BT Sport presenter Jake Humphrey was quick to make a U-turn on Newcastle United’s ownership following comments he made ahead of Liverpool ’s 1-0 win over the Magpies.
Liverpool moved top of the Premier League table in Saturday’s lunchtime kick-off as Naby Keita’s first half goal was enough to secure three points for Jurgen Klopp’s side at St James’ Park.
Ahead of the game, Humphrey, alongside pundits and former Premier League trio Peter Crouch, Shay Given and Rio Ferdinand, was commenting on Newcastle’s ownership situation, with the Magpies currently owned by Saudi-led consortium PIF, who purchased the club in a £300million takeover from Mike Ashley earlier this season.
Ahead of the game, Humphrey made a comment about the significant coverage Newcastle’s owners have had since their arrival, with controversy marring the takeover as PIF had links to the Saudi Arabian government’s assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi in Istanbul in October 2018.
Newcastle’s owners are among the richest in world football, something they first exhibited in January when signing Bruno Guimaraes, Chris Wood, Dan Burn, Kieran Trippier and Matt Targett in a rise that has seen them move into the top half of the table, despite being in the midst of a relegation dogfight when Eddie Howe was appointed to succeed Steve Bruce shortly after the takeover.
Before the game, Humphrey said that there has been too much criticism surrounding PIF and their running of Newcastle since their arrival at the back end of 2021. Humphrey said ahead of kick-off: “As ever with this football club, there’s people standing on the sidelines ready to snipe and have a bit of a pop and at the moment, the way they are running it is proving difficult for them.”
After making those comments, Humphrey received plenty of criticism on social media after the video of those quotes were published onto Twitter.
Following the end of Liverpool’s win, Humphrey was quick to say that any praise he has given to the Magpies has actually been aimed at Howe, his players and the club’s supporters.
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Humphrey said: "Off the pitch the ownership situation here will always quite rightly lead to questions, and certainly any praise from me for this football club is aimed at Eddie, his players and the fans." Humphrey later tweeted: "I appreciate how this clip looks. Let me be absolutely clear though, Eddie Howe had left us moments before this, we were talking about him, and my praise, my use of ‘they’ was aimed squarely and only at him and his staff."
Newcastle’s defeat ended a run of four straight wins in the Premier League and going into the first of ten Premier League games this weekend, United were the only side on a four-match winning streak ahead of kick-off.
In 2022, only Liverpool (41) have picked up more league points than Newcastle (32) have, with the Magpies having a meteoric rise up the table since the turn of the year, largely due to a combination of Howe’s arrival and the transfer business conducted.
Liverpool’s extension of their unbeaten run to 15 matches in the Premier League has moved them top of the Premier League table and clear of Manchester City by two points. However, the Sky Blues head to Elland Road in Saturday’s 5:30pm kick-off.
Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool will now turn their attentions to the Champions League. On Tuesday nigh, they head to Spain to take on Villarreal in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final tie.
In Wednesday’s first leg, Liverpool were 2-0 winners after Sadio Mane doubled the Reds’ lead two minutes after Pervis Estupinan turned into his own net for the opening goal of the game.
Should Liverpool win, they will face either City or Real Madrid in the final of the competition next month in Paris. City won the first leg of that tie 4-3 at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday.
