How to pronounce tipped NUFC head coach Matthias Jaissle's name

The 38-year-old will arrive on Tyneside as successor to Eddie Howe, with reports he has agreed a four-year deal after Newcastle reached a compensation agreement with Saudi Pro League club Al-Ahli - also owned by the Saudi Arabian PIF.

Howe leaves behind a near five-year spell which included Champions League qualification, a Carabao Cup final and the club’s first top-four finish since 2003.

How do you say Jaissle?

For fans, the simplest way to say the new boss’s name is “Matt-EYE-Us YICE-luh” – an English-friendly version that keeps the German surname close to the original pronunciation.

In German, “Matthias” is typically three syllables, closer to “Matt-EYE-us”, while language guides agree the “ai” in “Jaissle” sounds like “eye” and the “J” like a “Y”.

Who is the German set to lead Newcastle?

Born in Nürtingen, near Stuttgart, Jaissle is a former centre-half who came through the ranks at VfB Stuttgart before making his name as a player with Hoffenheim, where injury forced him into an early retirement.

He turned to coaching and quickly climbed the Red Bull ladder, impressing with RB Salzburg’s Under-18s, then FC Liefering, before taking over the first team at Salzburg and winning back-to-back Austrian titles and cups while blooding young talent.

In 2023 he moved to Al-Ahli, guiding the Jeddah club to Saudi Super Cup success and a top-four finish in a league now stacked with international stars – experience Newcastle’s hierarchy believe will translate into managing big personalities in the Premier League.

Analysts describe his football as front-foot, pressing and possession-heavy, closer in style to the high-energy approach Howe brought to Tyneside than to a more conservative, sit-deep model.

Jaissle emerged as the leading candidate as news of Howe's departure broke, with the deal described as "advanced" before confirmation that he would meet his new squad at a pre-season camp in Spain.

Some fans have already added his surname to Baccara's 1977 hit Yes Sir, I Can Boogie – a favourite with Scotland supporters – with words to a new chant replacing 'Yes sir' with 'Jaissle' doing the rounds on X before the German had even been announced as Newcastle head coach.

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