Duncan Ferguson Makes Arteta Comparison As He Urges Newcastle United To Stay Patient
Ex-Newcastle United striker Duncan Ferguson hopes Matthias Jaissle gets the time he needs to stamp his mark on the club.
The German has come in for somecriticism after some poor performances in recent games, but speaking to GiveMeSport, Ferguson said the Magpies should learn from how the likes of Arsenal kept faith with Mikel Arteta:
“Look, you just got to give managers a bit of time, haven’t you? End of the day, I know nobody gets time now, a few bad results, and before you know it…”
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“Look what happened to Mikel [Arteta] at Arsenal. They gave him a bit of time. Look what happened to Sir Alex Ferguson at Man United. They gave him a bit of time. Give the managers a bit of time. That’s all we need.
“But of course, there’s no time now anywhere. Nobody’s got any patience now. And fans and social media and managers are coming under a lot of pressure very, very quickly. But give the guy a chance. That’s all I would say.”
Not every top manager starts well
Ferguson mentions Arteta, and his journey to success at Arsenal was a pretty rocky one. The Gunners were bottom of the Premier League table in August 2021, with the club under pressure to sack the Spaniard before he turned things around.
Within a year of that low point, Arteta had built a team that could challenge for the title, although it did take him until 2026 to finally finish top of the table after three consecutive 2nd places.
How much time should Jaissle be given at Newcastle?
Fans simply want to see some progress. The 1-0 home defeat to Aston Villa last weekend was so disappointing as Newcastle barely laid a glove on their opponents.
They seem to have gone backwards after nearly beating Liverpool on the opening day and winning their first away fixture against Tottenham back in August.
Since then, Jaissle has only managed one more victory against Hull, so there is justification for questioning the direction the club is heading under his management.
It is definitely too soon to come to a definitive judgement on whether he can be a success, but some wins in the short term would not go amiss.