Alan Pardew:

"There were a few strong words (at half time).

"We just said to them after (full time) it’s not nice as a manager to go in and bark out orders, but sometimes it’s necessary just to shake people up because we needed shaking up.

"We were giving too much possession to Spurs. We never made a tackle and we were fortunate to come in at 1-0 (behind).

"I reminded them of the fundamentals of a Barclays Premier League game and I thought second half the players were magnificent.  I was pleased they took on board what we talked about. Certainly in the second half our attitude went up a level and that was the difference.

"We needed to offer a threat – we’re Newcastle United - we’re not a small club. We’re a big club, and we were playing like a small club.

"It’s a little bit daunting, even for senior players, to be without Papiss (Cisse) and Cheick Tiote after our win last week, but the new guys stepped up to the plate and gave us belief.

"Straight from the second-half, Jack (Colback) plays a forward pass, which was a rarity in the first half, and suddenly we got ourselves a goal. We have struggled at the start of second halves, so we purposely thought we’d do a little bit of work before each, the start of the first half and the start of the second half.

"I thought Spurs were very good first-half, but second half, the attitude of our players just went up a level and it was the difference.

"The back end of last year we struggled and the start of this year, with our new players not quite settling, we struggled again. I have not hidden from that, and I have not hidden from the criticism.

"We still have a lot to do in this Premier League season. But today I am going to smile, and I am going to enjoy this victory because it’s a big, big win for us. It’s important the team has a real strong belief in what they’re doing.

"But we find ourselves out of the relegation zone tonight and that is a massive relief for this football club, because the spotlight was very much on us and the pressure effects everybody, not just the players playing but our staff and everybody connected with the football club. In a way, that has been a great victory.

"I'm so pleased for Ayo (ze Perez). It was a tough afternoon to come in at the last minute. He didn't know he was playing. We thought Papiss would be fit today. He really only got the nod at whatever time we kicked off.

"He is a really great individual talent. He hasn’t quite got the strength and power that you associate with the Premier League but that will come to him. He goes to Spain tonight to an awards ceremony and hopefully he might pick up an award or two there. We are so pleased with him today.”

A peeved Mauricio Pochettino:

"It was a shock because after that it all changed in this moment (when Sammy scored).

"Seven or six seconds before, all was happiness and there was good energy in the stadium. Our supporters were happy and believed that we would get a good result.

"But in this moment, I think it was difficult to manage in our head. Our heads had gone and we started to take rash decisions on the pitch. It was difficult because 12 or 14 minutes later, we conceded again another goal. At 2-1, it was difficult.

"It is not something where you can analyse the action, sort the tactical situation and move the players. With mentality, we need to work hard. It is not easy. We need to be more strong, like a team. This is our challenge.

"We need to speak, we need to create a different situation on the training ground and work. We know how but always you need to spend time to work in this area. It is not the same as in physical or tactical situations. It is a different area."
 

Ayoze Perez marked his first league start with a first goal for Newcastle to complete a memorable comeback for Alan Pardew's side at White Hart Lane on Sunday. 

A timid-looking United had been second best in the opening 45 minutes and only some profligacy in front of goal by Spurs restricted their lead to one. 

Having been derided for his tactics and substitutions on previous occasions, the Magpies boss opted to make a double switch at that point. And that was to have an immediate and devastating effect - not only on the contest, but also on those looking to see him ousted.

Off came midfield pair Gabriel Obertan and Vurnon Anita, replaced by Sammy Ameobi and Remy Cabella. And with some of the travelling contingent still seeking solace in a half time beer on the concourses, Ameobi had the ball in the net just eight seconds after the resumption.

Despite recording their first maximum return of the season last week, the chances of our emulating 2013's victory in N17 weren't great and lessened substantially when Papiss Cisse reported swelling around the knee on the morning of the game and wasn't considered for selection accordingly.

With Emmanuel Riviere also out, that left Perez to lead the line with Adam Armstrong and Facundo Ferreyra on the bench as cover - a trio without a single competitive Newcastle goal to their name. 

The opening exchanges weren't promising, with the visitors seemingly on a damage limitation exercise and Jack Colback unable to direct his effort towards the target on what was almost our sole expedition to the Spurs box, just after the quarter hour mark.

And they were duly punished within two minutes, as Emmanuel Adebayor maintained his scoring run against Newcastle, following up his brace at SJP back in February by heading home with ease. 

Having netted five times here in the Europa League on Thursday, the mute Cockerels faithful (and doubtless some Toon followers) settled back in the expectation of further Spurs goals - with hat trick hero Harry Kane on the bench waiting for his chance to get involved.

Unlike last season it didn't turn out that way though, Tim Krul not required to make a string of breathtaking saves this time. Spurs became increasingly sloppy as the half wore on and United's defence made some good blocks, although our marking at set pieces remained awry.

Our twin interval replacements proved to be the catalyst for a remarkable turnaround, with Sammy Ameobi netting his maiden Premier League goal less than eight seconds after the whistle blew. And if that was unexpected, what followed was positively miraculous as United's other replacement made an impression on the Premier League for the first time. 

Until this point in his Toon career, the only characteristic Cabella had shared with predecessor Yohan Cabaye had been the first three letters of his surname. However that all changed on 58 minutes, when he was the outlet after a charging dribble down the left by international colleague Moussa Sissoko and delivered a perfect centre for Perez to open his account. 

Once the bedlam subsided and the game restarted, there seemed to be little prospect of United holding on for over half an hour, but Mauricio Pochettino's side showed few signs of responding and made a trio of ineffective replacements that only muddled matters. 

Benefiting from their new-found pace on the counter attack, the visitors visibly grew in confidence and could even have extended their advantage when Cabella jinked into the box. However he opted to plough on and shoot into the side netting when a pull back to Colback could have seen him net.

The linesman then made an excellent decision to rule that a corner had already gone out of play to deny Spurs an equaliser that would have gone down as a Krul OG, but other than that, only a couple of deflected shots and one cross whistling across the six yard box caused even mild panic. 

While Pardew quickly exited after the briefest of claps at full time, most of the players celebrated in front of the jubilant away corner.

Several tossed their shirts away, while Colback risked repeating the score on his fingers trick that didn't go down very well last season in the derby at SJP.

Coach John Carver also joined the on-field back-slapping and saluted the fans, a far cry from the acrimonious scenes he was involved in six weeks ago at Southampton.

The three points raised us to the dizzy heights of fourteenth and with one win in nine games, the mackems replaced us - both in the bottom three and as the North East's official "crisis club".

Having taken flak for both substitutions and team talks previously - and a habit of claiming credit for anything and everything positive that happens to us - the manager is fully deserving of praise for his half time alterations today.   

In fairness though, anything would have been a improvement on a first half containing precious little evidence of that breakthrough win over Leicester boosting our spirits, industry or concentration. 

Vurnon Anita and Gabriel Obertan didn't reappear, but candidates for replacement abounded - most notably the non-event known as Yoan Gouffran who is apparently undroppable. As a consequence, he couldn't be in more of a comfort zone if he turned up wearing a onesie with 11 on the back. 

If there was a counter-balance to that though, it's in another display from Moussa Sissoko that gave hints of an overdue return to form. It's also pleasing to see that the persistence of Perez brought him a goal, but it often looked as if the strength required to make any impression was lacking.

Back to back victories have now thankfully been achieved, but the varying input in both games between summer incomers and the longer servers underlines the fact that we remain very much a team in transition and it's a thankless task to name our strongest XI - let alone be able to field it.   

This was a welcome reminder of why people travel miles and spend their hard-earned, to be able to revel in the glorious unpredictability of it all. It may not always turn out as hoped, but adding effort and commitment to talent should bring dividends - if only in taking points of big time charlies like Spurs, who seemed to believe their attendance would result in a win. Fur coat and no knickers as someone said afterwards... 

A month ago we believed that positive results could come from this squad, but questioned whether they would follow under Pardew. Taking seven points from a possible nine indicates that some sort of response has come from the dressing room, but whether that's down to the manager or the players themselves is open to question. 

At least they've stopped feeling sorry for themselves and may finally have ended an extended period of mourning that followed the departure of Cabaye. The real tests are still to come though.

Biffa

Dedicated to Darren White, who was involved in an accident while travelling to this game. Best wishes for a speedy recovery from ourselves, Barry, Tommy and the Peterlee Mags.