Who is Newcastle's new head coach Matthias Jaissle?

Following Matthias Jaissle's appointment by Newcastle United, football experts Matt Ford and John Duerden look at the German's journey from Salzburg to St James' Park.

Jaissle's journey from player to coach

In Matthias Jaissle, Newcastle have appointed a young head coach who exemplifies the Red Bull (RB) school of coaching like few others: aggressive pressing, rapid transitions and pace in attack.

As a player, Jaissle was a junior member of the newly promoted Hoffenheim team which took the Bundesliga by storm in 2007 under the pioneering Ralf Rangnick, the former interim manager of Manchester United.

Jaissle told SPOX in 2021 that Rangnick was a "decisive figure" for him when, after his playing career was cut short by injury, he embarked on his own coaching career in Rangnick's Red Bull cosmos – first in Leipzig, then in Salzburg.

"There are general principles which describe our football," he told SPOX. "High pressing, aggressive defending from the front, stressing the opposition as early as possible. When you've been injected with that RB DNA like I was, it helps to convey it [as a coach]."

In Salzburg, Jaissle achieved what none of his predecessors (including new AFC Bournemouth coach Marco Rose and former Leeds United coach Jesse Marsch) had managed and took the team beyond the UEFA Champions League group stage for the first time – only to be beaten by Bayern Munich in the knockout stages.

Jaissle through the years

But the campaign, which still ended in an Austrian league and cup double, put Jaissle on the map as one of Europe's rising coaching stars.

So, it came as a surprise when he abruptly informed Salzburg of his wish to join Saudi Pro League side Al-Ahli just 48 hours before the start of the 2023/24 season.

Jaissle's managerial record (stats from Transfermarkt)

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Making history with Al-Ahli

There wasn’t much fanfare when the little-known Jaissle arrived in Jeddah in July 2023. Al-Ahli may have been one of the "Big Four" in Saudi Arabian football but had just been promoted after a first ever season in the second tier and plenty of fans felt that South African boss Pitso Mosimane should have stayed.

But that summer was a real turning point in more ways than one as the club was taken over by the Saudi Public Investment Fund and suddenly, there were big names heading to the Red Sea Port, including Premier League stars such as Riyad Mahrez, Roberto Firmino, Edouard Mendy and Allan Saint-Maximin. 

Jaissle's first words as Newcastle head coach

For a coach in his mid-thirties, it was quite a challenge, to manage such star names and also to deal with a fan base that some say is the most passionate in Saudi Arabia, but with just one league title since 1984 and nothing in Asia to celebrate.

The first season was solid as Al-Ahli finished third and crucially qualified for the Asia Champions League Elite. The attacking, high-intensity (as much as the climate allowed) style went down well too and Jaissle worked to give Mahrez and Saint-Maximin room to shine.

Yet there were second season problems. The German wanted a winger to replace the departed Saint-Maximin but instead the club signed England striker Ivan Toney. By January 2025, it looked as if Jaissle was out with Massimiliano Allegri coming in. Fans, though, got behind the boss, hanging up a banner at the training ground directed at the club management which read, “Enough failure…Leave!”  

So Jaissle stayed and turned things around, helped by the signing of Brazilian winger Galeno, who also brought out the best of Toney.

Under Jaissle, Al-Ahli became champions of Asia for the first time in May 2025, defeating Japanese side Kawasaki Frontale 2-0 in Jeddah. They defended their crown 12 months later, beating another team from Japan, Machida Zelvia, 1-0.

"Players these days are so hungry for knowledge that you have explain to them in great detail exactly what you want – and why,“ Jaissle told SPOX. "If you can't do that, you have a problem."

Now Newcastle will hope that the 38-year-old can convey those principles to current Premier League players.