Considering that Newcastle finished a respectable 12th as a newly promoted team at the end of last season, Magpies fans still feel they are achieving the unimaginable as they look pretty certain for a convincing top ten finish and even a possible European spot.

The Premier League witnessed an outstanding unbeaten run from Newcastle that lasted until the 19^th November (when they travelled to the Etihad stadium, of course) and the Toon army were living the dream; especially when considering their team were in the second tier of English football this time two years ago.

Since Alan Pardew controversially took over from Chris Hughton in December 2010, the Tyneside club have gone from strength to strength.
Not only performance wise, which is obvious, Pardew has improved in other areas-he made several significant signings in the previous two transfer windows. Arriving in the summer was the Frenchman Yohan Cabaye bought from Lille for an undisclosed fee and the unstoppable Demba Ba on a free transfer. His fellow countryman, Papiss Demba Cisse, joined him at The Sports Direct Arena (or St. James’ Park-call it what you wish) after he was purchased for £9m from SC Freiburg.

All of the recent signings have made an impact in their own way. Cabaye, for the best part of the season has rejuvenated Newcastle’s midfield and is working well pulling the strings. Demba Ba is a goal scoring revolution, having remained second to the superhuman Robin van Persie in the top scorers’ table for most of the season-which is some achievement.

Papiss Demba Cisse has also looked like a very positive capture for the club: his expert winner against Aston Villa at home on his debut was an ideal way to introduce himself as the new number 9 to the Toon Army. Along with his solitary (yet outstanding) goal, his work rate so far is unfaultable. It is too early to judge how much of an impact Cisse will have at the club however; it is early days after all.

However, it is time to change tune. With the huge amount of speculation (and some surprise) that came with the Tyneside club’s outstanding performances that resulted in their unbeaten run, it was easy to see why many pundits and journalists predicted that Newcastle could claim fourth spot.

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