Newcastle United find themselves in their best form for over four years in the Premier League thanks to tireless work at the club's Benton base from Eddie Howe and his staff. Wins over Wolves, Leicester, Crystal Palace and now Norwich fired the Magpies back into the top half.
Howe admitted on Friday that he'd been working around the clock to ensure United's safety and even on Saturday night, with 43 points in the bag, he refused to declare Newcastle's top-flight safety despite sitting in ninth place. But four consecutive wins is the first time United have achieved such a good run of results since the 2017/18 campaign.
Back then wins for Rafa Benitez against Southampton, Huddersfield, Leicester City and Arsenal put Newcastle in the frame for a top 10 finish. And that could be on the cards again for United under Howe if they can maintain their great form in 2022.
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It hasn't been lost on Howe that Newcastle's place in the form table sees them only behind Liverpool in terms of picking up points this year. Again, Howe stated in the build-up to Norwich that form tables don't always reflect reality.
His calm persona, the same approach he has maintained even when United were bottom after 14 matches, was maintained on Saturday evening in Norfolk. He said afterwards: "We gave it our all to win a match. Some of the quality of our play, especially after we scored, was the highest level and we scored some good goals."
Tim Krul had an amazing reception from Newcastle United fans but did not milk it
The Dutchman is still a massively popular figure at St James' Park but he did not carried away with the scenes at Carrow Road. In the away end there was a party atmosphere with Krul's name chanted loudly.
But Krul stayed focused on the game and pulled off some good saves after a giveaway to Bruno Guimaraes for the third goal. With Norwich now Krul's home he kept his acknowledgements to Newcastle supporters relatively low key.
Krul applauded them before the game but with Norwich knowing they are going down as a consequence of the 3-0 win for Newcastle he did not get pulled into the chants coming his way. At the end of the game, he made a point - out of respect to the fans that help pay his wages - to applaud them first.
Afterwards, Krul did applaud United fans but the disappointment over Norwich's plight was etched on his face. Krul is a competitor and it is that type of never say die attitude that won him popularity on Tyneside.
Without Krul, you wouldn't have great nights like beating Palermo and Metalist Kharkiv in Europe or famous wins over the likes of Man United and Liverpool or Man City away in the League Cup. His place in Toon folklore is already assured.
Newcastle have chance to beat last season's points tally
United ended the season with a tally of 45 points as they finished 12th in the top-flight. They now go into the last four matches knowing one more win will enable them to better that.
If they do it will be their highest points total since winning promotion in 2017. With 12 points to play for they could also break through the 50-point barrier for the first time in a decade.
But with Liverpool (h) and Manchester City (a) up next that feat won't be easy. The reality is United have got their work done before that daunting run-in.
