So, Alan Pardew must be reflecting after the 4-1 thumping of Sunderland, this is what it feels like to be accepted. Loved, even. Your fans worshipping you with sun-kissed oratorios. Your players swallowing your percolation of managerial nous and management speak. And your team soaring up the league, from the relegation zone to the outskirts of the top 10. “Our fans were singing ‘It’s like watching Brazil’, and it was,” proclaimed Pardew in the giddy aftermath of Crystal Palace’s fourth straight Premier League victory. And, for once, few were rolling their eyes when he strayed deep into Partridge territory.

Maybe it is time we all appreciated Pardew a little more, especially after his remarkable season. There is a graphic whizzing around the internet that bluntly illustrates his impact. When you tally up Pardew’s points at Newcastle and Palace it comes to 51 from 31 games – good enough for eighth. Without Pardew at the control deck, the Magpies and Eagles nose-dived, gaining only 26 points from 31 games – relegation form. No wonder Pardew is second favourite, behind José Mourinho, to be named manager of the year.

It is a remarkable turnaround from last autumn when Newcastle stumbled out of the blocks and abuse lashed down at Pardew, week after week, game after game. During that dark period he could have taught Marcus Aurelius a thing or two about stoicism.

But, as I wrote at the time, the situation at St James’ Park was “not so black and white”. Pardew had lost his two best players, Loïc Rémy and Yohan Cabaye, and also suffered bad luck during games. “He might yet turn things round,” I argued. Unsurprisingly, I was hammered by the club’s fans.

Since taking charge at Palace, Pardew has won eight of 12 Premier League games, drawing one and losing three – pretty much Champions League form – and turned Glenn Murray, Jason Puncheon, Wilfried Zaha and Yannick Bolasie into the sharpest attacking quartet outside the top six. Unsurprisingly they also pass the ball more, and with greater accuracy, than they did when Neil Warnock was in charge.

And, as the analytics expert James Grayson points out, when you look at the underlying numbers, Newcastle and Crystal Palace have also been much better at generating and suppressing shots under Pardew’s management this season.

There is a caveat. Palace have probably been lucky, too. According to Grayson’s figures, since Pardew joined they have scored a huge proportion of their shots on target. While the league average is 30%, and Manchester City’s multimillion-pound strike-force are the only team to have bettered 38% over one of the past two seasons, Palace’s current rate is 49%. Could this be down to some magical Pardew effect?

Probably not. Newcastle’s percentage of shots leading to goals was 25% in the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons when Pardew was manager. So Palace’s rate of nearly two goals a game since the turn of the year is surely unsustainable.

But even if their form does dip, it is hard to imagine Pardew returning to the near-permanent rictus stare of his St James’ Park days. He looks happy again. Happier in fact, than at any point since he was in charge of Reading a decade or so ago when he was seen as a highly progressive and promising manager.

I vividly remember the day in the spring of 2003 when he decided to allow reporters into the dressing room for the first time after their victory against Palace. It was a scene that was part Tony Robbins, part The Day Today. The walls were crammed with motivational slogans and football stats while naked, shower-ready bodies buffed up against reporters’ dictaphones. “Speak to whomever you like,” Pardew insisted. “You want an instant reaction. We’re giving it to you.” The experiment didn’t last long: open-door policies are the stuff of American sports not English football, but it made a statement that Pardew wanted to do things differently.

Since then Pardew perhaps hasn’t lived up to his, or others’, expectations. He got West Ham promoted, took them to the FA Cup final and ninth in the Premier League … and was sacked six months later. He never got much from Javier Mascherano or Carlos Tevez and was hugely criticised for promoting a ‘baby Bentley’ culture. The fact he drove a Ferrari added fuel to the whispers that he was brash and arrogant.

His spells at Charlton and Southampton also ended miserably, though in mitigation both clubs had financial difficulties. When he arrived at Newcastle he admitted “I don’t think I’m going to win any PR battles here” and proved as good as his word, despite finishing fifth.

He has few advocates in the media, or elsewhere, but in terms of win percentage in the Premier League, Pardew’s record of 37.8% is superior to many managers with better reputations, including Harry Redknapp, Roy Hodgson, Sam Allardyce and Tony Pulis. When you look at managers who have managed at least 100 Premier League games only four Englishmen – Roy Evans, Bobby Robson, Kevin Keegan and, er, John Gregory – have a better win percentage.

Perhaps, therefore, it is time for a modest reappraisal. Especially now that Pardew – whose managerial career has so often had the movement of a giant see-saw, with brief and exhilarating highs followed by plunging lows – now finally seems to be on an even keel.