​What a difference a season makes. This time last year there was very little optimism around Newcastle United as Steve McClaren embarked on his ill fated venture at St. James' Park.





Away form was also a big concern and it was only the die hard faithful who were brave enough to travel to away fixtures, knowing fully well a positive result was highly unlikely.





But under Rafa Benitez, everything has changed. The Magpies are now a different team entirely - they've gotten rid of those who failed to show up for away games (Moussa Sissoko and Georginio Wijnaldum we're looking at you) and replaced them with something much better.





As if their form before the Queens Park Rangers clash wasn't already great, confidence has sky rocketed after the 6-0 demolition and now we hear the Toon Army have sold out their away allocation for the Aston Villa game.





The ​Chronicle has reported that 2,800 tickets have been sold for the fixture on the 24th of September - and Villa could probably do with upping that to get more bums on seats, as their summer of discontent shows no signs of ending.

This increase in support does comes from the improved football that Benitez has introduced, but it must be noted that the fans deserve a huge amount of congratulations for how they have thrown their support behind the team this campaign.





Initiatives like the Gallowgate Flags scheme is certainly another way the atmosphere has gotten better around the area, but without the determination of Geordies everywhere to support their side no matter what, none of these proactive schemes would have been possible in the first place.





They could have sulked because of relegation and demanded that owner Mike Ashley walks away from the club, right along with the semi-incompetent pair of Lee Charnley and Graham Carr. Instead, they have banded around the father figure of Benitez and trusted him to sort out the mess once and for all.





And he looks like he is doing just that. Selling the most divisive players would have certainly helped, as would sweeping the decks and getting rid of players like Manu Riviere and Sammy Ameobi.

















There is an understandable buzz around the team right now, but the Toon Army deserve a lot of praise for making sure, no matter what, it's never quiet on the terraces.