'Deliver' - Matthias Jaissle comes out fighting on St James’ Park boos and Newcastle United pressure
Newcastle United were booed off the St James’ Park pitch against Aston Villa last weekend.
Matthias Jaissle has vowed that Newcastle United “must deliver” while defending the fans’ right to boo at St James’ Park last weekend.
A chorus of frustration echoed around the ground when referee Jarred Gillett blew the full-time whistle. Aston Villa edged out a 1-0 victory as the Magpies managed just one shot on target.
Some quarters took the jeers as a sign that Jaissle is under pressure just seven games into his Premier League career. It should be noted that there is no panic from inside the club as the German held productive talks with David Hopkinson earlier this week.
Newcastle travel to Crystal Palace - another team under the cosh - on Sunday aiming to bounce back from consecutive Premier League defeats. In a defiant message, Jaissle stressed the privilege of managing the Magpies - and believes the supporters had every right to boo last weekend.
‘A privilege’ - Matthias Jaissle
“First of all, I always said that it's a privilege to be the coach of Newcastle United,” he said. “I would not say that it is huge pressure. I would use another word. It's a great and huge responsibility to take that job.
“To also lead them throughout the negative period was something we were aware of. There were already positive sides at the start of the season, now there's a setback at the moment, and you need to overcome that.
“The disappointment of the fans is part of the game. They're passionate, especially our supporters. They're great, and it's also normal that they show their disappointment.”
‘We need to deliver’ - Matthias Jaissle
Doubling down, Jaissle insisted that Newcastle fans deserve to have high expectations of their team. However, the Toon boss was keen to point out that progress will not always follow an upward trajectory.
The Magpies started the campaign brightly but back-to-back losses have burst the balloon of positivity. Ultimately, the proof will be in the pudding come 4pm on Sunday and whether Newcastle have reacted to the setbacks.
“I would love to play every match at home,” Jaissle added. “They are great supporters. They give us the energy and again, this is normal in football. They have high expectations as well, and they deserve to have these high expectations.
“We need to deliver. I already had the expectation that it would be a tough one, especially due to the fact that we joined really late. We were aware of the brave journey we were going on, and this is something you need to calculate.
“Of course, we all hoped it would go more smoothly because I'm more on the optimistic side when I take on a new challenge. But this is now the reality, and we need to face that.
“We had a great start, everything was driving in the right direction. Now there's a setback and we need to overcome that. But that makes you stronger.”
On Palace as opponents, Jaissle said: “I think there's always a time when you would like to play against opposition. There are also times when you would maybe not like to play against opposition.
“They got a heavy defeat against Brighton, so maybe they want to show an even better reaction. It's difficult to say (whether now is a good time to play Palace). We can only focus on us.”