Alan Pardew was appointed as Newcastle manager just a matter of days after the controversial sacking of Chris Hughton.
With the second half of the season still to play, the Magpies finished the season in mid-table with a similar record to what Hughton achieved that season. In his first full season in charge, it was the club's turn to become the Premier League's surprise package of the season with a fifth placed finish influenced by new captain, Fabricio Coloccini and new signings, Demba Ba, Yohan Cabaye and Papiss Cisse. European football was back on Tyneside after a five year absence.
Despite a great run in the Europa League in reaching the quarter-finals, the other competitions in 2012/13 proved to be a struggle. Getting knocked out at the first hurdle in the League Cup and FA Cup as well as a poor league finish which saw safety confirmed after beating QPR away in the second last game of the season.
The following season was rather strange. The first half went really well courtesy of a perfect November. Yoan Gouffran along with loanee Loic Remy were consistently scoring especially at home and we were in the European places after thrashing Stoke City 5-1 on Boxing Day. The beginning of 2014 saw difficult runs of form and showed that the players could not keep up with the high intensity in order to keep in touch of Europa League qualification. A bizarre incident where Pardew head-butted Hull City's David Meyler whilst Newcastle were winning saw Pardew given a stadium ban followed by a touchline ban and, in his absence, losing streaks were forming. With once again little to shout about in the cup competitions, the 2013/14 season just dragged and many fans wanted it to end quickly.
The beginning of the 2014/15 season started in the same way that the 2013/14 season had ended. A long wait ensued for the first league win which eventually came in October which triggered a revival and another excellent month of November occurred. Loic Remy decided not to join the club on a permanent basis which meant that Papiss Cisse was once again to go-to man for the goals and he failed to disappoint. Notably, his two goals in Chelsea's first defeat of the season in December were crucial as Jak Alnwick was handed with the gloves as Tim Krul and Rob Elliot were both injured.
Shortly before the last game of 2014, Neil Warnock had departed from his role at Crystal Palace, where Pardew spent four years as a player. Coming from behind to win 3-2 meant that the club finished the calendar year on a high and in ninth place with 19 games still to play. Two days later, Pardew left Newcastle to join 18th-placed Crystal Palace. His assistant, John Carver stayed put on Tyneside and given the job of seeing the season out. Surely Carver was not going to do anything stupid like taking the club from ninth and into a relegation battle, finish below Pardew's Palace and self-proclaim to be the league's best manager? Oh wait...
Dates: 9th December 2010 to 30th December 2014 (1,482 days)
Records
League: Played: 157, Won: 58, Drawn: 34, Lost: 65, Goals for: 198, Goals against: 239, Goal difference: -41, Pts: 208. Win ratio: 51%
Home (league): Played: 80, Won: 37, Drawn: 16, Lost: 27, Goals for: 114, Goals against: 107, Goal difference: +7, Pts: 127. Win ratio: 46%
Away (league): Played: 77, Won: 21, Drawn: 18, Lost: 38, Goals for: 84, Goals against: 132, Goal difference: -48, Pts: 81. Win ratio: 27%
Domestic Cup: Played: 16, Won: 8, Drawn: 0, Lost: 8, Goals for: 24, Goals against: 27, Goal difference: -3. Win ratio: 50%
Europe: Played: 13, Won: 5, Drawn: 7, Lost: 2, Goals for: 13, Goals against: 10, Goal difference: +3. Win ratio: 38%
Home (all competitions): Played: 91, Won: 43, Drawn: 19, Lost: 29, Goals for: 127, Goals against: 114, Goal difference: +13. Win ratio: 47%
Away (all competitions): Played: 96, Won: 28, Drawn: 22, Lost: 46, Goals for: 108, Goals against: 162, Goal difference: -54. Win ratio: 29%
Total: Played: 187, Won: 71, Drawn: 41, Lost: 75, Goals for: 235, Goals against: 276, Goal difference: -41. Win ratio: 38%
Season by Season
2010/2011
Premier League: 12th (Played: 22, Won: 6, Drawn: 9, Lost: 7, Goals for: 32, Goals against: 32, Goal difference: 0, Pts: 27. Win ratio: 27%)
FA Cup: 3rd Round (v Stevenage)
2011/2012
Premier League: 5th (Played: 38, Won: 19, Drawn: 8, Lost: 11, Goals for: 56, Goals against: 51, Goal difference: +5, Pts: 65. Win ratio: 50%)
League Cup: 4th Round (v Blackburn Rovers)
FA Cup: 4th Round (v Brighton and Hove Albion)
2012/2013
Premier League: 16th (Played: 38, Won: 11, Drawn: 8, Lost: 19, Goals for: 45, Goals against: 68, Goal difference: -23, Pts: 41. Win ratio: 29%)
League Cup: 3rd Round (v Manchester United)
FA Cup: 3rd Round (v Brighton and Hove Albion)
Europa League: Quarter-Finals (v Benfica)
2013/2014
Premier League: 10th (Played: 38, Won: 15, Drawn: 4, Lost: 19, Goals for: 43, Goals against: 59, Goal difference: -16, Pts: 49. Win ratio: 39%)
League Cup: 4th Round (v Manchester City)
FA Cup: 3rd Round (v Cardiff City)
2014/2015
Premier League: (Played: 19, Won: 7, Drawn: 5, Lost: 7, Goals for: 22, Goals against: 28, Goal difference: -6, Pts: 26. Win ratio: 37%)
League Cup: Quarter-Finals (v Tottenham Hotspur)
Landmark Matches
First win
Newcastle United 3 (Kevin Nolan 15, Joey Barton 80, Andy Carroll 90) Liverpool 1 - 11/12/2010
Tensions were high amongst fans especially because of the terrible decision to sack Chris Hughton earlier that week. Pardew was given the job a few months after leaving League One side Southampton. Credit to the players that night who remained professional in the difficult circumstances having lost a much-loved figure (with fans and players) at the club. Nolan broke the deadlock after combing in the usual way with Joey Barton and Andy Carroll. Dirk Kuyt's equaliser early in the second half put the game back in the balance and the Toon came out on top thanks to a scrappy goal from Barton and Andy Carroll, at the peak of his powers, let fly from long range and it nestled in the corner to put the game to bed.
Biggest win
Newcastle United 5 (Leon Best 18, 39, 60, Kevin Nolan 45, Peter Lovenkrands 63) – West Ham 0 - 05/01/2011
Pardew's second home win as Newcastle manager, after his first game against Liverpool, was the club's biggest win under his guidance. Twelve months after signing from Coventry, Leon Best would have been a surprise to some on the team sheet let alone to score a hat-trick in what was the club's third hat-trick of the campaign and the third time they had scored at least five in a game that season (others coming at home to Aston Villa and Sunderland). Two wins from two games since the turn of the year, it was a good first impression and a sign of things to come in 2011.
100th match
Newcastle United 3 (Jonas Gutierrez 41, Moussa Sissoko 68, 90) Chelsea 2 - 02/02/2013
Coming from behind to win is one thing but doing it against a club like Chelsea is really special. Argentine, Jonas Gutierrez opened the scoring at the Gallowgate end in the first half's closing stages, a goal that meant so much to him when observing his celebration. Goals from Frank Lampard and Juan Mata turned the game on its head before home debutant, Moussa Sissoko, after signing from Toulouse, gave a great first impression by scoring the all-important two goals that were needed for the three points including a last-minute winner.
50th win (all competitions)
Newcastle United 2 (Yoan Gouffran 68, Loic Remy 89) Chelsea 0 - 02/11/2013
Later on in 2013, Chelsea were yet again the visitors at St. James' Park and yet again came away from Tyneside empty-handed. With the score at 0-0 and still all to play for, Yohan Cabaye was standing over a free kick in readiness to launch it into the box. Just before he took the free kick, he had a quick chat with Pardew on the touchline, nearly thirty seconds later, Yoan Gouffran wheeled away in celebration having just diving-headed home Cabaye's ball into the box. The win was confirmed on a rainy Saturday lunchtime when Loic Remy scored via the post to bring back the feel good feeling among the fans after losing in the Tyne/Wear derby the previous week.
50th league win
Newcastle United 1 (Papiss Cisse 90) Crystal Palace 0 - 22/03/2014
Moments after missing a golden chance to take the lead in the dying minutes, Papiss Cisse came up once again and diverted his header goal-bound to give Newcastle the last place on Match of the Day's schedule that evening but, more importantly, the three points to ease the pressure on Pardew as 2014 had been a difficult year for him up to that point.
Last win
Newcastle United 3 (Papiss Cisse 34, Ayoze Perez 51, Jack Colback 68) Everton 2 – 28/12/2014
Speculation was rife that, despite being in a comfortable mid-table position at the end of 2014, Pardew was on his way to Crystal Palace who were in the midst of a relegation battle after Neil Warnock failed to deliver the goods at Selhurst Park. Suspicions and rumours became more profound when Pardew left John Carver with all of the obligatory media duties after the win against Everton. Following the final whilstle, the cameras turned to the dugouts where Pardew simply shook hands with Everton manager, Roberto Martinez and disappeared off down the tunnel. Not a sight, not a word from him was ever seen or heard until he was announced as the new Crystal Palace manager.
Further landmark matches
50th match: Brighton and Hove Albion 1 - 0 Newcastle United - 28/01/2012
50th league match: Arsenal 2 - 1 Newcastle United - 12/03/2012
Biggest defeat: Newcastle United 0 - 6 Liverpool – 27/04/2013
100th league match: Newcastle United 0 - 0 West Ham - 24/08/2013
150th match: Newcastle United 0 - 4 Tottenham Hotspur - 12/02/2014
150th league match: Burnley 1 - 1 Newcastle United - 02/12/2014