With Newcastle United fourth in the Premier League and expecting to break even, Stuart Rayner asks if Alan Pardew is right to ask for “a bit more respect” for Mike Ashley

IN football, good news tends to follow wins like Adam Werrity does Liam Fox, popping up unexpectedly in strange places.

It is only a few weeks ago the country was gorging on stories of internal strife at Newcastle United.

Twitter provided regular bulletins on self-appointed club philosopher Joey Barton’s one-man war against the hierarchy. Another wasted opportunity of a transfer window saw his mood mirrored on the terraces.

It seems a lifetime ago.

Two international breaks have been and gone, yet still the Magpies are unbeaten this season – not just in the Premier League but also the League Cup.

More than that, they look unbeatable – not because they are playing football reminiscent of the last Newcastle team unscathed this long (in 1994), but because they are the weebles of the top flight. No matter how many times United wobble, they never seem to fall over.

Strikers not deemed good enough to grace the famous No 9 shirt have shared 11 goals already, and the defence is as miserly as any in the Premier League.

Mike Williamson apart, no one is injured – they dare not let someone else take their place for fear that, Ryan Taylor-style, they will keep it.

The sense Newcastle can do little wrong is not confined to football matters. Even the board seem to be getting things right.

Sadly, the Magpies’ traditional role is as jesters at the court of the Premier League.

With no clowns in the defence or false Messiahs, it has become Mike Ashley’s job.

Newcastle’s owner and its managing director, Derek Llambias, have become the Stan and Ollie of the top flight, bosses the rest of the football world can shake their heads in disbelief at.

Yesterday, though, Llambias announced he expects the club to break even this year.

Last month it would have enraged supporters who would much rather see a bit of debt if it meant a side worthy of their loyalty.

Bigger on-field tests lie ahead, but, while their team is fourth in the division, they have the best of both worlds.

With Michel Platini’s Financial Fair Play Rules waiting to take effect, Newcastle are breaking the cruel stereotype the jokers attach to them. They are acting sensibly.

Manager Alan Pardew (right) was quick to bang the drum for his bosses at the weekend.