Alan Pardew said:

"It's one of the most remarkable games I have ever been involved in in my life - and I am talking about Sunday morning 7-7s, everything. There were a lot of positives for me but the biggest thing of course is the fans stayed with us and the team responded. An unbelievable day.

"51,500 after the week we've had? - unbelievable support this club has got. I know it's been mentioned by managers who have been in the position I'm in, but I'm so pleased for them.

"When you are 4-0 down after 27 minutes and you haven’t made a ­challenge or even got close to anyone­, you fear the worst. But we went out and played like lions in the second half. That’s what we have been about this year – making challenges, putting people under pressure.

“I said at half-time ‘if you’re going to feel sorry for yourselves because it’s been a tough week and you’ve lost at Fulham and lost a really good player in Andy Carroll, then you are going to get embarrassed.’ We were a disgrace in the first half, but in the second half we more than made up for it.

"That's what we've been about all year, even before I came here, we've shown character. Making a challenge and putting people under pressure. We did that and we got a goal, and that can change any game. No-one was taking responsibility, no-one was wearing that shirt and playing with pride, playing with character like they can. 

"There was a crucial period after the fourth goal and before half-time when we didn’t concede – a massive period of the season for us. Part of my (half time) message was you can’t sulk in front of 52,000 people at St James’ Park. 

"We were disgraceful. You have to pressure people, tackle people, turn people around, force them into errors.

"Generally the crowd were astonishingly supportive but, if I was a fan, I'd have been questioning the preparation of the team. We were a disgrace. I was questioning myself. I'd sensed something wasn't right before kick-off, we were feeling sorry for ourselves. We were genuinely feeling sorry for ourselves, a hangover from the events of this week and to some degree some of the players perhaps were asking: ‘Is it all about Andy Carroll?’ Well it isn’t. It’s about Newcastle.

"At 4-2 down I honestly thought we could win. It's been a tough, tough week; on a personal level there's been a lot of criticism but it's ended brilliantly for everyone here."

On Joey Barton (but surely missing a trick by not calling him our 'agent provocateur'):

"I know Mister Wenger has thrown out things about referees and excuses, but this was our day – a day that Newcastle fans will be remembering. I had a feeling this might come from Arsene. It was a proper honest challenge. He (Barton) was aggressive in the challenge and takes a little bit of the player ­ after he won it but this is football. This is how it’s played in the Premier League. Diaby’s sending-off was deserved. 

"We had to show the public that it meant something to us. In the second half, he showed what he is about, showed why he perhaps should be included for England. I saw the guy throw him to the ground and I thought, 'Joey, please'. You have to hold your hands up and say his reaction was top drawer.

"He didn't react and the Joey of old might have done that. In that little moment, perhaps, there are some people, including myself, thinking that England duty might be coming his way because he has matured as a person. He put in a great, great second-half display.

"You have got to make a challenge - it was a proper, honest challenge - I have seen it two or three times and there's nothing wrong with it. He goes for the ball, he wins the ball clean." 

Revealing that he was off on a post-match night out in Newcastle city centre:

"I don’t know whether people are going to buy me a drink or throw them at me - that’s the sort of week it’s been. It's been tough, tough week to be a manager, the toughest I’ve had here, as you can imagine, but at the end of it, I’m elated. It’s just a weird feeling." 

Joey Barton added:

"If anything sums up football, that was it. At half-time, the game was over against such a great side as Arsenal. But a little bit of lack of discipline with them and the momentum swung in our favour. We could have won the game 5-4, 6-4 - Kevin Nolan had a good chance. Very rarely am I lost for words, but in this case, I am a little bit.

"It doesn't happen every week, that. Days like this are few and far between. I don't think the old ticker can take too many more of those. They showed an incredible amount of pace and tore us apart in the first few minutes. The aim was to avoid a cricket score, we were thinking double figures.

"I don't understand Diaby's reaction. I went in one-footed, cleanly took the ball and my momentum carried me into him. I think it was stupid from him. They were 4-0 up, there was no need for him to react the way he reacted. For me, it wasn't an issue - if the Arsenal players don't like being tackled, they should go and play basketball or netball or one of the other games.

"Diaby has taken a bad touch and I have to go and win it. If I don't go for the ball, my manager, my team-mates and obviously the fans are going to nail me. "I have had a look at it again and I just don't understand the guy's reaction. He is going to probably cop a couple of weeks' fine off Arsène Wenger because it has probably cost them from going on and winning the game quite comfortably. But football is a game where you have to take advantage of situations and we still had a lot of work to do after Diaby got sent off."

"They were that good in the first half, but momentum changes. There was a little bit of a lack of discipline in their side and we got a goal and the 'Geordie Nation' got behind us. I think we were unlucky not to win the game in the end which is incredible because we were 4-0 down at half-time looking to keep it underneath a cricket score."

Cheick Tiote observed:

“At half-time it was a very angry dressing room. The manager was furious, shouting. He said this is not Newcastle United. He said it was up to us to put it right, to give something back to the fans. We had to give them something, they spend a lot of money and time on supporting the team and we had let them down. He was very annoyed, there were things thrown in there and we had let ourselves down. It was not a normal performance. He told us to wake up.

“If I’m honest I don’t think any of us thought we would have been able to get back into the game. Losing 4-0, it was dreadful. Against a team as good as Arsenal it is almost impossible to come back from that. But when we scored the first goal we could see the doubts start to creep in and they had had a man sent off. They got nervous and we started to believe we had a possibility. The fans were amazing.

“The goal? Wow. I don’t know why I hit it! I don’t normally score goals like that. I am even right footed and I hit it with my left. It was my wrong foot and I had not tried anything like that before. Sometimes in football you have to try something different. It’s been a difficult week for the club with Andy going and it’s nice to end it on a positive."

Leon Best added:

"It was a hard job, but it shows what Newcastle is about. We have Northern Rock on our shirts, you saw the Northern Rock right there – that was us against Arsenal and we showed them what we can do.

“People may wonder if I can fill the void left by Andy Carroll- I’ve been the underdog a lot of times in my life and come out on top. I just need to keep doing that. If I keep scoring it’s good but it’s about the team and we’ve shown what a team we are.

“The first half was bad, but when you perform like we did you can take the first half out, we could have easily gone on and won it. It was an outstanding performance from everyone, from the fans, to the manager to John Carver to everyone, the subs as well.

I just need to keep plugging away - there are a lot of questions over whether I can do it.Being the underdog is sometimes the easy way out. If you don’t succeed, it’s expected. But if you knock out whoever is in front of you, eyebrows are raised.

“You should never give up on anything in life. At 4-0 we could have easily given up and people could have let heads dropped and sulked. We didn’t. I’ve been brought up in a family where you never give up no matter what it is.

“It’s not the first time in my life I’ve been told I can’t do something and then achieved the impossible. As a team we showed we can do anything. We’re 4-0 down against Arsenal and people would have been saying we could lose by nine or 10, not even thinking about us. But once we got the first one the fans were behind us and were the 12th man – the roar of the fans alone could have made the ball roll into the net.”

"Where do you start? We’re at 4-4 and we could have won it when Kev had a late chance. It was against one of the best teams in the Premier League. There have been so many games lately when we’ve drawn games and it felt like we lost it but against Arsenal we drew and it felt like we’ve won it."

The Observer match report:

"...the patient barcode hordes started out having one of the worst afternoons of their football-watching lives, but went home jubilant after one of the best."

Have we ever been called patient before?