Viewers cringe at Jake Humphrey’s ‘tone deaf’ dig at Newcastle ownership critics

Viewers have took to cringe at Jake Humphrey’s ‘tone deaf’ dig at Newcastle United ownership critics before the game against Liverpool.

The BT Sport presenter said that there were ‘people standing on the sidelines ready to snipe and have a bit of a pop’, ahead of Saturday’s lunchtime kick off in the Premier League.

His comments come in light of the fact that PIF is headed by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, who has been directly connected to the murder of Saudi Arabian journalist, Jamal Khashoggi.

Given the severity of the allegations at the group and the politician in question, you’d think that Humphrey would have thought about his words more carefully.

One Twitter user said: “And they say sportswashing doesn’t work” while Guardian journalist Sachin Nakrani, who posted the clip, replied to one user: “Even for Jake that’s one hell of a tone-deaf call.”

Max Rushden also had his say: “[He] should really explain who he’s referring to…”

That’s Amnesty International told. pic.twitter.com/qwwT4rJCEA

— Sachin Nakrani (@SachinNakrani) April 30, 2022

As we all know so far is that the club is effectively owned now by the Saudi Arabian state, a country that executed 81 people on one day last month.

However the club’s new ownership have recruited Eddie Howe as manager and signed the likes of Bruno Guimares and Chris Wood.

The atmosphere around the pitch at St James Park is the best it’s been in a long time. However in the media, the conversation is more on how the Saudi state treats women, gay people and people from Yemen amongst others rolls on.

Luke Edwards of the Telegraph has spoken out on the new regime, saying: “You might see sportswashing, but what #nufc see is togetherness, unity, hope and joy – a team that has won 6 home games in a row under a brilliant manager, Eddie Howe, who introduced team photos after every victory. You might think it’s weird but you must also accept it’s working.

You might see sportswashing, but what #nufc see is togetherness, unity, hope and joy – a team that has won 6 home games in a row under a brilliant manager, Eddie Howe, who introduced team photos after every victory. You might think it’s weird but you must also accept it’s working https://t.co/GDqdwIE5bj

— Luke Edwards (@LukeEdwardsTele) April 21, 2022

Amnesty International’s introduction to its latest report on Saudi Arabia says:

“The crackdown continued on the rights to freedom of expression, association and assembly.

“The Specialized Criminal Court handed down heavy prison terms to individuals for their human rights work and expression of dissenting views.

“Among those arbitrarily detained, prosecuted or sentenced were human rights defenders, government critics and other political activists.

“Women human rights defenders were subjected to judicially imposed travel bans following conditional release from prison.

“Courts resorted extensively to the death penalty and people were executed for a wide range of crimes.

“Migrant workers continued to be vulnerable to abuse and exploitation under the country’s sponsorship system, and tens of thousands were arbitrarily detained and subsequently deported.

“Prison authorities violated the right to health of human rights defenders and others imprisoned after grossly unfair trials.”

Jake has issued a tweet saying: “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.”

As mentioned, viewers cringe at Jake Humphrey’s ‘tone deaf’ dig at Newcastle ownership critics…

@Webbotron: Jake being Jake.

@Hansenisagod: 🙄 That’s embarrassing.

@BlackWatchEFC: Absolutely disappointed always thought better of Jake

@s_k112: And they say sportswashing doesn’t work.

@Fieldo100: It’s called sports washing @mrjakehumphrey, but you know that.

@ntjr_12: Awful comment by him. They’re on good form, how dare someone call out the owners for killing journalists?

@SteveOrr_: The man’s a bellend 😂

@CharMcew: “As ever with this football club…” and “the way they’re running things…” aren’t phrases you associate to the coaching staff.

@donalkebabs: Keep digging

@RProud89: Bloke is an absolute whopper.

@KingElm665: “As ever with this football club” sure Jake… you’re talking about the manager and staff… 🙄

@manwiththestic: I’d tell him to stick to football but not sure he’s qualified to talk about that, either.

@sampilger: Jake Humphries is an absolute embarrassment. Newcastle could win the next 10 Premier League titles and they would still be a sportswashing project for a brutal regime.

@frank_molyneux2: Proposal: sack Jake Humphrey and replace him with Adrian Chiles in every one of his jobs

@GoalscorerC: This is sportswashing in action. Of course Jake Humphrey doesn’t get it.

@chriscurtis90: Jake Humphrey is honestly such a twat and a massive fucking dweeb.

@StuW22: Jake Humphrey saying that Newcastle winning some games has invalidated the criticism of the ownership, criticism based on the ownership’s human rights record, is the worst take I’ve heard since someone said podcasts were niche in 2020. Can’t remember who that was now.

Even for Jake that’s one hell of a tone-deaf call.

— Sachin Nakrani (@SachinNakrani) April 30, 2022