Forget the Arsenal/Villa/Everton model. Now we have the lasting model!

Personally the talk of models at Newcastle makes me cringe a little. We've heard about various clubs that we should be looking to follow in the footsteps of with talk of Everton models, Arsenal models, Aston Villa models.... Anyway, you get my point.

Whilst the principle of adopting the approach that other clubs have used to some effect is theoretically sound, I've always preferred us to find our own way of doing things in the long term. We are starting to do that now in my opinion, but it will be a long road. However, that road could potentially lead us back to Europe says Alan Pardew.

“We have got a tight budget here for a Premier League team in terms of trying to compete for Europe. But we can do it here," Pardew told The Chronicle.

“I’ve done it before at West Ham when our wage budget was lower and we managed to get into Europe. We almost did it by position in 2006 and were two places behind Newcastle, but we got there through the FA Cup by getting to the final."

Times move on Mr. Pardew and a lot has changed since 2006. I'm not saying that Europe won't be on the cards for us at some point in the future, but I'd prefer it if we were looking at qualifying through the league and not through a cup final appearance, although of course I would be delighted with a Wembley appearance.

Again it all comes back to the £35 million question and just how wisely it will be invested. If the club are clever with it in the transfer market and tie down certain players to new contracts then it could make things a hell of a lot easier next season and make the squad stronger as a whole. Europe may be a bit of a stretch again next season though as the club looks to consolidate itself in the Premier League and ensure that it doesn't follow in the footsteps of clubs like Reading, West Brom, Ipswich and Bradford.

All of those teams have survived in the Premier League in the first season only to be relegated in the second. It's called second season season syndrome, and it's something that Pardew is keen to avoid.

The manager continued: “Once that adrenalin fades away from year one after promotion it’s a different challenge. When you get promoted you just want to prove everybody wrong. It isn’t the same in the second year."

“You have to be good enough from start to finish. Therefore we have to make sure we have a strong team.”

This is another reason why it is important to strengthen the squad. In a way, even though I detest how they play, Stoke City Rugby Football Club are a recent example of this. They stayed up, strengthened, stayed up again, and now nobody even mentions them for relegation.

They have signed some talented players, like Tuncay, only to have let them go again, presumably as they play football and have talent, and I'd like Newcastle to do the same only we must keep the talent and not bin it off because they can't get on the end of a 60-yard throw in.

Europe would be great in the future, and the club is most definitely capable of achieving it, but first and foremost we have to secure Premier League football this season, and next season. Just because we have achieved safety once, it doesn't make it a given that we will do it again.

If we can though, maybe we can really, truly, start to look up!