There was a time, a couple of years ago, when it was rumoured a double Champions League winner was Eddie Howe’s probable replacement at Newcastle. Rubbish, according to some close to the club: they were not going for Jose Mourinho. Instead, after Howe has gone now, a double Asian Champions League winner is taking over, in Matthias Jaissle.
Young, German, relatively unknown and an advocate of pressing, Jaissle represents a very different kind of appointment. The second manager brought in since Newcastle’s Saudi takeover, the 38-year-old joins a club at a crossroads; one interpretation is that they are changing direction, another that they are going backwards.
