5 Lessons Newcastle United Can Learn From Win Over Norwich

The future of Newcastle rest on their next few games, if they manage consecutive wins they could easily shatter the hearts of three London clubs.

By Matt Robinson /

1. Cisse and Ba Could Be Best Strike Pairing in the Country

The Senegal and Newcastle forwards look set to be the next great strike force in the Premier League. Newcastle€™s main men seem to be putting in splendid performances for the club at St. James' Park where they can't stop scoring. 26-year-old Demba Ba has now scored sixteen goals in just twenty-five games this season. Combine that with his club and country teammate, Papiss Cisse, who has managed three goals in his first five appearances for the toon, scoring three out of the four times he has played in front of the home fans. It's fair to say that manager Alan Pardew can be satisfied with the way his attackers at the moment. Both players played well against Norwich and with Cisse having the majority of the chances if it wasn€™t for Norwich keeper John Ruddy on form, Newcastle could of won by a bigger margin.

2. Newcastle Must Keep Demba Ba in the Summer

As the end of the Premier League season is drawing nearer so is the chance to acquire new talent and develop squads in the summer transfer window. One player that will be on the list of many teams is striker Demba Ba. The twenty-six year old Newcastle forward signed on a free agent from West Ham at the start of the season. Even though the Newcastle boss has assured fans he will stay, if the money is good enough Ba could be leaving €˜Geordie Land€™ for one of the bigger clubs in Europe. Both Arsenal and Liverpool were rumoured to be interested in the player in the January transfer window and with a summer clause of just £7 million all that is required to activated an accepted bid, Newcastle may be forced to sell their number 19 whether they like it or not.

3. Continuous Mistakes in Defence Will Cost Them

Alan Pardew seemed relatively happy with his teams win over tricky opposition Norwich. He said: €œOver the last three games against Sunderland, Arsenal and now Norwich, I think we€™ve deserved four points, just for squad commitment to try to win a game, and that€™s what we did today.€ He may be pleased with the win, yet he didn€™t look too happy at his defenders on several occasions in the Norwich game. Defenders Mike Williamson and Danny Simpson made several poor mistakes, which led to golden chances for Norwich. If Newcastle defenders make mistakes like those in the games against clubs with a reputation for taking chances then they could suffer huge losses. Something, which Newcastle is looking to avoid.

4. Europa/Champions League Football is a Realistic Goal

Can you really picture Newcastle in the Europa league? What about the Champion€™s League? Well if they carry on getting the results they have been achieving recently they could easily pull it off. With Newcastle five points clear of Liverpool and currently 6th in the league they have a realistic opportunity to achieve European football. In fact Newcastle are only two points off Chelsea (who are in 5th place) and with Arsenal and Spurs only a few more points ahead, the €˜toon€™ can defiantly put pressure on all three teams.

5. Tim Krul Is On Top of His Game

Newcastle may have won the game, but Norwich were denied several times by goalkeeper Tim Krul. In fact Krul saved the game for Newcastle with a terrific stop, which could be argued won them the game. Krul said: €œThat save was up there with my best€ The future of Newcastle rest on their next few games, if they manage consecutive wins they could easily shatter the hearts of three London clubs.