Jaissle embraces Newcastle rebuild ahead of Premier League debut against Liverpool

Matthias Jaissle will manage his first Premier League fixture when Newcastle United host Liverpool at St James’ Park on Sunday, stepping into a role that carries considerable weight after replacing Eddie Howe, who departed in the summer following nearly five years in charge.

The 38-year-old German, previously head coach at RB Salzburg and Al-Ahli, has inherited a squad undergoing significant transition. Anthony Gordon, Sandro Tonali, Bruno Guimarães and Kieran Trippier have all departed, leaving Jaissle to build around younger talent during a pre-season that he described as demanding but encouraging.

“First of all, I’m really grateful. I consider it a huge privilege to be coach of Newcastle United at this stage of my career already,” Jaissle said. “But I also feel that’s a huge responsibility — and I’m aware of that — so what I can do is every day giving my best to try to improve, to try to support the lads in the way we’re doing it right now. I’m really, really happy with the commitment the lads show on the training ground and we’re going totally in the right direction.”

Howe was confirmed as leaving on 5 August, and Jaissle was named his successor shortly after, giving the new head coach limited time to implement his ideas before competitive football began. He acknowledged the intensity of those early weeks without showing any sign of being overwhelmed.

“Amazing. Challenging, a lot of work,” he said when asked how his opening weeks had gone. “I consider the training ground at the moment as my home, which is normal and fine at this stage. I can say only good things.”

Jaissle also allowed himself a moment of levity when reflecting on the cultural adjustments of life in the north-east of England. “The biggest challenge probably is what I have mentioned already: the dialect of some of your colleagues and maybe the driving on the left side. But all these things are easy to handle in the future. I’m fine.”

Sunday’s match carries additional significance beyond the result. Both clubs will pause before kick-off to commemorate the life of Kevin Keegan, a figure who left a profound mark on Newcastle and Liverpool alike.

“I can’t wait to be there in the stadium, to coach the team in front of our fans,” Jaissle said. “We want to use now the remaining days in the best possible way, get our ideas into the players’ heads and then hopefully we can also deliver that already on a higher level.”

Newcastle will be without full-back Tino Livramento and midfielder Joelinton for the fixture.