The similarities are startling and soon to be tested in face-to-face combat. Every Geordie is gratefully aware of how Eddie Howe has turned his club from no hopers to full of hope.
Yet it cannot have gone unnoticed that the man who said 'no' to Newcastle is currently working a similar miracle having made a late re-entry into English football.
Unai Emery has gone to Aston Villa and, working under the radar of public scrutiny, has achieved what Howe achieved in his first season.
Since Emery took over at Villa last October only the Premier League's top three clubs Arsenal, Manchester City and Manchester United have a better points return.
A team flirting with disaster at the wrong end of the table has plundered 26 points from 14 games to move up to 11th only four points below sixth placed Liverpool.
Now comes the crunch. After the Premier League resumption when Newcastle entertain Manchester United on Sunday, the Magpies have three away matches on the bounce - the last of which is against Emery's Villa.
The comparisons will be hyped to the heights in the build up to that one, although perhaps the obvious conclusion is that United's new owners knew exactly what they were doing pinpointing Emery and Howe for their job when outsiders were pushing the claims of the more glamorous Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard.
One of the things that Emery has done at Villa Park is similar to Howe's philosophy at St James' Park. Howe transformed players such as Joelinton, Miggy Almiron, and Fabian Schar into superstars while rescuing the careers of the likes of Sean Longstaff and Jacob Murphy.
Equally Emery has taken a bunch of under achievers and produced winners. Ollie Watkins recently netted in six consecutive top flight games having scored only one in 11 under Gerrard. Douglas Luiz, previously not known for his midfield attacking, has been directly involved in six goals during those 14 fixtures under Emery. And Tyrone Mings, stripped of the captaincy by Gerrard, has reverted to being a defensive colossus.
When Howe took over a ship lurching amid stormy waters early in the November of last season United were 19th without a win and with only five points from 11 games.
He ended up in charge of 27 Premier League matches, winning 13 of them, drawing five and losing nine. His 44 points took Newcastle from 19th to 11th.
Of course there is not much love lost on the terraces between United and Villa fans since the infamous Sob On The Tyne banner and Emery turning down United will only add fuel to the bonfire come April 15.
Their punters (and presumably Emery) would love to take three points and so severely dent United's European hopes. It would be the ultimate stamp of approval.
Who can get one over on the other? It's going to be quite a match up between United's Saviour and the 'Man Who Said No'. Whatever happens United's consortium can have no regrets about appointing Eddie Howe. Far from it. Emery can only hope to match our man next season.
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Frank Clark is unique in many ways having claimed European trophies with two clubs hardly renowned for regular continental successes.
He was a significant member of Newcastle's side which lifted the European Fairs Cup in 1969 and then unbelievably topped that by winning the No.1 prize, the European Cup, with Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest a decade later.
Clark played more games for United than virtually any other outfield player - 487 over a 13 year period. He went on to manage Forest and Manchester City and is travelling up from his Nottingham home especially to do a talk-in with me at the Tyneside Irish Club in Newcastle on Thursday, April 20.
It is a unique opportunity to see Frank after the success of his sell-out show at the Tynemouth Surf Cafe. Tickets cost £15 and are available from nufcmatters.com
