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Newcastle’s biggest surprise of the season BAR NONE!

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Mike WilliamsonThere have been a number of surprises at Newcastle United this season. Yoan Gouffran has scored more goals in the last few weeks than many thought he would have scored in the whole season and you wouldn’t have thought that the Magpies would be a better team with Hatem Ben Arfa on the bench either. However, it’s the form of Mike Williamson that has been the real surprise so far, and a pleasant one at that!

Mike Williamson’s future was well and truly up in the air in the summer. The January arrival of Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa indicated that Alan Pardew wasn’t convinced that Williamson was part of his first team plans, while Steven Taylor was also ahead of Willo in the pecking order, with captain Fabricio Coloccini a permanent fixture in the backline. Given that he was 29 at that point (now 30), time wasn’t on his side either.

However, you can never predict the future in football. Injuries to Coloccini and Taylor, coupled with the poor form of Yanga-Mbiwa, saw Williamson given his chance and the 6ft 4in central defender hasn’t looked back, as he has put in a number of commanding and assured performances.

Newcastle have only conceded two goals in their past four Premier League matches, including back-to-back clean sheets against Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur. Williamson has played the full 90 minutes in all four of those fixtures and has looked in the best form of his Newcastle career.

Williamson has now played over 100 games for Newcastle since joining back in 2010 and for a player who couldn’t get into the Portsmouth team at the time, it’s quite a rise for him to be performing so well at the top level. There are few players that can beat him in an aerial challenge and while he lacks pace, his positioning looks much improved.

Let’s hope that Willo can keep up his good form for the upcoming matches against Swansea and Manchester United…

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Click on the French Trio below to see the Top 10 Goals of the Season SO FAR!

Gouffran, Remy and Cabaye

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