They may not seem like the most obvious of bedfellows, a greying Londoner and a ginger Glaswegian, but Alan Pardew and Alex McLeish certainly have something in common. They are working at clubs where it was made clear that they are not welcome. Added to the already significant pressures of football management, they have to win over a fan base that wasn’t so much skeptical of their respective appointments as downright appalled. To put it bluntly, nobody wanted them.

Yet relatively early into their reigns – only seven games have passed since McLeish replaced Gérard Houllier – they are already beginning to confound expectations, and make more than a few fans reevaluate their position. Wins on Saturday took Aston Villa and Newcastle to 7th and 4th respectively in the Premier League table. Before the season began, both were being talked of in the hushed tones of relegation, no one wanted to come straight out and predict that they’d go down, but how could two such desperately unpopular managers possibly hope to succeed?

Pardew arrived at Newcastle in early December 2010 when nobody on Tyneside had wanted a change. Given the job on a permanent basis, Chris Hughton had restored a measure of dignity back to the job, as well as having brought Newcastle back from the Championship to a seemingly solid place in the Premier League. There wasn’t a thought that his job was at risk until he was unceremoniously booted out following a 3-1 defeat to West Brom. The change hadn’t been wanted or welcomed, and the haste with which Pardew – known to be a friend of the club’s Managing Director, Derek Llambias – was appointed suggested that it had been in the wind for some time.

McLeish arrived at Villa in somewhat different circumstances, not only was he far from the man that the fans wanted to see in, but he didn’t appear to be the board’s first choice either. Few would have argued against the departure of Houllier, a poor season and obvious health problems meant that he was no longer fit for duty, and a change had to be made.

The approach of the board to finding his replacement, however, seemed somewhat scatter gun. The fans chased off any prospect of Steve McLaren when his name was mentioned, Rafa Benítez had differing ambitions than Randy Lerner was willing to provide for and when they arrived at Roberto Martínez’s door, the Wigan manager turned them down. There seems little to link those three men and McLeish other than their potential availability, and certainly they was no thought or philosophy behind the appointment.

With ranks of Villa fans protesting outside the ground at the mere mention of McLeish’s name, there was no good will either. The suggestion that the man they might turn to was the man who had twice overseen the relegation of their bitter rivals was not one that sat well with Villa supporters, and more than a few publicly stated that season tickets would be returned and merchandise burned if he was given the job. But while the reaction of the fans had managed to put Lerner and his team off the idea of McLaren, they were more steadfast in their pursuit of McLeish and the man who guided Rangers to two SPL titles was appointed.

Despite his unwelcome presence, however, McLeish has gone about rebuilding Villa in an impressive manner. Having lost both Ashley Young and Stewart Downing this summer, it would have been very easy for Villa to fold into a season long struggle, but there remains talent in the squad and McLeish has been building foundations. They have conceded less than half the number of goals that Villa had at the same point in Houllier’s reign, and though five draws in seven games may not sound exciting, the reality is that building a solid defence first is both a responsible and sensible way of reshaping a side.

At Newcastle the first priority had to be to trim the wage bill. Players such as Andy Carroll, José Enrique, Joey Barton and Kevin Nolan were earning extortionate wages for a club with no European football, and shifting them on to pastures new has certainly eased a fair amount of pressure on their bank balance. And what’s more, while their replacements haven’t perhaps been the expensive talents their fans had hoped for in the wake of the transfer fees brought in, they have shopped sensibly and picked up some real bargains. The partnership of Yohan Cabaye and Cheick Tioté looks one to rival some of the best in the league and should they be able to get the talents on Hatem Ben Arfa and Davide Santon on the pitch regularly, they have exciting prospects as well.

As few people expect Newcastle to remain in the top four come the end of the season as wanted Pardew appointed in the first place, but such has been the measure of his success in less than a year in charge that a top ten finish is now seen as the right target at which to aim. McLeish, too, looks more than likely to settle Villa among the top half of the table, a result far better than anyone had predicted. There may never be love for the men, given the respective baggage that they brought with them, but if they succeed then they will be accepted. The moral of the story? Maybe, just maybe, a man should be given a chance before his grave is dug for him.