Newcastle United: What is going on at 'chaotic' Magpies? - BBC Sport
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What is going on at 'chaotic' Newcastle?
Image source: Getty Images
Image caption: Newcastle have won just one of their past five Premier League games
By
Neil Johnston
BBC Sport football reporter
Published 5 hours ago
Perhaps it was meant to lift spirits after Newcastle's underwhelming start to the season. On Tuesday, the Magpies reminded their 2.8 million followers on X that it was 30 years to the day that Kevin Keegan's swashbuckling team of 1996-1997 crushed Manchester United 5-0 at St James' Park to sit top of the Premier League. It was a flashback to one of the all-time great Newcastle performances, with the social media post, external, coming the same week their new German boss Matthias Jaissle is still trying to figure out why his class of 2026-2027 have yet to fire.
Last weekend's home loss to Aston Villa, which was greeted by a chorus of boos from the stands at the final whistle, means Newcastle head into Sunday's game against struggling Crystal Palace (14:00 BST) looking to end a run of three defeats in four games. That sequence includes back-to-back 4-1 away defeats at Leeds United on 14 September and Coventry City on 12 October.
"The pressure will seriously be on if they don't get a result at Palace," says Charlotte Robson from the True Faith Newcastle United podcast.
Supporters have voiced concerns about the team's lack of identity under Jaissle, while questions remain about why, almost 14 months after leaving for Liverpool in a British record £125m deal, Newcastle have struggled to replace Alexander Isak.
"One result can change a lot - all it needs is one good win and all of a sudden you're back on track - but Matthias Jaissle seems very set in his ways at this moment in time," former Newcastle defender John Anderson told BBC Sport.
Chris Sutton, a Premier League winner with Blackburn in 1994-95 - who watched the defeat by Villa at St James' Park for BBC Radio 5 Live - says Newcastle appear "chaotic" under Jaissle.
"There is not enough in the final third in terms of creativity and they have a vulnerability at the back," adds Sutton.
The season is still young but after five years of Eddie Howe, who landed the club's first major domestic trophy since 1955, will the alarm bells be ringing for Jaissle and Newcastle if they lose at Palace?
'Challenging times ahead'
Alan Shearer predicted it three months ago.
"Speaking purely as a fan, I think we have to get ready for a tough season and some very challenging times ahead," the Newcastle legend told BBC Sport after the long-serving Howe stepped down at the end of July.
Newcastle had already sold England forward Anthony Gordon to Barcelona in a deal worth more than £69m and midfielder Sandro Tonali to Tottenham in a deal worth up to £100m. Seven games into the Premier League season, Shearer's gloomy prediction is so far proving true.