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We are unapologetically big fans of Matthias Jaissle, his ‘stupid tight suit’ and Newcastle’s ‘biggest step backwards’
Arjun Pillai | September 1, 2026 4:47 AM CST

We absolutely love Matthias Jaissle. We are fully invested in him and firmly signed up members of the fan club.

We did like Eddie Howe. But after a few years, the warning signs became impossible to ignore: the mostly bland and non-committal answers in the media; the constant determination to make Dan Burn and Jacob Murphy happen; the genuine friendship with Luke Edwards; and, of course, the whole Jason Tindall element.

That particular red flag, to be fair, was never something anyone could really forget.

But with Jaissle, we are prepared at this point to look past the whole Saudi coaching crown jewel aspect and simply admire the brilliance of a figure who seems destined to break Newcastle hearts when he departs in three years’ time.

Yoane Wissa summed it up best.

“For sure, Eddie Howe has done a top job at the club so we need to respect that,” he told Sky Sports after following up a Liverpool creative masterclass with a goal to help beat Spurs. “But the new manager came with a new identity, and that is something we have been working on.

“Every part of the game is precise and, of course, he is a really dynamic manager so we need to give everything. But, yes, I think he is the best signing of Newcastle so far.”

It was not a dig at new team-mates Ewen Jaouen, Bazoumana Toure, Sean Steur, Aladji Bamba, Lukas Hornicek, Amar Dedic or Nico Gonzalez. It simply showed how effortlessly Jaissle has transformed the sinking ship he took over.

What had seemed beyond repair suddenly looks to be flourishing within just a few weeks.

When Howe was appointed in 2021, caretaker manager Graeme Jones spoke proudly of handing over “a healthy football club pulling in the same direction”. Jaissle inherited the opposite after a bruising summer, dominated by three first-team sales, left the remaining players and supporters disillusioned.

Yet already there is a sense of unity at St James’ Park that had been missing for at least the final season under Howe and, truthfully, even a little before that.

It is hard not to be impressed by Jaissle’s start from a tactical perspective. His adaptability, and his specifically tailored game plans, caused Liverpool problems in transition by targeting their midfield, while Spurs were undone instead by long balls and switches out to the flanks.

Two entirely different methods have produced similarly impressive outcomes against the two clubs who have arguably embarrassed Newcastle most across the past couple of transfer windows.

But the most striking part of Jaissle’s early Premier League days is the brief Keys and Peele-style sketch he delivered at the final whistle in north London.

There was a chest bump for Sven Botman. Quick embraces for Lewis Hall and Anthony Elanga, with the former getting a pat on the back while the latter was stroked on the head. And then the crispest dap of all with Wissa.

The same meticulous attention to detail that goes into custom-made, purpose-built plans for each opponent even stretches to tailored celebrations for every member of his squad.

Right now, that — along with his ‘stupid tight suit’ — feels like an endearing sign of a charismatic and welcome addition to the Premier League. That may well change over time.

But for now, ‘Matthias Jaissle won’t cut it, not sure fans will take to him’ and ‘the biggest step backwards in the world’ look like predictions that were truly unhinged and completely detached from reality.


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