Newcastle's struggles deepen as Jaissle seeks answers before trip to Palace
Newcastle United have won just one of their past five Premier League games and travel to Selhurst Park to face Crystal Palace on Sunday (14:00 BST) after a home defeat to Aston Villa last weekend that was met with boos at the final whistle.
The club marked 30 years on Tuesday since Kevin Keegan's team beat Manchester United 5-0 at St James' Park by reminding their 2.8 million followers on X, a social-media flashback that contrasted with a season in which new German head coach Matthias Jaissle is still attempting to get his side firing. Newcastle have lost three of their last four matches, a sequence that includes 4-1 away defeats at Leeds United on 14 September and Coventry City on 12 October.
Charlotte Robson from the True Faith Newcastle United podcast warned: "The pressure will seriously be on if they don't get a result at Palace," and former defender John Anderson told BBC Sport: "One result can change a lot - all it needs is one good win and all of a sudden you're back on track - but Matthias Jaissle seems very set in his ways at this moment in time." Chris Sutton, who won the Premier League with Blackburn in 1994-95 and watched the Villa defeat for BBC Radio 5 Live, described Newcastle as "chaotic" and added: "There is not enough in the final third in terms of creativity and they have a vulnerability at the back."
Alan Shearer had warned three months ago, speaking after Eddie Howe stepped down: "Speaking purely as a fan, I think we have to get ready for a tough season and some very challenging times ahead." The club have already sold Anthony Gordon to Barcelona in a deal worth more than £69m, Sandro Tonali to Tottenham in a deal worth up to £100m, and Bruno Guimaraes to Arsenal for £75m. After seven Premier League games Newcastle sit on eight points having won just two top-flight matches, away at Tottenham and at home to newly promoted Hull City.
Observers have pointed to a loss of leadership and experience during the summer, with England full-back Kieran Trippier, 36, among those to leave, and Rory Smith told BBC Radio 5 Live's The Monday Night Club: "If you had said at the end of last season Newcastle would lose Gordon, Guimaraes, Tonali and Howe, you would probably get this [eight points from seven games]." The club spent about £250m on new signings in the summer window, many aged 21 or under.
Two of those recruits, Ivory Coast winger Bazoumana Toure and French midfielder Aladji Bamba, have yet to start a Premier League game despite being available, while 18-year-old Sean Steur impressed after starting against Hull in September but "has not played a minute since." Rory Smith added: "The profile of the players Newcastle signed in the summer, and it may well bear fruit in time...they went very young and relatively inexperienced" and said: "They didn't go out and sign a load of established Premier League players."
Newcastle paid Al-Ahli £9.5m in compensation to appoint Jaissle after he had led the Saudi club to consecutive Asian Champions League crowns, and the 38-year-old former Red Bull Salzburg boss is still seeking to impose his methods. Seventy-nine days into his reign he is trying to put his own stamp on the team after Howe's long tenure, while defensive issues persist: Newcastle have not recorded a home clean sheet in 16 consecutive matches in all competitions, the longest run in the club's history, and are conceding an average of two goals per game in the Premier League, with only Crystal Palace (17) and Ipswich (15) having shipped more than Newcastle's 14.
Attacking output has been sparse; Newcastle registered one attempt on target against Villa — their least in a Premier League home match since August 2024 — and that effort came from defender Sven Botman, with Jaissle deploying centre-back Dan Burn up front after he was introduced as a substitute. The club are also yet to satisfactorily replace Alexander Isak and Callum Wilson, who left in the same summer; Yoane Wissa was named as Wilson's technical replacement while Nick Woltemade was signed as the Isak replacement in a club-record deal worth up to £69m in August 2025 and is now on loan to Juventus, with Wissa "struggling for consistency since returning from injury."
Sutton said: "Newcastle fans have every right to be a little bit concerned," and added: "They didn't look like scoring against Villa and that is what really concerns Newcastle fans." Robson urged patience after the upheaval of the summer and noted there is "no panic inside the club right now," with CEO David Hopkinson and sporting director Ross Wilson projecting calm; she also said: "There are more questions being asked now" and "At the start of the season it was made clear in interviews we wanted to be an aggressive attacking team. We are not there yet, we're still working it out."
Newcastle face Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park on Sunday (14:00 BST) and will then visit Everton in the Carabao Cup last-16 next Thursday, host Everton in the Premier League on 2 November and travel to Fulham five days later; Jaissle will be seeking a victory to halt a run that would otherwise amount to six league and cup games without a win.
