It was approaching tea-time but Matthias Jaissle was burning calories in the gym. Without the Newcastle head coach knowing, a handful of journalists stood nearby and watched him bench press a pair of 25kg dumbbells.
Noticing our presence, it was, for a moment, a little awkward.
‘Is that all you can lift?’ I offered, attempting to break the ice.
A colleague asked if I could manage the same load.
‘Looking at you,’ Jaissle intervened, surveying my unmighty frame. ‘I don’t think so.’
He had smashed the ice and my ego. In fact, exactly one month into the job, Jaissle has smashed through just about everything put in front of him.
Matthias Jaissle has made a great start to life as Newcastle boss with two wins out of three and a draw against Liverpool that deserved more
Anthony Elanga celebrates scoring against Tottenham in a match Newcastle won 2-0
‘The lads like him,’ said one source close to the players this week. ‘He’s got a swagger about him, but that’s fine if you can back it up.’
So far, Jaissle has walked the walk. Three matches, two wins and a draw against Liverpool that deserved more. It was not supposed to be like this, at least not through the sceptical lens of those on the outside. At 38, the German was an unknown who had never managed in a major European league, conveniently plucked from PIF-owned Al-Ahli in Saudi Arabia.
The truth is very different. Al-Ahli were, to quote a source, ‘massively p***** off’. Newcastle had to meet their £10million buyout and there was an acceptance that relations, for this summer at least, needed time to thaw.
When it was suggested they might return to Al-Ahli for 21-year-old midfielder Valentin Atangana, a Jaissle favourite, the notion was nervously laughed off by insiders. Newcastle chiefs already had their man and they were happy with that.
Indeed, at one of Jaissle’s interviews in Portugal, the club’s hierarchy were so taken with him that, after leaving the restaurant, they wondered whether they should turn around, walk straight back in and offer him the job.
What did the likes of chief executive David Hopkinson and sporting director Ross Wilson see? Leadership. Conviction. Energy. It helped that Newcastle chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan agreed. What looked like a panicked and easy appointment to the rest of the world was, to Newcastle, a coup – and a thoroughly considered one at that.
It is early days, of course, and Newcastle is a club where emotions can move faster than Anthony Elanga. But the emperor’s new clothes appear to fit. In Jaissle’s case, that is a crisp white shirt whose stitching is tested by the biceps beneath.
The gym session we observed was his second of the day. He arrives at the training ground at 7.30am and, during his first fortnight at least, he was leaving under the cover of darkness, quite an achievement during a northern summer. He joked that the centre felt like his new home. Since then, though, he has explored.
It is early days but the emperor’s new clothes appear to fit. In Jaissle’s case, that is a crisp white shirt whose stitching is tested by the biceps beneath
Yoane Wissa labelled Jaissle ‘our best signing of the summer’ after last weekend’s win at Tottenham
Former Newcastle manager Graeme Souness used to book a table in the same Jesmond restaurant, Sale Pepe, every Saturday night. If the team won, he’d sit in the window. If they lost, he’d dine out the back.
It shows how well Jaissle has started that his most recent reservation was on the sea front! Riley’s Fish Shack, a grill tucked into a cove in Tynemouth and overlooking the beach, is hugely popular. And, four weeks in, so is Jaissle.
Shortly after arriving at the club, we can reveal, he wrote a letter to every member of staff. He introduced himself and pledged to do everything in his power to deliver success for the club – but stressed that anything achieved would only be done with everyone pulling in the same direction.
He recognised that for employees, working for Newcastle United was ‘more than just a job’. There was also a tribute to his predecessor, Eddie Howe.
When Jaissle then showed up, unexpectedly, at an all-staff ‘town hall’, there was a sense of a manager whose actions will support his words. His players have felt that commitment, too. Yoane Wissa labelled him ‘our best signing of the summer’ after last weekend’s 2-0 win at Tottenham.
And what of the football? Jaissle’s favourite moment from his first month has not come during a game. Rather, it was the realisation that the work done on the training ground would show itself in those matches.
‘I remember one or two training sessions where I had a huge smile on my face afterwards,’ he said. ‘That was because I felt these guys are so committed. I knew then we would develop fast. I could see us working as a unit on the pitch. These are the small steps where you can see we’re going in the right direction.’
Jaissle’s favourite direction is forward. In training, teams are penalised when a pass is played backwards in certain zones of the pitch. That is as much a psychological instruction as it is technical.
In training, teams are penalised when a pass is played backwards in certain zones of the pitch
From the outside, it all felt a little serious during his early days. But then, with time and exposure, there have been lighter moments
‘Guys, that’s the rules. Understand it straight away,’ he told his players during week one in La Manga. He was likened to a military instructor by some and, as one supporter observing a clip online noted, ‘I’m knackered just watching this’.
Jaissle’s intensity on the grass is balanced by shorter video sessions. Clear instruction, perhaps aided by a slow and deliberate delivery in his second language, is the intention. His three non-negotiable values are said to be trust, respect and pure commitment, while his mantra last month was ‘control the controllables’.
From the outside, it all felt a little serious during those early days. But then, with time and exposure, there have been lighter moments – not least his quip on the back of his heavy lifting in the gym.
Deadpan is his humour, it seems. When one colleague asked him if Nick Woltemade’s struggles were psychological, he simply replied: ‘I don’t know, I’m not a psychologist.’
There have been more.
What percentage is your team ready heading into the season?
‘I’m not a mathematician.’
After shaking every reporter’s hand at his unveiling, a warning not to expect it every week.
‘Just the first time, guys.’
On adapting to life in a new country.
‘The biggest challenge is your dialect… and driving on the left side.’
The Newcastle manager Jaissle has a deadpan sense of humour
He has also made fun of his animated touchline demeanour
He has also made fun, in private and in public, of his animated touchline demeanour. After taking the job, he asked staff how many yellow cards a manager was allowed in the Premier League before serving a touchline ban.
‘Only three?!’ he shot back when informed.
There has been little regard for the boundaries of his technical zone, either.
‘I had a longer touchline in Saudi Arabia, my GPS was quite high…’
Jaissle walked into a difficult situation post-Howe and the loss of several star players. Yet, he has hit the ground running. His partner, model Lisa Czetsch, was even dancing in the St James’ Park reception in celebration of last week’s victory over West Brom in the Carabao Cup. They like folk who take that competition seriously on Tyneside.
A month is too soon for definitive judgement, but Jaissle has spent that time lifting the mood, expectations and, as I discovered, weights beyond my means. For this Newcastle manager, 50 kilograms feels just like the start.
