Have Newcastle turned their season around?

Newcastle boss Alan Pardew will be pleased with his sides three game winning run

Newcastle defeated Capital One Cup holders Manchester City 2-0 at the Etihad Stadium last night to progress into the quarter-finals of the competition.

It was the Magpies third consecutive victory in all competitions, after a poor start to the campaign.

Mood

It is amazing the difference a few victories make to a football team. The three consecutive wins seem to have improved the mood around the Newcastle camp no end.

The Magpies are now out of the relegation zone thanks to wins against Leicester and Tottenham and are in the quarter-final of the league cup.

During their poor start to the season boss Alan Pardew was under immense pressure, as his team struggled to put a decent run of results together. The poor start to the season led to protests against Pardew and calls for the former-Southampton boss to lose his job.

Those protests seem to have subsided for now, as the Magpies form has improved. For how long I do not know, but Pardew must be relieved that his team have started producing better performances.

Pardew has always struck me as somebody with far more confidence than actual ability. He can talk a good game and when it comes down to it he is a decent football manager, but not a great manager.

Chairman Mike Ashley has also been criticised for selling number of key players in recent seasons. However, he did re-invest a fair amount of money to spend in the summer. Unfortunately for the club not many of the summer signings have shined since their arrival.

Youngsters

One of the features of Newcastle’s victory over City was the fact that there were so many young players in the Magpies squad. One of those youngsters Rolando Aarons made a major impact after just six minutes showing good pace and composure to fire the Magpies into the lead.

Sammy Ameobi and Adam Armstrong both started the game at the Etihad Stadium. It seems that the youngsters have made a telling impact on the first team in recent weeks.

The Magpies two goals against Spurs at White Hart Lane last Sunday came from Sammy Ameobi and Spanish youngster Ayoze Perez. The fearless youngsters have provided the Magpies with a spark that was badly missing in the first few months of the season.

The future could be bright for Newcastle with their host of exciting youngsters, if the Magpies can keep hold of them of course. The north east club have become a selling club in recent years and the youngsters will most likely be sold off by Newcastle owner Mike Ashley, if they start to shine.

Hopefully for Newcastle fans he will be too distracted by his involvement with Rangers to realise that there could be a lot of saleable youngsters at the club.

Improvement

One player Newcastle player who has shown a big improvement in his performances and attitude in recent weeks is French winger Gabriel Obertan. The former-United ace scored the winner against Leicester and seems to have gained confidence from that goal.

He worked far harder and looked a bigger threat than he has for most of his Magpies career. Obertan showed enough potential for Manchester United to snap him up earlier in his career, but he struggled to play first team football at Old Trafford.

When he moved to Newcastle he was expected to push on and fulfil his potential, despite flashes of his ability he has never fulfilled his potential. His perceived change in attitude may just lead to the Magpies getting the best out of the winger.

Expectations

I am not sure what Newcastle’s fans expectations were at the beginning of the campaign, but there seemed to be a lot of optimism amongst their fans after what looked like a very decent summer recruitment drive.

Despite the fact those signings have not yet worked out, Newcastle could still have a decent season. The Magpies may not challenge for a place in the top four or six in the Premier League, but the Capital One Cup could be a realistic target this season.

They face a trip to Spurs in the quarter-finals and are currently odds of 12/1 to win the league cup. With the likes of Chelsea, Liverpool and Southampton still left in the competition it will be tough for the Magpies to win the trophy.

However, after their recent performances Newcastle fans will be far more optimistic about their team having a decent campaign.

Have Newcastle turned their season around?