Matthias Jaissle caught in the storm as Newcastle struggle without European fix

At least Matthias Jaissle has a sense of humour. “There’s a lot of storm at the moment,” reflected Newcastle’s head coach on Thursday. A wry smile suggested he was not referring to the north-east weather. Jaissle has seen his tactics, team selection, man management and entire philosophy rubbished in recent days but, on current evidence, appears to be holding his nerve. After all, it is not Jaissle’s fault that his appointment has coincided with supporters, players and directors struggling to adjust to life without Champions League involvement.A disappointing 12th-place finish under Eddie Howe last season dictates that there are no more exciting trips to Barcelona, Paris and Marseille and, significantly, no much-needed boost to club finances. Indeed, Newcastle are finding life without last term’s continental fix so tricky that they travel to Fulham on Saturday with the disgruntled mindset of a passenger accustomed to flying business class who suddenly finds themselves stuck in a cramped, mid-row economy seat.Even worse, many fans regard the trip to Craven Cottage as a full-blown relegation six-pointer. Given Newcastle are 13th on 11 points that, ostensibly, is somewhat hysterical. Yet anyone who has watched the bulk of Newcastle’s games this season will understand the reasons underpinning the sense of panic. And if Jaissle bears some responsibility for a run of four defeats in the past five games in all competitions, Newcastle’s unwanted club record-breaking run of 14 home league matches without a clean sheet stretches back into last season.While Jaissle’s bloody-mindedness in persisting with a 4-2-3-1 formation when he lacks both a natural No 10 and pace and mobility in central midfield merits scrutiny, he was not responsible for close-season recruitment. Ross Wilson, the sporting director, signed eight players all aged 24 or under for a combined £262.9m. Only three – Amar Dedic, Nico González and Lukas Hornicek – are likely starters at present. A fourth, Sean Steur, an 18-year-old acquired from Ajax looks potentially top-drawer but Jaissle refuses to overplay him and risk attendant physical overload.Fingers are duly being pointed at Wilson but the need to comply with football’s spending rules explains why Newcastle sold their three best players – Anthony Gordon, Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimarães – last summer. The resultant vacuum left Wilson taking calculated gambles on inexperienced youngsters, including Matias Fernandez-Pardo, a £51m forward signed from Lille, Bazoumana Touré, a £42m winger signed from Hoffenheim, and Aladji Bamba, a £30m midfielder from Monaco. Newcastle’s Saudi Arabian owners hope they will prove unpolished gems with high resale values, but only one of those eight new faces, González, possesses Premier League experience. Throw in a youthful, relatively inexperienced manager and the risk is obvious.Matias Fernandez-Pardo arrived on Tyneside from Lille. Photograph: Richard Lee/ShutterstockWhile football’s financial regulations have triggered such wholesale player trading at a moment when Newcastle’s commercial revenues fail to match their ambitions, it did not help that Howe hoarded first-teamers, consistently resisting the opportunity to sell stars at peak value. Indeed, Alexander Isak only joined Liverpool for £125m last year after going on strike. The absence of a sporting director at that time left Howe and his nephew, Andy Howe, then a senior Newcastle recruitment executive, heavily involved in reinvesting the cash. The best part of £225m was poured into signing Nick Woltemade, Yoane Wissa, Anthony Elanga and Jacob Ramsey, but that quartet have collectively underwhelmed.When a disillusioned, burned-out Howe quit three weeks before the new season, Wilson and Newcastle’s chief executive, David Hopkinson, had already lined up his successor. Jaissle’s much-vaunted attacking brand of so-called vertical football had secured two Asian Champions Leagues at Al-Ahli. On Tyneside, though, such ‘verticality’ has frequently turned into a series of optimistic long balls punctuating matches that frequently see Newcastle’s midfield overrun, forwards isolated and defenders exposed. Given that possession retention has long been a problem for a team arguably at their best when choreographed in contain-and-counter mode, Jaissle’s blueprint appears overly ambitious.Matthias Jaissle criticised his Newcastle players for disobeying orders in their 1-0 defeat by Everton. Photograph: Richard Sellers/Allstar Picture Library/SportsphotoNewcastle’s formidable attacking pace menaces on the break but the manager’s plan during the 1-0 home defeat against Everton last Monday was to bisect the visiting lines courtesy of sharp incisive passing along the ground. It did not work and afterwards Jaissle criticised his players for disobeying orders, insisting “shooting long balls” had never been on the agenda. “It was not the plan and that is something you need to clearly mention,” he told reporters.skip past newsletter promotionafter newsletter promotionBy Thursday Jaissle looked considerably happier, insisting there was no discord between management and players. “Everyone believes in the long-term project,” he said. Jaissle had apparently been encouraged by his shot-shy players’ willingness to sign up for extra shooting practice but perhaps Dedic took such instruction too literally. On Wednesday afternoon, the Bosnia international sparked the involvement of an armed response unit after being spotted with a bow and arrow in the Northumberland countryside. The police swiftly accepted that the equipment was for “recreational use” but what has been described as a “naive misunderstanding” seems horribly emblematic of Newcastle’s season.One thing remains clear: after describing Jaissle as “fire” and a “rock star” – not to mention paying Al-Ahli £9.5m to release him – Hopkinson will not sack the 38-year-old German lightly. He and Wilson are standing resolutely by their man.“Everyone’s aware of, and realistic, about the journey ahead and where we are right now,” said Jaissle. “The nice part is that I get even more the feeling from the club of how committed they are.”