Newcastle United: 20 Reasons the Toon Army Have Been so Good This Season

The 2011-12 season has really been one of the best of the last decade for Newcastle United, and many are calling them the EPL's Team of the Season for their fantastic performance so far through 33 games.

Considering that Championship football is a not-so-distant memory for the Toon, achieving what looks now like Europa League qualification is simply unbelievable.

For a team to move all the way up the table from 12th last season to around 5th this season takes a lot of great work from a great group of management, staff and players, and Newcastle have had that.

Here I'm going to list the 20 reasons why Newcastle have been so successful and shocked everyone this season. 

Scouting

If it was not for Newcastle's league-leading scouts, there's no way that this talented squad of players would be together.

Headed by chief scout Graham Carr, the scouting network has found the likes of Yohan Cabaye, Sylvain Marveaux and Papiss Cisse, and that's only this season.

The rest of this squad is filled out mostly with previously unheard of players, like Cheik Tiote, and some were found even before the arrival of Carr, like Tim Krul and Jonas Gutierrez.

This scouting network has essentially allowed the Toon to pick up talented players on the cheap, as a great alternative to the high-spending mentality at most of the other clubs surrounding them in the table.

The French Revolution

So much of what Newcastle have done this season has been at the hands (or the feet, so to speak), of their French and French-speaking contingent.

Dubbed the French Revolution, the arrival of all of these players has helped tremendously in terms of communication both on and off the pitch, allowing for good team chemistry all season long.

It's sad to say, but building a team around English players is a thing of the past in the EPL. It is simply cheaper for teams to look abroad for the bulk of their talent. English players go for a lot more money, and the foreign players do not, simply because they have yet to prove themselves in the Premier League — just look at the difference in price and performance of Andy Carroll and yet another French-speaking player at Newcastle, Papiss Cisse.

Alan Pardew

Alan Pardew has arguably been the single most important factor for Newcastle's success this season.

Pardew has had the widest range of influence on the team: negotiating the signing of scouted players, creating the first successful manager-owner relationship in the Mike Ashley era and, most importantly, organizing the team on the pitch.

Pardew's performance has been such that, despite the obvious choice of Harry Redknapp, he was even rumoured to be in the early running for the vacant England job before he pulled out to stay in Newcastle.

Andy Carroll's Transfer

The transfer of home-grown striker, Andy Carroll, to Liverpool was really the instigator of the creation of this team.

The £35 million Newcastle brought in in return for Carroll has gone away, funding the signings of all of the new players for the 2011-12 season.

Though Carroll has showed signs in recent weeks of eventually returning to his Newcastle form, there is no doubt that Newcastle would not be in this position to grab a place in the Champions League without his sale last January. 

The Fall of Chelsea and Liverpool

Speaking of Liverpool, the troubles of both themselves and Chelsea have really helped Newcastle advance up the table this year.

Each headed by their underperforming No. 9's — Carroll and Torres — Liverpool and Chelsea have struggled to stay at the top four level that both clubs have been at for the best part of the last decade.

Instead, both clubs currently sit behind high-flying Newcastle, with Chelsea barely in a European place for next season and Liverpool saved by the fact that they won the Carling Cup.

Going back to Andy Carroll, we must also remember that the £50 million Fernando Torres transfer funded the Carroll transfer, which in turn has funded Newcastle this season, so unintentionally Chelsea have been very helpful to Newcastle this season. 

Captain Colo

Fabricio Coloccini, the man at the heart of the Newcastle defense, has been Mr. Consistent when he's played this season, and a lot of the team's success is down to him.

In his first year of captaincy at the club, Colo has shown great leadership, following on from the great job that Kevin Nolan and Alan Smith have done in years past.

The curly-haired Argentine has been a steadying presence at the back, and a safety net for the younger players with him in defense, like Tim Krul, Danny Simpson and Davide Santon. 

Coloccini is no oldie himself, though, and his performances this season have shown that he's very much in the prime of his career. 

The Senegalese Strikeforce

For a lot of the season, goals have actually been hard to come by for the Toon, but you wouldn't know it if you looked at the records of their Senegalese pairing up front.

Before the emergence originally of Demba Ba, Newcastle were looking dire in front of goal, relying on Leon Best and Shola Ameobi for the bulk of their scoring.

Once Ba had stepped on the scene, though, his two hat-tricks and 16 total goals have vaulted Newcastle into the top five, where they've stayed for the most of the season.

He wasn't without help for long, though, as January saw the arrival of his Senegal teammate Papiss Cisse, who has set the Premier League alight in his first nine games on Tyneside.

Without both strikers, Newcastle would be struggling to find the back of the net, as even with them they've scored the lowest number of goals out of all the teams currently in the top six. 

Mike Ashley's Wallet

Though the Andy Carroll transfer helped out a lot financially, Newcastle fans should still be grateful to once-hated owner, Mike Ashley, who has all but buried his appalling past with the club.

Ashley could have easily used the money to rid himself of some of the club's debt, but instead has entrusted Pardew with spending it wisely over the past two transfer windows, and has still managed to clear the club of its debt.

Tim Krul's Goalkeeping

Good goalkeepers are hard to find these days, but Newcastle have one of the EPL's best in young Dutchman Tim Krul.

Countless times this season has Tim Krul kept Newcastle in games they really shouldn't be in, whether that be by a fingertip save or denying a player from the penalty spot.

You could easily wipe six points off Newcastle's total this season if not for Tim Krul and his safe hands. 

Lack of Success in Cup Competitions

Not for years have Newcastle had an extended run in any cup competition, but for once, this lack of success has actually been beneficial to Newcastle.

As it is, Newcastle have struggled with depth issues quite a lot season, especially when Ba and Tiote left for the African Cup of Nations along with new signing Papiss Cisse.

With a long cup run along with that, Newcastle would have been at a higher risk to lose players due to injury, and may even have been forced to sit a number of key players for league games in order to keep them fit for important cup fixtures.

Without this extra burden, though, Newcastle have been able to focus solely on the league for the most part, which can't be said for any other team in the top eight. 

African Cup of Nations Failures

Luckily for Newcastle, when the African Cup of Nations did strike, its impact didn't last long enough to have a major imprint on their season.

It would have, though, had more of their players been successful in the tournament, but with Cisse and Ba returning after Senegal were knocked out in the group stages, and with the team getting by despite Cheik Tiote's run to the final, this wasn't the case.

Instead, Newcastle have had arguably their three best players back in time for the great run of games they've had in the past couple of months.

Avoiding Injury

Rarely does a team in the Premier League keep the best part of their starting XI together for an entire season, but this season Newcastle have had that.

Despite not boasting much in terms of depth, Newcastle have fielded essentially the same team all season, excluding one or two changes here or there.

Normally teams seem to face a major injury here or there to one of their starting players, but Newcastle have avoided that and kept this unit together.

Recently, injuries to Cheik Tiote and Fabricio Coloccini have popped up, but these have had little impact during this five game win streak and are really the only two "big" injuries of the season to a starting player.

Surprise Factor

After finishing 12th last year, Newcastle have really sneaked up on and surprised a number of their competitors.

No one really expected Newcastle to do very much this season, especially after the departure of Barton, Enrique and Nolan, so it must have been a shock to the competition once Newcastle started playing competitive football without them.

The impact of Newcastle's newcomers has been very hard for teams to plan for, especially considering they only had a basic idea of players like Yohan Cabaye before this season.

Assistant Coaches

Behind the scenes, Newcastle's assistant coaches, Steve Stone and John Carver, have been very influential for the Toon.

For all the praise that Alan Pardew will get for the season's successes, credit is also due to the pair in the background coming up with tactics and providing an extra source of football knowledge for the players.

Exactly how deep their influence goes is hard to tell from here, but considering the success of the team, you have to imagine they've made a significant impact.

Youth Academy

Over the years, Newcastle have been one of the better clubs in the EPL at developing talent, and this year it payed dividends with the performances of those who have come through the ranks of the club.

Between the sticks, I've already expressed the importance of Tim Krul this season, as the young keeper has established himself as one of the Premier League's best, with fellow youth product Steven Taylor in front of him when fit.

Beyond that, young Sammy Ameobi was contributing well off the bench, until an injury that cost him his season. 

And then there's his brother, Shola, who's been on Tyneside for a while, but still must be remembered as a former youth team player.

Last, but not least, there's Andy Carroll! Newcastle's development of the now-Liverpool striker brought in a record transfer fee for a British player and I think I've said more than enough about the importance that has had to the team's success so far this season.

Elite Defending Early on

The early stages of the Premier League season was when Newcastle really started to show the world that they meant business, and it was all down to their defence.

With a back four of Danny Simpson, Fabricio Coloccini and the two Taylor's, Newcastle led the league in fewest goals conceded for weeks.

The defence hasn't been quite as great so far in 2012, but still it was the original defensive effort that built the platform for this great late season run.

Surprise Contributions

Despite their talented squad, Newcastle have still had to call upon the help of some unlikely heroes at points in the seasons.

Three fill-ins who've done an admirable job when covering for injured players are Danny Guthrie, Mike Williamson and James Perch, who have managed to avoid a drop-off in production despite covering for more talented players.

It is little things like this that really makes a season a success.

Avoidance of Controversy

Newcastle United are a club whose recent history has been marred with controversy and they've always had a way of making headlines for all the wrong reasons.

From Craig Bellamy's public dispute with Graeme Souness, to the shocking firing of Kevin Keegan, not to mention the on-pitch fight between teammates Kieron Dyer and Lee Bowyer, this just appears to be a club that can't keep themselves out of trouble.

This season, though, that has all changed, and even Hatem Ben Arfa — previously known as a "bad boy" during his days in France — has been brought into the suddenly friendly atmosphere at the club.

Besides the St. James' Park name change, every single report about the club this year has been positive, and without these self-inflicted distractions, the club has been able to flourish. 

Team Spirit

The way that these players have come together at Newcastle really is fantastic. 

An array of new faces have found their way to Tyneside this season, but still team chemistry is at a high and you can see it on the smiling faces of the Newcastle players each and every game of the season.

As a team, you really won't go very far if you can't get along with those alongside you, but that certainly hasn't been the case with the Toon.

Most of it is down to linking up international teammates; Coloccini & Guttierez for Argentina, Ben Arfa & Cabaye for France and Cisse & Ba for Senegal are all prime examples of this.

The Fans

Finally, we have the fans.

One of the great things the club has had to rely on — really in its entire history — is the support of its loyal fanbase.

Newcastle fans are consistently amongst the best in the Premier League in terms of attendance, volume and knowledge, and this really has helped this season.

Playing in front of a packed stadium is one of the great things in football, and for a 52,000-seater to be filled with black and white 19 games a season, it just has to be inspirational for the players.

Knowing they're playing for the city and the passionate fans cheering them on in the stands, the players have reacted to the support of the Geordie Nation, and finally they have something to cheer for.