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The return of former players and managers to Gallowgate usually provides a chance to reflect on the contribution they made during their time in Toon and the manner of their departure, with the bluffers and duffers getting the bird while the canny lads are applauded - regardless of the strip they wear.    

Certainly the appearance of messrs Carroll and Nolan promises to be a compare and contrast affair when West Ham pitch up here: perhaps everyone will just ignore them both and focus their fury on abusing Big Sham in the visiting dugout...  

The level of applause that greeted Chris Hughton today was just right: respectful without being too fevered. And the welcome from his old players was evidently sincere (and mirrored behind the scenes by both club employees and press room occupants), an acknowledgement of his honest efforts here.

By contrast though, Hughton's selection of the traitorous Sebastien Bassong seemed to escape the attention of most present, only the PA announcement of his early replacement through injury creating a stir among home fans. And even then, the ex-Mag was denied the full-scale derision of the crowd as he departed, when his replacement was revealed to be former mackem Michael Turner.

Despite the pleasantries though, Hughton and his assistant Colin Calderwood would have been in little doubt that a difficult afternoon awaited him as he looked to steer Norwich to their maiden win of this latest top-flight return.

If he didn't have that sinking feeling when forced to reshuffle his side within the opening ten minutes though, though, Hughton certainly knew he was up against it soon after when Newcastle provided a moment of class and Hatem Ben Arfa's defence-splitting pass was rammed home by Demba Ba.

Had the provider of that goal not left Manchester on a stretcher in October 2010, then Hughton may not have been unseated himself barely two months later on the back of three successive failures to win at home in the league.    

But one Mag's loss is another one's gain and Alan Pardew was able to watch his side collect a second three point return of the season from the Directors Box thanks to the artistry and accuracy of his Parisian pair. The manager was also spared having to high five the owner by Mike Ashley's absence (has anyone seen him at a game this since Everton away last May?)

The visitors may have returned to their usual yellow garb after last season's appearance here in green, but echoes of our single goal success that day extended further than the scoreline. The unerring accuracy of Papiss Cisse that day saw him snaffle the chance as Demba put in a decent shift but extended his own goal drought to five games (a run that would eventually total fourteen). 

This time round though the boot was firmly on the other foot with Ba potent and Cisse profligate, even when handed the opportunity to get off the mark this season by his benevolent team mates. 

That came when Mike Williamson was nudged in the back by Steve Morison in first half added time and team captain Jonas Gutierrez opted to entrust our number nine with the penalty kick. Sadly for a nervous-looking Cisse though, his spot kick attempt was a carbon copy of one taken in Portugal against Olympiakos during pre-season - and harmlessly hammered high over the crossbar.

A misadventure then, but well-intentioned. Whether Ben Arfa or Ba would have taken it is unclear: the former's decision to grab the ball after winning a spot kick in the Spurs game here raised eyebrows at the time, while the latter failed badly against the mackems last season  (although he had been responsible for earlier flawless conversions at the Britannia and Old Trafford). 

As had been the case in the last meeting of these team here back in March, we took the lead and held on it for well over an hour, with City's battering ram Grant Holt again only belatedly joining the fray (20 minutes today, 13 minutes last time). 

The former Carlisle target man may not be able to fit into his wedding suit any more, but it's less than a year since he planted two headers in our net against us at Carrow Road. And again, those preferred to him up front here had long ceased to be any sort of threat to Steve Harper's clean sheet.  

The half time teamtalks were doubtless interesting, with Pardew presumably en route to give his when the penalty panto unfolded. Across the corridor meanwhile, Hughton was doubtless given renewed optimism that there could be something here for his side after all and trying to get his message over. 

And had Harper not raced off his line to deny Andrew Surman shortly after the restart, then that spurned penalty could have been very costly. Our subsequent struggle to create chances indicated that at 1-1 we would have missed out on a glaring opportunity to collect three points. 

Many of the "big personalities" in the dressing room from the Hughton era have of course departed and their presence often seemed to us to nullify whatever game plan had been agreed beforehand as they basically did what they wanted. 

The net effect was that the players took the credit for the good days and the manager carried the can when things went backwards. Whether Hughton's tactics were valid remained unproven.   

Opinion remains divided as to the tactical nous of his successor, but he seems to have the advantage of a more obedient squad than his predecessor. And in motivational terms, having inspired better displays out of James Perch and Davide Santon, Pardew's quest to coax more consistent contributions from Jonas seems to be paying off.

Rarer now is the headless chicken-type run that seldom bore fruit and but there's also less sense of the game passing him by for significant periods of time. A website somewhere will presumably bear testament to the fact that he contests and wins more tackles and loses the ball less. His ability to win free kicks though remains intact, while he seems more willing to drop back when Santon goes upfield.

Cheick Tiote made a return to the first team when he replaced Anita and proceeded to give a staggering cameo performance, akin to that of an a unbroken stallion being saddled for the first time.

There were some fine tackles, one 60 yard pinpoint pass, some ludicrous dribbling on the edge of his own box, a spectacular miskick and one assault that earned him a customary booking. 

The Ivorian Chuck Norris almost provided the crowning glory when challenging for a ball with two opponents and attempting to take them both out in mid-air - a move we last saw Billy Whitehurst pull off away at Everton in 1986....and before that, Bruce Lee. No wonder Bigi and Sammy have copied his barnet.

If the players get up to do a turn at their Christmas party, then may we suggest that Cheick's selected tune is that 1970s disco classic "Kung Fu Fighting" by Carl Douglas - but only after all the plates and glasses are safely cleared away...."oh-oh-oh-oh", indeed. 

A suitably mad ending to a slightly bonkers week then, but one in which we remained unbeaten in three games. Like the penalty miss, Tiote's antics could have been very costly, but we got away with it on this occasion. One senses the manager will be having "a word".  

Biffa