Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew has said that he is already looking forward to the next season after inching ever closer to qualifying for the Champions League this season. It has been a great 12 months for Newcastle United, as they have been able to reach closer towards the top four despite losing a number of top players. It was expected during the start of the season that Newcastle will struggle after losing the experience of Kevin Nolan and Joey Barton in addition to the loss of Andy Carroll in January. However, they have made some shrewd signings and the tactics of Alan Pardew has been spot on.

Newcastle continued their winning run during the weekend as well, as they managed a splendid 3-0 win over Stoke City at the St James’s Park. This coupled with the 0-0 draw at both Arsenal and Chelsea meant that Newcastle are now ever closer to finishing in the top four. Their other contender, Tottenham, were also unable to avoid defeat against QPR. There has been a buzz around Newcastle this season, which has translated into the players according to Alan Pardew. He is very much looking forward to playing in the Champions League next season if they qualify. Pardew reckons that it will be much easier to convince players to come to Newcastle once they qualify for the Champions League.

“Football is important in this city. There are a lot of people out of work and, when you look elsewhere, it is a tough environment for businesses and for people to earn money but, when they come to the stadium, they see a team playing like we did today and it just lifts you and they can take that back into the workplace,” Pardew said after the Stoke City match, which has seen Newcastle rise to the fourth position in the table.