When Newcastle played Tottenham in the first game of the club’s Saudi-led ownership, a rivalry fuelled by fear smouldered in the boardroom, if not on the pitch.
There, Harry Kane and Co. poured cold water on the flames of a new era. It was a wake-up call for Newcastle’s custodians, such was the gulf in class. A 3-2 defeat had flattered them.
Eighteen months on and the gulf remains - only the tides have changed. Tottenham, on reflection, were right to resist the entry of Newcastle’s owners to the Premier League, albeit motivated exclusively by self-interest.