Matthias Jaissle was in Newcastle for only 36 hours when he held his first press conference. He arrived with the sort of visible energy people will expect to see on the touchline, shaking hands with every journalist in the packed media suite before taking his seat. His message was simple enough: the personality will stay, and the work starts immediately.

Personality before results

"I will not change my style because that's my personality," Jaissle said. "On the touchline, I am emotional, but I need to respect the box a bit more."

That is probably the most revealing line of his first public outing. He did not present himself as a manager who is about to flatten his instincts for the sake of appearances. He also did not pretend the technical area is already second nature. The adjustment is there, but the identity comes first.

He added another line that felt more like a warning to himself than a slogan for the club. "I'm pretty sure it will be a successful story. But we need time now." He also said the first priority is the day-to-day work, and to use every minute of every day.

A former Hoffenheim team-mate, Chinedu Obasi, backed up that picture with a blunt assessment: "Matthias has always been very hungry. He's had that leadership style and been vocal and passionate about the game. He wanted to win."

The rebuild at Newcastle and the first test

The timing of the appointment matters because of where Newcastle are coming from. They finished 12th in the Premier League in Howe's final season, and they lost seven top-flight fixtures on home soil in the second half of last season. The mood around St James' Park is not just about a new face in the dugout, it is about restoring a level of edge the club did not sustain for long enough.

That is where Jaissle's language fits. His emotional touchline style should suit a crowd that, as season ticket holder Adam Stoker put it, has always been on board with "playing front-foot, high-intensity football". Newcastle goalkeeper Lukas Hornicek also framed the mood in practical terms, saying the aim is to "show the opponents that they will have a hard time against us".

The first league assignment is Liverpool at home on 23 August. That gives Jaissle a headline fixture straight away, but it is also a fair early test of how much of his personality can be carried into the football itself. For now, the more important detail is not whether he talks like a coach ready to stamp himself on the role. It is that he is already saying the change at Newcastle will take time, and saying it plainly.

Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 2 outlets. How we work →