West Ham United manager David Moyes has admitted that like his own club, no one expected Newcastle United to turn things around so quickly.
Eddie Howe's side welcome the Hammers to St James' Park on Saturday evening on the back of reaching the Carabao Cup final in midweek and sitting in third place in the Premier League.
Twelve months ago, Howe inherited a side in the relegation zone and has transformed expectations on the pitch in such a short space of time, something Moyes said not many expected his side to do when he arrived battling the drop to a European finish a year later.
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"I probably wouldn’t, but when we avoided relegation I don’t think anyone expected us to finish sixth in the league the next season," Moyes replied when asked if he expected Newcastle to rise as quickly as they have. "For us that was incredible, so what Newcastle are achieving, to get to a cup final in this world is so difficult.
"Sometimes you need the draws to go for you and get the right ones in the right situations, but they have done very well. Bruno Guimaraes is a fantastic signing for them, but I think the signings of people like Chris Wood, Kieran Trippier has been incredible… he was an England international who was at Atletico.
"I am sure even those players would have cost decent money, but I don’t think they have gone mad and spent crazily. They have got their rewards because if you build correctly and put a layer in and do that again and again, you are on the route to getting a successful team. At the moment they have started well."
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