Matthias Jaissle watched on as his Newcastle United team extended their run to five games unbeaten at the start of this 2026/27 season.
A 1-0 victory away at Millwall taking United into the last 16 of the League Cup.
Three wins and two draws to kick off the Matthias Jaissle era in charge at Newcastle United.
Two wins from two away from home and two clean sheets.
Both of these wins on the road achieved in London, where once upon a time victories were so elusive.
Matthias Jaissle a very happy Newcastle United boss: “We are really pleased with the result. We did the job and that is always the most important thing in a cup match. We knew that it was going to be hard and that it would be a challenge. We made the right step [at Millwall] compared to that first half against Bournemouth, we matched the physical approach from our opponent and that is something we can build on.”
Yoane Wissa was a surprise choice for many when he was named captain against Millwall, Matthias Jaissle explaining: “I had conversations with Yoane Wissa like I did with many other players. Wiss is, along with certain other players, also a leader. He has shown that from the start when we joined the training camp [after becoming Head Coach] that he can communicate, he has positive energy, he also performs on the pitch at the moment, so that was the reason [to make him captain against Millwall.”
As for match winner Joe Willock, Matthias Jaissle saying: “He is really important, especially when he is scoring… Not only Willock but the whole team, how they believe in each element of the game. In terms of mentality we are really pleased.”
Matthias Jaissle asked about Matias Fernandez-Pardo, who didn’t get a start but came off the bench and played his part in the winning goal: “We need to be careful with such a young player, someone who hasn’t played 90 minutes for such a long time. Because of that we are almost seeing him as now having a pre-season at the moment and it is now a case of slowly step by step with him. Then if there is the chance to start with him, we will do that.”
Matthias Jaissle in the job for less than five weeks and asked how it has felt for him, such a challenge to take on: “I expected a lot and so I am not so much surprised, as I knew that every match would be unbelievably tough and hard to manage, but the level the players have shown already is great. It is something very special after having been here for such a short amount of time, seeing a group, seeing such a unit on the pitch. That is something that we can really build on.”
Matthias Jaissle made far fewer changes than had been predicted by many, only three from Saturday’s game against Bournemouth: “You saw that we didn’t want to rotate too much today. Leeds is [six] days away and so that gave us the opportunity to stick with most of the starting eleven [that played] against Bournemouth.”