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Jaissle ready to take on Newcastle's challenges

Matthias Jaissle is reliving a nightmare. "It was the biggest setback in my life so far," the Newcastle United head coach said. "I was in a real low at that time." Jaissle was just 25 when a serious knee injury ended his playing career. After realising his dream of winning promotion to the Bundesliga with Hoffenheim only a few years previously, the former defender suddenly found himself plunged into darkness. But this painful experience ultimately set him on the path to St James' Park.

"I got to know the heavy side of life," he said. "I had to stop and quit my career as a footballer quite early, but that also showed me that you can see all challenges in a positive way and see the opportunity behind it. Now I'm here as manager of Newcastle United. I couldn't dream about that 15 years ago. That's life." Such perspective helps explain why Jaissle has embraced a huge task at Newcastle after he was parachuted into the hotseat just a few weeks before the start of the season.

It has been another turbulent summer on Tyneside after head coach Eddie Howe stepped down and key players Bruno Guimaraes, Sandro Tonali and Anthony Gordon left the club. However, Jaissle sees an opportunity, refusing to "waste energy" speaking about the game's financial rules, which have limited their overall spending power and heightened the need to trade.

"I like challenges," the ex-Al-Ahli and Red Bull Salzburg manager said. "I try to see in all challenges the chance in it, so therefore I'm here. Of course you can complain about the timing, the big transition, all the sales the club did, but we will not. We will have no excuses."

Newcastle have made six signings in Lukas Hornicek, Ewen Jaouen, Amar Dedic, Sean Steur, Aladji Bamba and Bazoumana Toure, but the new arrivals are all aged 24 and under and will need time to adapt to the physicality and intensity of the Premier League. Further reinforcements are clearly required and Jaissle is "confident there will be changes" before the summer transfer window shuts on 1 September.

The German remains undaunted despite a number of pundits predicting a season of strife for his side. "Everyone is somehow against us or do not think we can play a good role in the Premier League," he said. "We will try to convince them in a different way that we are able to." Central to that aim will be "sticking together" in an echo of the words Howe used throughout his four-and-a-half year reign.

Jaissle quickly reached out to his predecessor, who ended Newcastle's long wait for silverware by winning the EFL Cup in 2025, and also qualified for the Champions League on multiple occasions. Although Jaissle wants to keep the details of their conversation private, he said he has "huge respect for what he did and what he built."

"What I can say is he's not only a great manager," he said. "He's also a great human being." Matthias Jaissle signed a four-year deal at Newcastle United running until 2030. Howe looked an increasingly drained figure after watching so many key players leave, including striker Alexander Isak, who pushed to join Liverpool less than a year ago.

As tumultuous as the past two summer windows have been, though, last season was also a bruising one domestically as Newcastle finished 12th in the Premier League. It was a campaign in which chief executive David Hopkinson outlined his ambition to be fighting it out for the biggest prizes by 2030. However, Jaissle insists those above him "know about the challenges so will be patient."

"It needs time to start that new journey to proceed in the right direction," the 38-year-old said. "You need to give the players time and that's not saying we're not ambitious. No, we are really ambitious and have high goals, high expectations, high demands and live to these standards day in, day out."

It will fall to Jaissle to mould a new side who will look to play front-footed, aggressive football, just as Howe's team did at their best. Jaissle feels his playing style will be a "good fit for Newcastle because they are used to seeing their teams in that way."

"I did my research as well on how big an influence Kevin Keegan had on this club," he added. "Amazing, outstanding, therefore he is a legend. He was building the club and we just try to maintain that. The playing style back then reminds me very much of how we want to play. The Entertainers is a special name for it, so let's hope we can go in the same direction."

Those inside St James' Park will pay tribute to Keegan, the most transformational figure in the club's history, who died in July aged 75, before Newcastle face another of his former clubs Liverpool on Sunday. Jaissle and his players certainly won't have to look too far for inspiration.

"I'm really excited," he said. "You probably don't see it, but the goosebumps are there just thinking about this match."