Wolverhampton Wanderers felt they'd landed an "elite" manager when appointing Julen Lopetegui back in November.
In the five months that have followed there is little evidence to suggest their assessment of the former Real Madrid and Seville head coach was wrong. Remember, Wolves were bottom of the table when the season broke for the World Cup but the 56-year-old has managed to steer them clear of the drop in a short space of time.
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In some ways, the job he's managed is not too dissimilar to Eddie Howe's great escape of 2021/22 when Newcastle went from bottom to 11th in the last two thirds of the campaign. Former Europa League winner Lopetegui has calmly guided Wolves to six wins and four draws to put them close to top-flight safety and daring to dream about a top 10 finish.
Lopetegui is a pragmatic coach and won't be concerned about setting up defensively at St James' Park on Sunday. They are more than happy to play in their own half and look to make quick breaks.
After Saturday's important win over Spurs, he said: "The clean sheet is a platform to be able to achieve your aims, it allows you to score one goal and win. The clean sheet is not easy against players like Harry Kane, Dejan Kulusevski, Son Heung-min."
It hasn't all been plain sailing for the ex-Spain Under-21 coach at Wolves, with defeats against Bournemouth at home and a penalty shoot-out defeat in the League Cup to Nottingham Forest bringing some of the Molineux 606 callers down to earth, after they'd claimed that Lopetegui was producing the best football they'd seen in "club history" shortly into his stint in charge.
However, Sunday's encounter at St James' Park has to be looked at as the ideal opportunity for Newcastle to get back to winning ways. Wolves have won away from home just twice this season and the Magpies are certainly due a change of luck in front of goal.
Lopetegui will certainly make it a tough challenge for Newcastle with a 4-2-3-1 formation more than likely for Howe and his staff to contend with. But Wolves have still conceded five goals in the last five matches and there are cracks in that Lopetegui defensive rearguard.
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