Saudi football expert Mohamed Qoutb spoke to Chronicle Live about Jaissle's time in Saudi Arabia

As Matthias Jaissle faced up to heavy criticism in the wake of Newcastle United's defeats to Coventry City and Aston Villa, it is important to remember it is a situation he has faced before.

As manager of Saudi Pro League side Al Ahli, Jaissle came dangerously close to being sacked in his second season as talk began to grow of Max Allegri being given the manager's job.

But Jaissle recovered from that situation to not only keep his job but go on to win back-to-back Asian Champions Leagues and it is an interesting case study to consider after the pressure ramped up at Newcastle.

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Jaissle inherited this Newcastle squad less than three weeks before the start of the season in the midst of a turbulent summer of change that saw four of the club's senior players leave and eight new signings, all aged 24 or under, come in.

After a decent start to the season yielded eight points from five matches, their performances in the last two matches - a 4-1 defeat at Coventry and a 1-0 home loss to Aston Villa - rang some alarm bells, with criticism of how easily Jaissle's team were played through, their lack of control in midfield, their wastefulness in front of goal and their excessive concession of chances among the major concerns felt by supporters.

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Nobody is suggesting he is anywhere close to the sack on Tyneside so soon into the season but there is an acceptance that there needs to be a mood swing across the next four matches before the November international break.

So with that in mind, Chronicle Live spoke to Saudi football expert Mohamed Qoutb, in a special Everything is Black and White podcast, to get the lowdown on Jaissle's time in Jeddah and how it relates to his current situation on Tyneside.

Fan support key in avoiding sack

Jaissle joined Al-Ahli in the summer of 2023 and after guiding the club to AFC Champions League qualification, a mid-season slump in his second season led to talk of Jaissle being sacked, as the Allegri rumours grew.

But the relationship he had fostered with the club's supporters saw a campaign launched to keep him in post and that allowed the 38-year-old to galvanise the club to go on and win the AFC Champions League in the 2024/25 season.

"The club expected more in the second season," Qoutb explained. "The fans got excited, but I think something happened at the beginning of the second season. The club started to lay off some players. So Allan Saint-Maximin was sent to Turkey. The fans didn't like this. He was very good. He was an exciting player, the kind of player the Saudis would enjoy. Very skilful, very flamboyant, takes a shot from distance, and there was no replacement.

"Ivan Toney came because Bobby Firmino wasn't really convincing as a striker who can deliver 15-plus goals every season at his age, but there was dissatisfaction because other clubs were reinforcing the teams, and Al Ahli didn't in the same scale.

"Al Ittihad had won the league and are the club that shared the city with Al Ahli. So when Al Ittihad wins the league, you're in trouble. You need to give something back to the club. So the beginning of the second season wasn't great, and it came to that point when Al Ahli got knocked out by a second-division team from the King's Cup, and this was the point when Jaissle got the closest to getting sacked.

"The club's hierarchy started to look for replacements. We heard it was widely circulated that Jaissle would be laid off and Massimiliano Allegri would come, and they were looking for a caretaker to just take over the rest of the season and see the season off while Allegri can take over from the following season.

"But, surprisingly, the club fans rallied behind Jaissle, and this is one quality he had with Al Ahli, the connection between him and the local fans. And this was, I think, established through big performances against big clubs. So when we talked about the derby against Al Ittihad, they always did well.

"Against Al Hilal and against Al Nassr, these are the games that matter. These are the games that the fans always turn up to, and he did really well. He impressed with his tactics and his way to plan for these games. So the club fans rallied behind him on social media. They even started a campaign to sack the sporting director and the CEO, and Jaissl had made it clear that he needed players at this point.

"The club was still in the Champions League, and mid-season they managed to sign a winger in Galeno from FC Porto, and they were lucky to have the final phase of the Champions League in Jeddah, in their local hometown. And they benefited massively from this. Galeno, Firas Al-Buraikan, who is the Saudi international striker, came to Al Ahli, and the club took the Asian Champions League as the one and only objective for the rest of the season and he did manage to rally the whole club behind this.

"At some point, he de-registered Roberto Firmino from the squad eligible for the Saudi League, and he dedicated him specially for the Asian Champions League. And for this club to win the Champions League was massive. Absolutely massive. This is a club that had a complex for so many years with this. Their rivals had won it in Saudi Arabia, and even better, they beat Al Hilal in the semi-final. And Al Hilal had been the dominant figure in Saudi and Asian football in the last decade or so.

"So this gave him the authority to do whatever he wants with Al Ahli. He's treated like a king in Al Ahlii and it's amazing how his fortunes have shifted massively from a guy who was on the edge of being sacked to a man who was treated like royalty in town in less than three or four months.

"So the main element is him smartly playing along the lines of yes, we're underdogs, we're not spending as much, we're still coming back from the second division and we need time. And fans buying into it through performances at big games. And I think so much would change for Jaissle, if he manages to win the Sunderland derby, for example. That's something Newcastle fans struggled with last season, to see Sunderland coming from this championship and winning home and away. If he manages to get one of these big wins, I think so much will change."

Leaders drove vision on the pitch

One thing that was put to Chronicle Live earlier this week was that Jaissle had missed the leadership and experience of captain Dan Burn and vice-captain Joelinton on the pitch to drive his standards and implement his vision on the pitch.

That is something Qoutb feels he managed to achieve at Al-Ahli through a core group of players like Merih Demiral, Roger Ibanez, Franck Kessie and Toney.

And Jaissle also liked working with a small squad and once he established his strongest XI, and the players he trusted, he very rarely deviated away from that.

"One thing we noticed with Jaissle in Al-Ahli was once he believed in a starting XI, the changes were really limited. He had a starting XI he believed in and then he was introducing two or three names [from the bench] and that is it. If that doesn't work, he will look for external solutions.

"Jaissle is not a man for an extended squad and this might suggest Newcastle might need more reinforcements and this might suggest that players the club were excited about might need to go on loan and might need to prove a point elsewhere. If you want to keep Jaissle happy and apply his vision you need players he thinks will actually deliver."

Two buzz words Newcastle fans can't shake

Two big criticisms levelled at Jaissle is that his Newcastle team lack consistency and the way they play are not sustainable. The worry for Magpies fans would be that those were two words Qoutb used to describe his time in Saudi, too.

"I think he's still highly regarded in Saudi Arabia and looked at as one of the best managers Al Ahli have ever had," Qoutb explained. "Even though his tenure with the club witnessed so many ups and downs in terms of him getting so close to being sacked at some point and him not winning the league, which is, again, something Al Ahli fans would regret.

"I think it's struggling to find consistency through the season. His way of play is a bit demanding. We need full-court press most of the time. We need to be high up, high positions, watch out for transitions. And this might not be a sustainable approach if you want to win the league.

"Sometimes you need to put your foot off the gas a bit, try and manage to just see games through. And maybe this is not his forte. Whereas galvanising the team for big occasions is one thing he's good at. We probably saw this in the Premier League as well. If you see the opening season fixture against Liverpool, I think it was Newcastle's best performance up until now."