Jaissle

The squad have become familiar with those principles following a draining training camp in Spain last week, which culminated in a 2-1 win against Valencia.

Goalkeeper Lukas Hornicek said Newcastle want to “show the opponents that they will have a hard time against us”, while defender Malick Thiaw has spoken about the intensity under Jaissle being “really high”.

Season ticket holder Adam Stoker feels the club still need further additions, but he believes Jaissle’s playing style will be a “huge positive” as the German looks to build on Howe’s legacy.

“Eddie did look a bit tired and didn’t quite look the same manager as when he started,” Stoker said. “Some of that energy had been lost and it correlated with the performances of the team.

“We have seen a tiny bit of Jaissle’s ideas now and they seem to be very much in keeping with Newcastle in 2022-23, which was a hugely exciting team to watch.

“That playing style makes the crowd feel involved because the fans want to watch a high tempo.

“Playing front-foot, high-intensity football is something the crowd at Newcastle has always been on board with.”

Jaissle now has little time to catch his breath before the season opener against Liverpool on Tyneside on 23 August.

This is a manager who, like all of the club’s young signings this summer, has never experienced the Premier League before.

That brings the unknown, particularly after Newcastle lost key players Anthony Gordon, Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes this summer, which Jaissle said has left a “vacuum”.

But he also sees it as an opportunity.

“We are ambitious,” he added. “That is the most important thing.

“It is why I decided to come here, but this will not happen overnight, especially when you have such a big transition phase now.

“You need to have a clear goal and wish of where we want to go to. That starts from the decision-makers, the management and the board.

“Then, if you have that synergy with the fans, the players and the staff to go there, I’m pretty sure it will be a successful story. But we need time now.”

There has been little time to waste following a period of dramatic change at the club.

Former head coach Eddie Howe has moved on and key players Alexander Isak, Bruno Guimaraes, Sandro Tonali and Anthony Gordon have all left in the last year.

Gallows humour gripped some supporters who made the trip after they adapted a chant which once featured the names of Guimaraes and Isak, who are now with Arsenal and Liverpool.

“We’ve got someone in the middle,” they sang. “He knows exactly what we need. [Sven] Botman at the back, someone in attack, Newcastle are going to win the Premier League.”

But it is not hard to imagine those blanks being filled in as a new generation steps up.

The average age of the squad has been dramatically lowered and 28-year-old forward Harvey Barnes was Newcastle‘s oldest starter against Valencia.

It felt like a potential sign of things to come on a night goalkeeper Lukas Hornicek, 24, midfielder Aladji Bamba, 20 and forward Toure, 20, made their debuts and 18-year-old Steur impressed from the bench.

Jaissle has a history of developing young players at RB Salzburg, which was a big draw for Newcastle, and he knows better than most what they need.

“Time is the key,” Jaissle said. “They’re young lads. It’s never going to be easy in football, especially at the highest level, but we’re here to do that.”

Malick Thiaw was among the elder statesmen as he led Newcastle out as captain on his 25th birthday and this side will certainly need youthful vigour to play Jaissle’s intense brand of football.

Jaissle was a vocal presence throughout on Saturday, urging the visitors up the field, and rarely stood within the markings of his technical area.

He was even running down the touchline in tandem with his players as they advanced on goal at times.

Howe certainly set the standard.

The Englishman took charge of a side in relegation trouble, kept them up, then went on to end Newcastle‘s long wait for silverware by winning the EFL Cup in 2025 – and also qualified for the Champions League on multiple occasions.

However, last season was a bruising one domestically – Newcastle finished in 12th place – and Howe watched Alexander Isak, Sandro Tonali and Anthony Gordon leave within a year.

Newcastle are set to lose a fourth key player too, with captain Bruno Guimaraes heading to Arsenal.

They need a progressive manager to start a new cycle following Howe’s decision to step down – and build on what he did at the peak of his reign.

Effectively, Jaissle’s remit will be to develop players and outperform clubs with bigger wage bills. And Newcastle‘s squad should expect him to be just as demanding as his predecessor in training.

“We did lots of small-sided games to keep the intensity high and if someone had not been giving it their all, he called them out on it,” said former Salzburg midfielder Zlatko Junuzovic.

“He’s not afraid to address things head-on.”

Jaissle has quickly had to get to know a new set of players, but he will encounter a group who are already used to similar principles from their time under Howe, as well as new young signings who are eager to learn.

He also brings with him a group of coaches and analysts who will look to quickly get his message across.

Al-Ahli defender Merih Demiral knows that better than most.

“Looking forward to going to training every day was so important,” he added. “They paid great attention to every detail and always made sure we were fully prepared.

“Matthias has built a really strong team around him and they played a huge role in our success.”

Jaissle and his staff will be working with a squad whose average age has dropped significantly this summer.

However, the German will still rely on experienced heads such as Dan Burn and Fabian Schar in the dressing room.

Jaissle, a former defender with Hoffenheim, was a few months younger than Junuzovic when he took charge of Salzburg in 2021.

But he did not shirk in telling the midfielder he would find it difficult playing alongside the younger players in the side.

Jaissle challenged Junuzovic to improve and earn his place in the starting line-up, and “kept his word” when he did.

“He understands the players’ language,” the former Austria international said.

Matthias Jaissle is the surprise favourite to take over as Newcastle head coach as Eddie Howe’s replacement – and would arrive with a strong recent record of success.

Howe, 48, is set to leave St James’ Park after nearly five years. He had been in charge since November 2021 when he replaced Steve Bruce and took the Magpies to their first domestic trophy in 70 years by winning the Carabao Cup in 2025.

Former RB Salzburg boss Jaissle, currently in charge of Saudi Arabian side Al-Ahli, is noe expected to come in.

The 38-year-old German was a centre-half, progressing through the Stuttgart youth system before playing senior football for Hoffenheim from 2007 to 2014.

He represented Germany at Under-21 level, but was forced to retire through injury at the age of 25.

Jaissle took his first coaching steps as assistant manager of Danish club Brondby between 2017 and 2019. He then took over RB Salzburg’s Under-18 academy team before becoming a head coach for the first time at Liefering in Austria’s second tier.

He guided them to a second-placed finish, the club’s joint best-ever position, and that achievement helped him become RB Salzburg manager in 2021, replacing Jesse Marsch, who would later manage Leeds United and then Canada at the 2026 World Cup.

In two seasons with RB Salzburg, Jaissle won the Austrian Bundesliga twice and also the Austrian Cup once.

Their team included Benjamin Sesko and Brenden Aaronson, who now play in the Premier League with Manchester United and Leeds United respectively, and German forward Karim Adeyemi, now at Barcelona.

Jaissle joined Saudi club Al-Ahli in 2023 and led them to consecutive Asian Champions League titles in 2025 and 2026. Such success would have been noted by Newcastle‘s Saudi ownership in the event of Howe leaving St James’ Park.

Magpies supporters will be encouraged by Jaissle’s methods – his teams play high-pressing attacking football. He demands they show intensity and force turnovers as high up the pitch as possible.