Jaissle says ‘There’s a lot of storm’ as Newcastle head to Fulham amid mounting unrest

Matthias Jaissle said "There’s a lot of storm at the moment" on Thursday as Newcastle, 13th on 11 points and now without Champions League football, prepare to visit Fulham on Saturday amid growing disquiet among supporters and club circles.

Jaissle’s appointment has coincided with a drop from last season’s top-flight European places following a 12th-place finish under Eddie Howe, a decline the club say has removed lucrative trips to cities such as Barcelona, Paris and Marseille and denied a much-needed boost to club finances. Fans have treated the trip to Craven Cottage as a high-stakes fixture despite the league position; the team have lost four of their last five matches in all competitions and their run of 14 home league matches without a clean sheet stretches back into last season.

Tactical criticism has focused on Jaissle’s persistent use of a 4-2-3-1 despite a lack of a natural No 10 and limited central midfield mobility, and observers have blamed his methods for isolated forwards and an often-overrun midfield. The head coach defended his position, however, and has the backing of the club’s hierarchy.

Sporting director Ross Wilson carried out a major squad rebuild in the close season, signing eight players all aged 24 or under for a combined £262.9m, with only Amar Dedic, Nico González and Lukas Hornicek considered likely starters at present. An 18-year-old signing from Ajax, Sean Steur, is viewed as a potential long-term option but Jaissle has resisted overusing him to avoid physical overload.

Wilson’s recruitment also included Matias Fernandez-Pardo for £51m from Lille, Bazoumana Touré for £42m from Hoffenheim and Aladji Bamba for £30m from Monaco; only González is reported to have Premier League experience among the eight new arrivals. The club say the sales of Anthony Gordon, Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimarães were driven by the need to comply with football’s spending rules and created the vacuum that prompted high-risk investment in younger players.

The wider transfer context involved a period when Howe resisted selling first-team players at peak value, a dynamic that preceded Alexander Isak joining Liverpool for £125m after a strike, while the absence of a sporting director at that time left Howe and his nephew Andy Howe heavily involved in reinvesting funds. Newcastle then spent roughly £225m on Nick Woltemade, Yoane Wissa, Anthony Elanga and Jacob Ramsey, a quartet the club now acknowledge have underwhelmed; Howe left three weeks before the new season and Wilson and chief executive David Hopkinson had already arranged a replacement.

Jaissle arrived having won two Asian Champions Leagues with Al-Ahli and was acquired for a £9.5m release fee; Hopkinson described him as "fire" and a "rock star" and the club say they will not remove the 38-year-old lightly. After Newcastle’s 1-0 home defeat to Everton last Monday Jaissle criticised his players for not following instructions, insisting that "shooting long balls" had never been on the agenda and adding, "It was not the plan and that is something you need to clearly mention." He also stated, "Everyone believes in the long-term project."

Off-field incidents have fed the sense of malaise: Amar Dedic, the Bosnia international, prompted an armed response unit after being seen with a bow and arrow in the Northumberland countryside; police accepted the equipment was for "recreational use" and the episode was described as a "naive misunderstanding." Hopkinson and Wilson remain publicly supportive of Jaissle, who said, "Everyone’s aware of, and realistic, about the journey ahead and where we are right now," and, "The nice part is that I get even more the feeling from the club of how committed they are." Newcastle travel to Fulham on Saturday.