Thiaw insists Newcastle players are fully behind Matthias Jaissle and his message

Malick Thiaw insists Newcastle United's players 'follow the gaffer 100 per cent' amid growing questions over head coach Matthias Jaissle and his tactical set-up.

The Magpies were beaten 1-0 by Aston Villa at the weekend as they failed to muster a positive response after a bruising 4-1 defeat to newly promoted Coventry City on Monday evening.

Newcastle are conceding far too many chances and failing to score them at the other end and they have lacked control in midfield with their setup looking more like unorganised chaos than a well-intentioned game-plan.

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There has been confusion over what formation Newcastle are playing with what should be a 4-2-3-1 set-up, looking more like 3-1-6 0r 4-1-5 at times, creating a huge chasm in midfield. Joelinton told Chronicle Live on Saturday it was 4-3-3 in attack and 4-4-2 defensively.

Regardless, the former RB Salzburg and Al-Ahli boss needs to find solutions, starting with Sunday's trip to Crystal Palace, but Thiaw - who has captained the side in all but one of Jaissle's Premier League matches - insists the coach's message is clear and they are following that message '100 per cent'.

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"This week, I feel like we are all on the same page," Thiaw told the official Newcastle United matchday programme. "There have been no arguments or heads going down.

"We have to learn these moments as a team, and we don't have too much time until the next game. We have to learn and adapt the things quickly that we spoke about.

"We know that there are always improvements we can make as a team, and not everything is going to be perfect from the first day. Everybody has to be patient as well.

"But I think the messages from the coach are clear. I would say our team is really a team that follows, so we follow the gaffer 100 per cent."

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