Eddie Howe gave his players a talk on Newcastle United's past earlier this season as the Magpies boss challenged the group to create their own history. The speech was accompanied by footage from the Entertainers era, but these players do not have to look even that far back for inspiration that they really can upset the established order. That is what Newcastle did in 2012, after all, when Alan Pardew's side broke into the top six.
There is a long way to go, of course, and these are two very different eras, but there are already some striking parallels between the first few months of these campaigns. Both Howe and Pardew set out to break into the top 10 after finishing in 11th and 12th respectively the previous season, but then saw the league open up after Liverpool and Chelsea made mixed starts. Like in 2011/12, present day Newcastle are also third in November with the best defensive record in the league. In fact, this current side are even the first Newcastle team since Pardew's to go 10 games unbeaten in the top-flight.
Newcastle's development under Howe has some of the Premier League's traditional big hitters worried so could they match or even better the Magpies' previous fifth-placed finish after the World Cup break? Dan Gosling, who was the only member of Pardew's squad to go on to work with Eddie Howe at Bournemouth, said it would be 'crazy' to think otherwise.
