Alan Pardew exceeded all expectations last season but the bar has been raised and recruits such as Mathieu Debuchy would be a big help

Guardian writers' predicted position: 7th (NB: this is not necessarily Louise Taylor's prediction but the average of our writers' tips)

Last season's position: 5th

Odds to win the league: 175-1

Newcastle United fans are asking plenty of questions at present. Should Alan Pardew stick with the 4-3-3 formation he used late last season or switch to a 4-3-1-2 diamond that would allow Demba Ba to play more centrally? Would signing Andy Carroll represent a regressive step or may he turn into the new Zlatan Ibrahimovic? Why does owner Mike Ashley not compromise and meet Lille's fee for the France right-back Mathieu Debuchy? Will Europa League involvement prove a blessing or a curse?

They are all intriguing queries; not to mention very different from the questions the same supporters were pondering this time last year. Back then people wondered if they were about to watch the unfolding of a relegation battle and looked extremely doubtful if it was suggested that signings such as Ba, Yohan Cabaye and Davide Santon would prove a success.

No one dreamed that the team would finish fifth in the Premier League or that Pardew would morph into "Pardiola", let alone envisaged Ba rattling in 16 goals in record time before being joined by a similarly prolific Senegalese compatriot striker in Papiss Cissé during the January transfer window.

A clever tactician and astute man manager – how many other coaches have coaxed smiles out of Hatem Ben Arfa? – Pardew thoroughly deserved his manager of the year award but now the bar has been raised and he must confront a set of fresh challenges.

Providing Newcastle survive their Europa League qualifier they will then fall into the draining Thursday night/Sunday afternoon playing routine demanded by the competition's group stage.

While a return to Europe is eagerly anticipated by fans, Pardew will need to devise a fairly radical squad rotation policy. Either that or several of his best players could be burnt out by Christmas by which time their challenge for a Champions League place may have bitten the dust.

After recovering from a nasty knee injury Sammy Ameobi – Shola's little brother and a skilful creator – has impressed in pre-season and will almost certainly be offered games in Europe and the Premier League. So, too, should the gifted attacking midfielder Haris Vuckic. The 19-year-old Slovenia international could do with putting some appalling bad luck with injuries behind him in what really needs to be a breakthrough season.

So far new signings have been youthful, low key and targeted at a radically overhauled development squad. Even so Gael Bigirimana, recruited from Coventry, has caught the eye in midfield this summer while medium-term hopes are similarly high for both Romain Amalfitano, another midfielder acquired from Reims, and the Australian centre-half Curtis Good.

It would help Pardew's cause if long-mooted moves for Debuchy – who shone for France during Euro 2012 – FC Twente's Brazilian centre half Douglas and the Ajax defensive midfielder or left-back Vurnon Anita are completed by the end of August.

Anita, especially, appears an important target as he promises to be an ideal replacement were Cheik Tioté to be injured or, worse, subject to a last-minute bid from a Chelsea or Manchester United.

Pardew, who remains optimistic he can retain "stars" such as Tioté, Cabaye and Cissé this summer, reports that Tioté is "10 times better" than last summer when the Ivorian was detained in West Africa for a chunk of pre-season while he negotiated the red tape involved in renewing his visa.

Like Ba, Cissé and Ben Arfa, Tioté is a Muslim but, this season, that quartet will not have to cope with problems of daylight fasting during the early weeks of the campaign as Ramadan ends, conveniently, on 18 August.

By then they should be joined in the first-team squad by the centre- half Steven Taylor, Pardew's best defensive header of a ball, and the winger Sylvain Marveaux. While Taylor missed the second half of the last campaign with a ruptured achilles, a groin operation meant Marveaux's career on Tyneside has still to get going.

Ba was widely expected to be swiftly out of the starting blocks en route for lucrative pastures new this summer. Everyone knew that the Senegal striker's contract contained a clause enabling him to depart for £7m before 31 July but despite some interest from Galatasaray, Fenerbahce and Rubin Kazan, Ba's long-term, if well managed, knee condition – something Pardew describes as "a deficiency" – evidently deterred suitors.

Newcastle have declined to re-negotiate Ba's partially pay-as-you-play contract until next summer but Pardew has promised that he will occupy a central attacking role "90% of the time" rather than operate in the wide left position in which he ended last season.

Come January, Ba, Cissé and Tioté will almost certainly be bound for the Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa, which explains why Pardew is so keen on signing Anita and a striker.

While Shola Ameobi – aka the Fenham Eusébio and/or the Mackem Slayer – enjoyed some excellent moments in attack last season and should not be underestimated, he can be injury prone. Moreover his erstwhile co-forwards Leon Best and Peter Lovenkrands have, along with the underrated midfielder Danny Guthrie, left Tyneside this summer.

Such exits explain why Pardew was disappointed to lose out to Borussia Mönchengladbach in the race for FC Twente's promising young striker Luuk de Jong before trying to persuade Liverpool to loan him back the centre-forward he sold them for £35m in January 2011.

Carroll's mooted return looks a non-starter – (although Ashley's ability to hold his nerve in a game of brinkmanship with Liverpool suggests that could yet alter by 1 September) – and there are those who feel that may be no bad thing.

This, after all, is a season that Newcastle are looking forward to with optimism rather than drawing solace from past glories. With the outstanding Tim Krul in goal, the fabulous captain Fabricio Coloccini at centre-half, Tioté enforcing in central midfield and Pardew coaching meticulously the team are in their best shape for ages.

As long as Cissé and Ba are around goals should not be in short supply but, if the days when a crisis constantly loomed around every corner at St James' Park have been consigned to the past, the team's enduring success depends on certain variables.

Foremost among them is the relationship between Ashley and Pardew staying healthy. Then there is the question of whether the manager can not only keep Ben Arfa onside but extract the No10's true creative brilliance on a consistent level. Luck with injuries will also play a part as will the maintenance of an extraordinary spirit among an increasingly French-speaking squad.

There are those in football who, rather unfairly, regard Pardew as rather too full of himself and believe he and Newcastle could be poised to fall flat on their faces. Granted, the road ahead promises to be tricky in places but both manager and club have learned from past mistakes and the suspicion is that their critics may be disappointed.