Deep down, Eddie Howe never expected to be in this position with four games to go. In fact, the Newcastle United head coach had been bracing himself for the Magpies' relegation battle to go right down to the wire, to potentially a dreaded survival Sunday clash at Burnley on the last day of the season.
However, Newcastle are now riding high in ninth place following a 3-0 win against Norwich City at Carrow Road on Saturday. The black-and-whites have won 10 of their last 14 games and only Man City, Liverpool, Spurs and Arsenal have picked up more points since Howe took charge last November. To put that turnaround into perspective, no other side had ever survived the drop after failing to win any of their opening 14 Premier League games.
Of course, it is important to stress that Newcastle certainly made full use of a mid-season lifeline available to them in the January transfer window. No other club in world football ultimately spent a greater amount in the new owners' first window in charge as more than £93m was splashed out on Kieran Trippier, Chris Wood, Bruno Guimaraes, Matt Targett (loan) and Dan Burn.
