An era was ending at Newcastle United, but few would have suspected it at the time.
As the team flew home last month, following a 4-1 defeat by Bristol City, Eddie Howe spent the journey watching a chunk of the game back.
Even then, in the final hours of his reign, the head coach who ended Newcastle’s long wait for silverware was trying to find answers, to look at what had gone wrong in a seemingly meaningless pre-season friendly at Ashton Gate.
It emerged in public the following morning that a drained Howe had stepped down.
He informed the club’s hierarchy of his wish a couple of weeks prior, only to agree to stay on until a successor, Matthias Jaissle, was found.
In truth, though, a new cycle was already beginning on Tyneside.
‘We have to build a model here that can compete’
Following a damaging transfer window last summer, and a bruising domestic season, Newcastle have shifted their approach.
They have pivoted towards targeting younger players on the continent, strengthened their data operation and adopted a trading model, which has become especially necessary as part of a restrictive settlement following the club’s breach of Uefa’s financial rules.
It has not been without pain.
If Sandro Tonali and Anthony Gordon’s departures to Tottenham Hotspur and Barcelona were reluctantly needed to enable Newcastle to truly reinvest, the impending exit of captain Bruno Guimaraes to Arsenal had never been part of the plan.
They have also missed out on top targets such as Spain winger Victor Munoz and Switzerland midfielder Johan Manzambi, who opted to join Liverpool and Aston Villa respectively.
Newcastle have still made five intriguing signings this summer – goalkeepers Lukas Hornicek and Ewen Jaouen, midfielders Aladji Bamba and Sean Steur and forward Bazoumana Toure – but sporting director Ross Wilson knows there is still work to do in the final weeks of the window.
“We have to build a model here that can compete, can win,” he said.
“But also one that works for us and doesn’t lead us to have to sell players we don’t want to sell and lead to Uefa sanctions.”
Jaissle’s previous experience of developing young players at Red Bull Salzburg will therefore be vital.
There are also some overlaps with his predecessor Howe, which the German discovered in his own research and, likewise, in the analysis the club carried out about him during the interview process.
Yet it has still been a shock to the system.
Newcastle’s Premier League opener against Liverpool, on 23 August, was rapidly hurtling down the track by the time the 38-year-old left Saudi Pro League side Al-Ahli and was parachuted into the club’s pre-season training camp in Spain at the weekend.
Performance director James Bunce likened the situation to a speed dating session because “every moment counts”.
That has been evident in Jaissle’s first week, which culminates in a friendly against Valencia at the Mestalla on Saturday.
Calm in interviews, but rampaging figure on training pitches
Training always goes up a level when a new manager arrives, as players look to impress, but the intensity of the German’s double sessions are said to have been “off the charts”.
Such effort is a non-negotiable for Jaissle who, like Howe, wants his players to train the way they play and take that vigour into games.
During his spell at RB Salzburg, where he won back-to-back titles and reached the last 16 of the Champions League, Jaissle’s aggressive side ranked first per game in the Austrian league for high turnovers (9.8) and possession won in the final third (5.6) per match.
Al-Ahli posted similarly fierce numbers under him – making 8.2 high turnovers per game and winning 47.6 duels per match – even as he adapted his approach with a new group to win successive Asian Champions League titles.
Striking a balance, as Jaissle did in Saudi Arabia, will be crucial if he is to succeed in the Premier League after he combined front-footed, vertical football with strong defensive foundations.
No wonder Jaissle has already stressed the importance of clean sheets, and the players were left sapped by the sheer number of recovery runs during a particular session.
Training was pared back on Thursday after Jaissle – stopwatch hanging from his neck – recognised the legs of his squad were “heavy”.
He cuts a calm individual in interviews, but morphs into a rampaging figure on the training pitches.
Jaissle has brought three assistants with him in Alexander Hauser, Engin Yanova and Florens Koch, two coach analysts in Maximilian Fischer and Steffen Konrad and a goalkeeping coach, Alexander Bade.
But he made it clear how important it was for those already at the club to also “raise the standards” in his opening address.
Knowing Liverpool have had more time to adapt to life under a new manager, Andoni Iraola, staff have been working right up until the early hours on preparation and analysis.
New Czech Republic goalkeeper Hornicek only arrived less than a week ago, for example, but he has been getting a crash course on the added physicality of set-plays in the Premier League and how to cope with towering opposition players attempting to pile in on him following his £25.7m move from Braga.
Is he ready for the fight?
“For sure,” Hornicek said.
Newcastle’s young side will need such a spirit in the weeks, months and years ahead.