Newcastle fans' joy cannot be widely shared amid executions and Saudi sportswashing

It is easy to be cynical about the euphoria on Tyneside after Newcastle United had climbed to eleventh place in the Premier League table.

It is easy to ridicule the dressing-room photograph of players, staff and owners wildly celebrating a narrow win over Crystal Palace that got them to the grand total of 40 points. It is easy to chuckle at the delirious social media messages from the likes of Jamie Reuben and Mehrdad Ghodoussi after Miguel Almiron’s strike had bumped up Newcastle’s goal difference to a mightily impressive -18.

But it is too easy. After the years of being treated with contempt, after the years of watching miserable football, after the years of hopelessness, to have a united, ambitious, vibrant club, which seems to again put the supporters and the community at its heart, must feel very special.

To have a team that is winning regularly, with a manager who could turn out to be one of the elite, with a board that will invest heavily in playing resources, must feel very special. And while some of the local reaction to the latest victory - against a Palace team that had 64 percent possession - might seem a touch over the top, it is worth remembering no team in the Premier League era has failed to win any of their opening 14 matches and avoided relegation.

That Newcastle are going to do it with ease is a reflection of the brilliant job Eddie Howe has done and a reward for the investment in the January transfer window. But if you are not emotionally attached to the club, it was hard not to look at the pictures of Yasir al-Rumayyan joining the celebrations, hard not to see the images of the executives having a knockabout on the pitch and not think this is exactly what sportswashing is all about.

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