Newcastle United head coach Matthias Jaissle has warned that supporters may need to wait until the start of next season before making a fair judgement on his time at St James' Park. The German takes his team to Fulham this afternoon in urgent need of three points after consecutive defeats to Everton, which saw the Magpies exit the Carabao Cup and slip into the bottom half of the Premier League table.
Pressure mounts after back-to-back losses
A failure to win at Craven Cottage would lead to a difficult international break and further scrutiny of the team's form. Jaissle, who is still getting to know new transfer chief Tomas Amaral, believes that having inherited a squad largely assembled by previous managers, he will need time to shape his own group.
Newcastle sold Anthony Gordon to Barcelona for £69.3m, Bruno Guimaraes to Arsenal for £75m and Sandro Tonali to Spurs for £100m, stripping away quality from a squad that also lost veteran England defender Kieran Trippier, who was released on a free transfer.
Formation hint and January plans
The interview also hinted that Jaissle will not abandon his preferred 4-2-3-1 formation in favour of the 4-3-3 system that suited Eddie Howe's side in previous seasons. With the January transfer window approaching, Jaissle suggested on Thursday that there could be "adjustments" to his squad during the winter trading period.
Speaking to beIN Sports, Jaissle said: "We joined late in the pre-season; I would love to improve the squad and the young talents, but it needs time, a couple of transfer windows." He added: "You need to find a balance, not losing our way, not making compromises on how we want to play but with adjustments to get results straight away."
Squad assembled under previous regime
Between now and January, Newcastle must push on with a squad predominantly put together by sporting director Ross Wilson, with a spend of around £275m. Much of that funding went on young players such as Sean Steur, Aladji Bamba and Bazoumana Toure, with only the young Dutchman Steur making an immediate impact so far.
Jaissle had said last week: "First of all, it is on us to do the best with the current squad. We have a lot of players with potential signed in the summer. But as you can imagine, you always aim for adjustments and strengthening. It will be my first one (window) in January, and of course you always aim for adjustments."
Jaissle began the campaign well with a draw against Liverpool and a victory over Tottenham Hotspur, but has since suffered losses to Aston Villa, Everton twice, Leeds and Coventry. Newcastle entered the final weekend before the international break in the bottom half of the Premier League standings.
