Performance of the season vs Everton
We got pretty much everything you ask for from a Newcastle United side in the 3-1 win over Everton.
In fact it was probably the performance of the season in terms of what we saw from the first minute to the last.
They started on the front-foot, there was intent there and the whole team pressed brilliantly.
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OK, they went behind but that was against the run of play in terms of how the game had started.
But they showed great character and when you are at the bottom not many teams can do that when they go a goal down.
Newcastle managed it well though against Everton.
And I think the January business gave both the crowd and the current crop of players the belief that they could go on and win.
They got the result that they thoroughly deserved.
Psychological boost after Norwich fluff their lines
Climbing out of the relegation zone is crucially important at this time of year, not least because of the psychological boost for the players.
Newcastle briefly slipped into the bottom three again when one of my old teams Norwich went 1-0 up against Crystal Palace but by the end you couldn't argue with things.
United went back up to 17th because of the Palace equaliser and they still have a game in hand over the Canaries.
I am hoping that moving forward we aren't relying on the results of others and I do think the Everton game can be the start of better things to come.
It backed up the performance at Elland Road and the players have come back from the trip to Saudi Arabia in good spirits.
You could see that just by the way Newcastle did not let their heads go down when going behind against Everton this week.
There seems to have been a mentality shift.
It always helps when other teams don't win or pick up maximum points but if you look after yourself then you don't need to worry about other results.
Bruno Guimaraes will lift everybody
When quality players arrive at clubs it gives everybody a lift.
You saw the little cameo with his flick at the Gallowgate corner and it showed he is already dialled into the fanbase and knows what they want to see.
Obviously, that's not just fancy tricks and flicks but also hard work.
He is a terrific player who I watched a lot at his last club Lyon in French football.
I think he will go on to be a brilliant signing for us.
If he can reproduce what he showed in his cameo he won't go far wrong.
The last type of thing I've seen like that came from a certain Paul Gascoigne back in the day!
There you go, there's a comparison Bruno straight away.
I'm sure he will take that but he will know better than anybody how important getting points on the board is now.
In an interview with Lee Ryder.
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