The new Magpies head coach needs to set the tone from day one even if it’s a message some will not want to hear
Bruno Guimaraes (left) and prospective new Newcastle head coach Matthias Jaissle
Matthias Jaissle will address his Newcastle United players as a group for the first time when he sits them down to outline his vision in La Manga this week – and it should not be just the Spanish sun which makes a few feel hot under the collar.
The German inherits a Magpies squad that, from the outside at least, feels fractured, dispirited and in desperate need of a galvanising force.
If Jaissle is to be the man to do that, just as Eddie Howe did almost five years ago when taking over a very different but similarly leaderless squad, then he has to make one thing clear from day one.
If anyone doesn’t want to be here, then there is the door. Get out.
Newcastle United cannot afford to carry any passengers, not matter how good they are or what they have achieved in the past and that, I’m sorry to say, should include Bruno Guimaraes.
Let me be clear, I don’t want Bruno to quit the club, and the thought of him lining up for Arsenal next season is a dispiriting one at best.
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Players come and go, that’s the nature of football. Let’s not forget that every player Newcastle have signed them summer has also left a disappointed set of supporters behind at their previous club.
Bruno has been the inspiration behind so much of what United have achieved since he arrived from Lyon in 2022, and for that we should always be grateful. No one who witnessed his emotional pitchside interview at Wembley after the Carabao Cup win can be in any doubt that he took the club, the city and the fans to his heart.
But if – and it remains an if – he has decided the time is right to move on, then fine. Off you go. The club doesn’t need players who want to be elsewhere.
There’s no need to for recriminations, social media abuse or boos when he returns, but let’s not be over-sentimental about his departure if and when he signs for a Premier League rival.
There’s the door, you can see yourself out.
The same should go for anyone else whose heart is no longer in it. We have heard too often this summer how this player or that player want out. How many are true in these murky days of transfer ‘influencers’ – what a stomach-turning term – we’ll never truly know.
But if Jaissle is to have any chance of bringing this young squad together then he must have everyone signed up to his plan from day one.
Get it right and Newcastle can again be the thorn in everyone’s side that the first Eddie Howe team was. The band of brothers who poked the eye of the so-called big boys and humbled all at St James’ Park.
Of course Newcastle can’t afford too many more exits, so it’s imperitive Jaissle is able to sell his vision to any doubters.
The proof will be seen on the pitch, but he has three weeks before that opening game with Liverpool to turn the sceptics into believers.
But those who aren’t ready to commit should exit the ride before it starts, no matter how painful that is.
Tribute to a true footballing legend, Kevin Keegan
As Britain’s only multi -Ballon d’Or winner, his deeds on the pitch for Liverpool, Hamburg, Southampton and Newcastle were legendary in their own right.
But the beauty of Keegan is that he was about far more than kicking or heading a ball. He was a man of the people, the authentic working class idol who always put the fans first and was never too busy to turn down an autograph request or, in more recent times, a selfie.
This special edition covers off the many highs, and the occasional low, of a career in which Special K was the most popular footballer of his generation and then a manager the fan on the street could warm to and identify with.
To slightly alter the words of the great man himself, We’d Love It if you enjoy reading about the many memories. LOVE IT!
ORDER YOUR SPECIAL SOUVENIR TRIBUTE TO A TRUE FOOTBALLING LEGEND HERE