Newcastle United goalkeeper Lukas Hornicek has described head coach Matthias Jaissle as a 'great coach' and insisted the Magpies' players 'are lucky to have him'.
Jaissle is now three months into his tenure at Newcastle, having replaced Eddie Howe as head coach during a summer of change on Tyneside. The former Al Ahli and RB Salzburg boss has faced some criticism over his team's style of play and performances, but after 10 Premier League games in charge, United sit on 12 points from three wins, three draws and four defeats, leaving them in 12th place.
Transition to the Premier League
Hornicek, who also joined in the summer from Portuguese side Braga and has been one of the club's better signings, singled out the head coach for praise when discussing his move from the Portuguese League to the Premier League. Speaking to Chronicle Live after the 1-1 draw at Fulham, he said: "Thank you. From the beginning, you see such a big desire from the lads, from the trainers, everyone who's involved in Newcastle, which helped me a lot."
"When everybody's working 100 per cent and I'm involved, I'm getting used to it much better. It's the best league in the world. You can see that everybody's much stronger, much faster. The game is more fluent, much faster also. You need to do your best to make yourself used to that, which I hope I've made very good."
"In Braga, we played with the four back, now we play with three in the build-up, so it's a bit different. In the end, we want to play football, you want to be dominant on the ball, and I think we showed that today in a transition like this. Speaking with Matthias, he's been always positive because he's a great coach and we are lucky to have him."
Pope's supportive role
Hornicek has quickly established himself as Newcastle's number one, and despite errors in defeats against Coventry and Everton, the Czechia international has largely been impressive across his first 12 appearances for the Magpies. The 24-year-old is working with a new-look goalkeeping unit that includes fellow new signing Ewen Jaouen, Mark Gillespie and Aidan Harris, as well as veteran England international Nick Pope, whom he has replaced as first choice goalkeeper.
After four seasons as the Magpies' first choice shot-stopper, United decided to go in a different direction to Pope this summer but could not find a suitor for the 34-year-old. Pope, who is in the final year of his contract at St James' Park, has been demoted to third choice goalkeeper, although he has been on the bench for nine of Newcastle's 12 games this term with Jaouen ruled out through injury.
Rather than sulk about his own situation, Pope has been a supportive presence for Hornicek behind the scenes, and the 24-year-old was keen to reflect that in the aftermath of Saturday's draw. "He's fantastic. Since I came in. He's been supporting me. I was a little bit worried because he used to be number one, and if there would be a little hostility from his side, but he's 100 per cent positive. He's helping me, he's such a nice lad, with Mark and Ewen and Aidan."
