Former Newcastle United midfielder John Barnes has hailed the work of manager Eddie Howe since he took charge.
Howe guided the Magpies into the top four before the World Cup break-up and without spending a huge amount money, as Barnes points out.
Speaking to Tribalfootball.com on behalf of Bet365, the former England international said: "He's always impressed me. And he's impressed me in terms of the way that he's held it together, that he's not spent a lot of money going for the superstar players, and they're doing what they're doing.
"They're only ahead of schedule if they finish in the top seven or eight at the end of the season. They're ahead of schedule 12 games into the season, but very much like when they nearly got relegated last year, we shouldn't get carried away with that.
"And I'm not getting carried away with the fact that they're third now. Because it really depends on where they finish at the end of the season. If they finish in the top five, I would say they're ahead of schedule. If they finish between sixth and tenth, that's where they probably felt that they should be."
On the spending power of Newcastle through their Saudi owners, Barnes insists Howe and his staff should be judged on the limited spending they've so far made.
He continued: "First of all, Newcastle aren't reaping the benefits of it because they haven't spent hundreds of millions of pounds.
"But with the players they've signed, they are players that Arsenal, Liverpool, Man United, Man City, Chelsea would have wanted, but the fact is that the harmony is right there, which is why Newcastle are doing well. Because I'm looking at Newcastle's team and it doesn't seem to me that they have players who cost a lot of money, and who are on bigger salaries than any of the top clubs.
"So Newcastle haven't reaped the benefit of it at all. In the future they may, in terms of the money they spend, but of course Man City has. As have Barcelona and Bayern Munich. I don't necessarily feel that that is the way to get success."
Barnes added: "The way to get success is to have good players and a good manager who knows how to spend money wisely, without necessarily saying that you have to spend a hundred million pounds on players and pay them three or four hundred thousand pounds a week."
