1. That night they had played "football from another planet". It was described by Netzer as "the funniest and best thing I’ve ever seen from HSV."
The team he had sculpted would contest the 1980 European Cup final against Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest but lose 1-0 to a disciplined display.
As it had been for his Liverpool career back in 1977, the European Cup final would be a curtain call for Keegan at Hamburg.
FOOTNOTE: Why is Netzer's book called Wembley 1972 And Other Big Feats?
Well England v Germany has been huge for both countries since the World Cup final of 66 and this was their great revenge with Gunter centre stage.
It was one of his many Big Feats...and our hero has big feet! Get it?
Let Malcolm Macdonald explain: "My first game for Arsenal after leaving Newcastle was away to Grasshoppers of Zurich in a pre-season friendly and Gunter Netzer was playing libero for them. I have never seen such big feet in my life _ his boots must have been size 14."
The book is to be published to mark the 50th anniversary of the classic 72 encounter. It can be purchased on https://xxpedient.com
