Matthias Jaissle is everything Newcastle United fans ever wanted - he just now needs to prove he’s got the minerals to be a Premier League manager.
And on Sunday afternoon, with the eyes of the footballing world glued to his opening game in the English top flight, he passed his early test with flying colours.
Gone is the calm radiating from the NUFC dugout, in its place is a jumping Jack, ball of energy, ready to throw every ounce of his being into every call, every decision, every tackle. It is the antithesis of Eddie Howe - not that this shows he cared any less, he really did care - it’s just different, and the perfect tonic right now for a fanbase desperate to cling on to any semblance of fight.
Jaissle not only set his team up to frustrate Liverpool, but also blitz their creaking backline. And his tactics deserved more than the point his team gained, but for a soft penalty decision in added time against Lewis Hall.
The head coach erupted off the touchline like a firework, his coaches soon followed, matching the energy of 50,000 others alongside him. He thinks the officials got it wrong, so do I.
He said: “If you give it, it’s a really, really soft one and then you have to give many, many penalties throughout the game and throughout the season. I’m not a big fan of the decision.
Jaissle continued: “In the end, I am a bit disappointed. We were so close to getting the three points, for sure. But there is also some brightness, because the guys were doing an amazing job for over 90 minutes.
“We are a young squad, and they really left their hearts on the pitch and this is something we can build on.
“I’m proud, we are proud to see a unit on the pitch. The guys were trying to do it in the intense way that we want to play; to be front-footed and vertical in our approach.
“After such a short amount of time, I’m really happy. That is our philosophy. It depends on the opponent, but we have a clear idea of how we want to play and today we saw quite a lot of that.”
So, it’s early days, but St James’ Park won’t take too long to warm to Jaissle, and it seems the feeling is mutual.
On the atmosphere and crowd, he said: “This is special, it’s going to be a really cool season with big challenges as well. We’re realistic, but we will get there.
“I heard many things, but I felt the goosebumps straight away. You get energy from the stands, and you just want to deliver it on the pitch. This will be something special.”