news-engine

Newcastle expect Matthias Jaissle to be a 'rock star' but there were no flash moves in first gig Jaissle impressed in a measured first performance as Newcastle head coach in front of the media. Matthias Jaissle arrived to meet the media on Thursday in La Manga fresh off the back of Newcastle United CEO David Hopkinson describing him as a 'rock star'. When we landed into Alicante Airport on Wednesday evening, one of the first things we were greeted with was Hopkinson's vision for 'Newcastle 2.0', with Jaissle, or MJ as he referred to him, the man charged with implementing it. "The people here are going to fall in love with what he brings to Newcastle," Hopkinson told the Athletic. "Eddie leaves big shoes to fill. I have every confidence MJ is the right man to lead us into the future and build on everything Eddie has done for this club. This guy is really impressive. This guy is fire. He is a rock star.” But there was no grand entrance, sweeping statements or bold promises in his first briefing with the North East press pack. Far from it. Instead, Jaissle came across as assured, unflustered and considered in his responses. Get Chronicle Premium now for just £1 HERE – exclusive news and features, our NUFC and Academy notebooks, plus an ad-lite experience Given his success at RB Salzburg and Al-Ahli, you could have excused him to come in to his first encounter with reporters wanting to get that across with an unabashed belief that he will deliver on Tyneside, too. But, with Newcastle co-owner Jamie Reuben and PIF chief Jacobo Solis watching on as we spoke to the new Magpies boss in the bowels of their swanky La Manga hotel base, Jaissle remained poised. And while he did display confidence that he is the man to get 'Newcastle 2.0' moving in the right direction, he delivered it in an understated fashion. It was clear this was a young manager still getting to know his players. "I have always big ambitions. That's, I think, the key element for every coach, otherwise I would be not here," Jaissle explained. "That's the same here now in Newcastle, but it's always easy said, where we want to go and on which place we want to end up. For me, doesn't make too much sense in football because it's difficult to plan things in advance as you probably know. "Therefore, it's for me the most important thing that you just do your best every day and get the best out of the players, try to improve them, support them, give them also the courage to grow, and that's now the phase where we're in in the pre-season, and therefore I'm really much looking forward. "It's a long, long journey, right? And now it's my second day today. I'm really much looking forward to working with them together, and it's important, yeah, that you have a long-term vision and that you have also high goals and a vision who's maybe a little further than you currently think to. “But, again, it's about effort, hard work, the guys need to feel that every day, and then there is a progress to see and that's for now the most important thing." There are just over two weeks until Newcastle kick off the 2026/27 Premier League season against Liverpool and with just four friendlies in that time, although the final two against Bayer Leverkusen and Strasbourg will see the squad split in two. It doesn't feel a lot of time for Jaissle to get his ideas across to his players so does he feel like he needs to temper expectations after a summer that has seen Newcastle lose four of their key players and their cup-winning head coach? "I'm confident to do the best out of that short amount of time," Jaissle told Chronicle Live. "Of course it's another challenge, because there's not too many days left until the first match against Liverpool, but that's now the phase. "You cannot change anything, I cannot ask the sporting director to turn the time back again. So, again, all together, the whole staff, we tried to encourage them in the first meeting already, that now it's even more important that everyone raises the standards, and the same we expect from the players, to find that unity and that DNA of how we want to play football already in the first match. "I've mentioned it a couple of times but this is the challenge. There are so many transitions at the moment, many players left, big, big players, legends for the club left. "But we need to see it as a chance, not having too many excuses now, just thinking forward (of) what we can influence. Control the controllables, I used to say, and we are sure there will be progress." It is also a short amount of time for Jaissle to assess what he needs in the transfer market and while he has clear ideas of what he wants to bring in, he wants to give the current squad a chance to prove their worth, too. “I have some clear ideas but I want to give the players who are here a chance," Jaissle added. "They can show up. It is a new challenge for them and we can wait. "We have, for sure, the capacity to do something on the market and our sporting director is aware of that. Then for sure when the season starts we will, for sure, see some more new faces."