Matthias Jaissle will be dismissed as not good enough before his appointment has been confirmed – that is what usually happens when an unknown coach is brought in.
He will have an invidious task, following the hugely popular Eddie Howe, but it would be dangerous to assume he does not have the capabilities to be a success at Newcastle United because so many have not heard of him.
Whether managers (or head coaches) are successful is governed by the structure of the club at which they work and you would worry for the 38-year-old on that front, with Newcastle in transition and the impact of some bad transfer windows now being felt.
But it would be a significant mistake to think that Jaissle, who has Thomas Tuchel and Ralf Rangnick on speed dial, does not know football. The German will make the switch to Tyneside from Al-Ahli and has so far had a career that has earned him significant respect from within the game.
A part of Germany’s golden generation
Jaissle was a central defender for Hoffenheim during a playing career that was curtailed by a cruciate ligament injury, forcing his retirement aged 26. It was a shame because he had talent and was a contemporary of players such as Mesut Özil, Mats Hummels and Thomas Müller.
The high point was being involved in the Germany squad that won the 2009 Under-21 European Championship in Sweden, victory in the final coming with a 4-1 dismantling of England. He had the ability to be included in the country’s best crop of footballers this century, many of whom went on to lift the 2014 World Cup. But in the same year, Jaissle ended his playing career.
Like many before him, Jaissle turned immediately to coaching and in 2017 joined his compatriot Alexander Zorniger and worked as his assistant in Denmark with Brondby, where he spent two years before being appointed as Red Bull Salzburg’s under-18 head coach.
Salzburg are a club who must always be watched. They have a rich recent history of setting outstanding players on their way (Erling Haaland, Sadio Mané and Dominik Szoboszlai all came through their system) and that Jaissle was part of their youth development programme was significant.
His first job out on his own was at FC Liefering and, against the odds, he led them to their highest ever finish in the Austrian Bundesliga when they were runners-up to Salzburg in 2021. When Jesse Marsch left Salzburg for Leeds, there was only going to be one man to replace him.
It was a smart decision and during his two years at the helm, Jaissle ensured Salzburg remained at the head of the field. Benjamin Sesko, now at Manchester United, flourished under his coaching and together they won back-to-back titles. They have not been champions since he left.
Surprise move into the PIF club network
Perhaps it was an unusual move to then go to Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia in 2023, but it was vindicated this spring when, with a team that included Ivan Toney and Riyad Mahrez, Jaissle led them to success in the AFC Champions League Elite final when they beat Japanese team Machida Zelvia 1-0.
“I wanted the challenge,” he said in an interview with The Athletic about joining a club who, like Newcastle, are owned by the Saudi Public Investment Fund. “I wanted to coach abroad, in a different culture, and to work in English, which is not my native language. So I saw it as a chance to develop as a coach.”
And of his playing style, he explained: “I want stress on the opponent as soon as possible. And when we win the ball, I want to go as quickly as possible towards the opponent’s goal. I’m very vertical in that approach.”
Jaissle was also the reason Toney found himself selected for England’s World Cup squad, with Tuchel confirming at the time: “When it came down to all different types of scenarios, he was back in the picture. I heard good feedback from Matthias, about his ability, about his fitness.”
The feedback, similarly, on Jaissle is good. Newcastle, in a vortex of uncertainty and all its swirling emotion, will provide a different challenge, the biggest of his career. But just because he is unknown does not mean he cannot rise to it.