Newcastle receive immediate Matthias Jaissle verdict as Didi Hamann highlights "big problems"

Newcastle United have landed a "coup" in appointing Matthias Jaissle despite an underwhelming pre-season, a former Magpies midfielder has exclusively told Sports Mole.

The Premier League outfit have won just one of their opening three pre-season friendlies under Eddie Howe's successor, who oversaw a 2-1 loss to Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday, when they had eight shots to the German giants' 15.

Newcastle were also bested 3-1 by top-flight rivals Everton on August 12, falling 3-0 down before Harvey Barnes netted a consolation, after edging out 10-man Valencia 2-1 in Jaissle's unofficial debut.

The Magpies conclude their preparatory period against Strasbourg on Sunday, one week before hosting Liverpool - also embarking on a new era under Andoni Iraola - in their Premier League opener.

Despite Jaissle's relative inexperience in the hotseat - having only taken on his first job in 2021 - Didi Hamann believes that Red Bull Salzburg's "big problems" since the 38-year-old departed are evidence of his strong management skills.

Didi Hamann: 'Newcastle have landed a coup in Matthias Jaissle'

"There was a huge market for him when he won the league as a young manager with Salzburg, and since he's left, Salzburg have had big problems. They haven't won the league since. Things have gone backwards there," Hamann said.

"To go to Al-Ahli and win the AFC Champions League is an achievement in itself because we know the calibre of manager, the calibre of players over there.

"And I think it's a very good appointment, but it won't be easy because in [Anthony] Gordon, [Sandro] Tonali and [Bruno] Guimaraes, Newcastle have lost three key players.

"On the other hand, it's an opportunity to maybe structure the team a bit differently and anew. I think he's a very talented manager, one of the few who has made the step back from Saudi Arabia to Europe. He’s a very good manager. And, yeah, I think Newcastle landed a bit of a coup there."

What has happened to Red Bull Salzburg since Matthias Jaissle left?

After winning 11 of his 17 games in charge of Austrian side FC Liefering, Jaissle was hired by Salzburg in the summer of 2021 and immediately inherited a squad filled with the stars of tomorrow.

The likes of Benjamin Sesko, Karim Adeyemi, Noah Okafor and Brenden Aaronson all represented Salzburg in Jaissle's debut season, in which he won a league and cup double, while also taking the Red Bull outfit to the Champions League knockouts for the first time ever.

After defending the Austrian Bundesliga crown in 2022-23 and progressing to the Europa League knockout round playoffs, Jaissle was given the boot, while Sesko, Okafor and Nicolas Siewald were among the players to depart.

Since Jaissle's exit, Salzburg have gone from 10-time defending Austrian champions to failing to win any of the last three editions, in addition to not adding any more Austrian Cups to their record and exiting the 2025-26 Europa League in the league phase.

Appointed this summer, Danny Rohl is the seventh different manager to take charge of Salzburg since the exit of Jaissle, although the latter was blessed with more exceptional young talent than his successors.

Didi Hamann was speaking to Sports Mole on behalf of MrQ.