What's even more impressive for me is that this turnaround had essentially happened on the training ground / behind the scenes. No public backing or excuses made for under performing players. They have quietly been given the chance to work their way back into the mangers plans and then given the chance to prove it on the pitch.
This to me suggests that there is a good chemistry within the squad and between the players and manager / coaches. A certain amount of credit should be given to the players as well, i think the majority of us know how performance can suffer at work / within a team when you lose motivation or feel alienated. They have underperformed in the past, no question. But I have seen glimpses of quality from each of them in the past also.
The next test for these players is to maintain performance levels for an extended period. But so far so good.