Newcastle United's new head coach, Matthias Jaissle, has cautioned that the club is entering a "transition" season, citing a significant "vacuum" of leadership within the squad. The 38-year-old German, who replaced Eddie Howe this month, emphasized the need for new signings and time to rebuild.
Jaissle, unveiled at St James' Park on Tuesday, noted the departure of key experienced players, including captain Bruno Guimaraes, Sandro Tonali, and Anthony Gordon, as well as Kieran Trippier. The club's five new signings so far have no Premier League experience, with four aged 20 or under.
"The players who have left were great characters, great players, experienced players," Jaissle stated. "This is now a vacuum. We have to adjust something in the squad by signing these profile of players, or other players need to step up and fill these positions and these leadership roles."
The club had pursued midfielder Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg, but a deal fell through this week. Jaissle acknowledged the squad's current lack of senior figures less than two weeks before the Premier League opener against Liverpool.
"We are aware of what we need and the squad that we want," he added. "Internally, everyone is aware of that, and we are working on the solutions."
While Howe's objective last season was European qualification, Newcastle finished 12th. Jaissle declined to commit to specific targets for the current term, stressing the necessity of patience for the rebuild.
"This will not happen overnight, especially when you now have such a big transition phase," Jaissle said. "You need to have a clear goal of where we want to go to. Then, if you have that synergy with the fans, the players and the staff to go there, then I’m pretty sure it will be a successful story. But we need time now. We can only do our best day by day, breaking it down with the goal long ahead."
He described the team as ambitious but cautioned against making premature promises, stating, "It makes no sense to promise you anything, because I don’t know how things look in half a year or one year. What we can control, we will control. Cutting the tasks down on a daily basis, doing the best job, and then we go in the right direction - and that is going to be successful."