Angus is an experienced football journalist at Football FanCast, specialising in Premier League reporting, opinion writing and in-depth football analysis. Since graduating from Southampton Solent University in 2022, he has developed extensive experience covering the English game, producing thousands of articles across a wide range of clubs and competitions.  

Before joining Football FanCast, Angus led VAVEL's Brighton & Hove Albion department, gaining valuable experience in club-specific reporting and editorial leadership. He subsequently joined Football FanCast through Snack Media's academy, now part of Valnet, and has progressed into the publication's Opinions and Features team.
 

As one of Football FanCast's longest-serving writers, Angus has covered numerous major developments across the Premier League, combining breaking news experience with detailed features and considered opinions. His work draws on years of reporting to provide context behind performances, transfer activity and the wider issues shaping English football.

Newcastle United have fallen by the wayside under Matthias Jaissle. It's not over til the fat lady sings in football, but the German coach's chances of succeeding at this club are undoubtedly slimming.

Having lost back-to-back games against Everton, Jaissle's grasp on his tenure dangles by a thread. Not a fraying thread, not yet, but a thread all the same.

He was always going to be up against it, stepping into Eddie Howe's shoes, but there's still no question that the 38-year-old is failing to do his job in the dugout.

A look at Howe's Newcastle journey

When Howe replaced Steve Bruce in the dugout at St. James' Park, you could practically taste the excitement crackling through the Tyneside air.

The dark Mike Ashley days were over, and Howe led the affluence of PIF ownership, guiding Newcastle up the Premier League ladder and into the Champions League - twice.

Of course, his crowning achievement was back in England. In 2025, Newcastle defeated Liverpool at Wembley to lift the Carabao Cup, celebrating their first major trophy in 70 years.

Sure, the wheels came off last season, but Howe changed this football club, and in that, he is immortal on Tyneside.

Still, Newcastle did finish 12th in the Premier League last season, losing Bruno Guimaraes and Anthony Gordon and Sandro Tonali in the transfer market, one year after the disastrous Alexander Isak saga.

Howe decided he had led the Toon as far as possible, and he thre in the towel. Newcastle might not have kicked on since, but you can certainly understand why pundit Jamie Carragher has described him as "the best English coach by a million miles".

Jaissle is quite the distance away from setting himself on similar ground as Howe in his heyday. For sure, the German coach has been up against it from the start, but if results don't start improving, he will be sacked.

Why Jaissle is in big bother at Newcastle

Newcastle have lost successive football matches against Everton, but their problems hardly started there.

The boos and catcalls have chased Jaissle and his side down the tunnel for a number of weeks now. There's no question that Newcastle haven't been good enough, so toothless in attack and spineless in defence, brittle in the face of adversity.

Jaissle would feel aggrieved, were he to be sacked from his post today. He took charge of an unenviable situation on Tyneside, and Newcastle's fresh policy to sign younger players (exclusively buying 24-year-olds or younger this summer) is indicative of a slow, painstaking process back into the limelight.

And yet, ask those match-going fans, and many would conclude that Jaissle isn't the man for the job. Newcastle need more experience and better tactics, and there happens to be an available coach who would fit the bill.

Newcastle could appoint Pep-like manager

Jaissle is young, so appointing him at St. James' Park was always going to be something of a gamble. If technical director Ross Wilson wants to make a change, perhaps he should target former Liverpool manager Arne Slot.

Slot didn't leave Anfield in the prettiest of circumstances, but there's no question that the Dutchman proved his worth across that enthralling first year in the Premier League.

Slot has not yet emerged as a top target, but the Magpies hierarchy are bound to have him under consideration, having been targeted by PIF as Jaissle's replacement at Al-Ahli this summer. Slot rejected them, favouring a European job when he returns to management.

Slot's second year at Liverpool was a disaster, but all was not well at Anfield, and he would take charge at a Newcastle side crying out for some more coherent tactical understanding.

Jaissle could only bemoan his players' inability to apply his methods against Everton on Monday night, and that's damning, suggesting that they either aren't playing for him or, instead, don't understand what it is he's asking of them.

Across the 2024/25 campaign, Liverpool were monstrous, overwhelming on the ball and moving sharply and aggressively to work their way into the danger area. In that, Slot's side established themselves as the best team in the country, and the Dutchman, in that, may well have proven himself to be a level above Howe. Former Manchester City defender Michael Vonk even said he is "like Pep Guardiola" as a manager, fretting over the finer details and standing by his coaching principles.

He's certainly a level above Jaissle, and Newcastle need to make a change before the season deepens further. Slot will have a chip on his shoulder after being ridiculed throughout the 2025/26 season with Liverpool and if he can recapture that early form at Liverpool, he will transcend expectations at Newcastle, surpassing even Howe's legacy at the helm.