5 Reasons For Newcastle Fans To Be Cheerful (And 5 To Be Fearful) After Opening Day

4. Newcastle Drew A Game They Would Have Lost Last Season

Newcastle started the game extremely positively and pressed Southampton from the first whistle. Despite their momentum being squashed by Graziano Pelle's 24th-minute header, the Magpies did not surrender (like they have done in previous campaigns). Within 25 minutes they had taken the lead and were unlucky to not take all three points after Shane Long's brilliant header beat Tim Krul 11 minutes from the end. It's a long time since Newcastle have displayed such camaraderie and it certainly seems that Steve McClaren's influence has motivated the team and installed a hunger that has been missing for a number of years on Tyneside.