First things first, the situation in which a grand, old footballing institution such as Newcastle is owned by a financial arm of the Saudi state should still turn the stomach of anybody without an allegiance to the club.
And the stomachs of plenty of those who do have an allegiance, to be honest. Just because Saudi involvement in professional sport is becoming more and more widespread - Britain’s number tennis player Cameron Norrie has just signed up for an exhibition event in Riyadh - does not make it any more palatable.
But while Eddie Howe has shown himself to be one of a multitude of sportsmen and women who couldn't care less where their lavish remuneration comes from, he has also shown himself to be as talented a homegrown coach as there is out there. Perhaps even as talented a coach as there is out there.
