Matthias Jaissle says he arrives at Newcastle in an “ambitious” frame of mind, though warned progress “will not happen overnight” after succeeding Eddie Howe at St James’ Park.
It follows a testing summer on Tyneside as Howe ended his four-and-a-half-year tenure, coinciding with the sales of captain Bruno Guimaraes, fellow midfielder Sandro Tonali and key forward Anthony Gordon.
Newcastle’s shift in recruitment policy towards talented youngsters rather than established players means that recent outfield signings – Bazoumana Toure, Sean Steur and Aladji Bamba – are all under 22.
While the upheaval leaves the squad lacking experience, Jaissle – who guided RB Salzburg to back-to-back Austrian titles and Saudi club Al-Ahli to consecutive Asian Champions League crowns – remains upbeat.
At his official unveiling at St James’ Park, the 38-year-old German boss said: “We are ambitious. That’s the most important thing, also why I decided to come here. But this will not happen overnight.
“The players who left the club, they were great players, great characters, experienced players and this is now a vacuum. Other players need to step in.
“It’s a big challenge, always when there’s a transition period, but it’s no time to complain. It doesn’t make sense to see the negative things. We want to see the chance in that situation and that’s our approach from day one.
“I’m long enough now in the industry that you cannot promise anything, it makes no sense to promise things now because I don’t know how things look in half a year or in one year. What we can control, we will control.”
Jaissle’s initial order of business was a training camp in La Manga, Spain, while his new-look side claimed an encouraging 2-1 win in Valencia before he arrived in Newcastle over the weekend.
He will now turn his attention to Wednesday’s friendly match against Everton in Edinburgh and securing reinforcements, with Marseille captain Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg heavily linked with a move to St James’ Park.
Jaissle, who noted he has not decided who will replace Guimaraes as captain, said: “We are all optimistic. I am here for 36 hours in Newcastle, I’m also really happy now to be home, I had a bit of time in La Manga already to get the lads better. We work on it, that’s all I can say.
“Other players need to step in. Either we adjust something in the squad, by signing these players, these profiles, or other players need to step up and fill these positions, these leadership roles.
“So I am quite optimistic, we can work in both scenarios. My job is to do the best out of it.”
Alongside prospective transfer additions, Jaissle, who opened his press conference by personally shaking hands with reporters in the room, will look to extract the best out of the squad he already has.
Nick Woltemade arrived 12 months ago for a record £69million but despite starting with five goals in his first eight appearances, he faded thereafter in a frustrating first season.
Jaissle added: “I saw that he had a difficult period. From the first day, we talked a lot, he should leave the past behind. It’s something he cannot change. We are just looking forward.
“We find solutions, we do our best. Not only with Nick, with all the other players as well.”
