Newcastle United had last gone five matches unbeaten in April 2025. Matthias Jaissle has now achieved that in his opening five games.

So how much praise should the new head coach receive? Certainly some, and that is beyond doubt, but Newcastle have also had fortune on their side at different moments during this admittedly short unbeaten sequence.

The Toon Army are nowhere near the finished product under their newly-appointed German head coach, yet they are at least showing flashes of character and collecting results, two things that had been missing for a long time before the 2025/26 season reached its climax.

Maybe it is the fresh injection of youth this summer that has supporters wondering whether that unbeaten run can be stretched further next Monday. Or perhaps it is because several important figures, who had once driven standards but had, for want of a better phrase, mentally drifted away towards the end of last season, are no longer affecting the mood around the side.

Whatever the explanation, both Newcastle and Jaissle have gained from it. With newly-promoted Hull City and Coventry City among their next three fixtures, either side of a tough away trip to Leeds United at Elland Road, fans could be forgiven for asking when this team might next lose.

It should be pointed out that Newcastle have not exactly blown teams away since the 2026/27 campaign got under way only three weeks ago. Liverpool came to St James’ Park on the opening weekend and, despite appearing well below their usual level, still left with a point. AFC Bournemouth also departed Tyneside with a draw, although they had been 2-0 ahead.

Newcastle’s defence is still far from secure, having conceded two goals against Liverpool, Bournemouth and West Bromwich Albion in the previous round of the Carabao Cup.

In a decision that reflected both Newcastle’s encouraging start to the campaign and perhaps his increasing influence inside the dressing room, Yoane Wissa was given the captain’s armband at The Den for the Third Round tie against Millwall.

Jaissle made the bold choice of asking the DR Congo striker to lead the side ahead of long-serving figures Fabian Schar and Jacob Murphy, who have been at the club for eight and nine years respectively. It was a relatively small call in the context of the fixture, but still a meaningful one that underlined the club’s ongoing transition.

Eight minutes into the contest, it was the captain who sprinted back when Millwall sensed a counter-attacking opening, with Wissa eventually winning both a free-kick and back possession. It was a very different version of the £55 million player Newcastle had signed only 372 days earlier: alert, committed and fully switched on. Yet he offered little in an attacking sense and was spared any further effort when he was taken off after 62 minutes.

Joe Willock might have left late in the transfer window, much like £70m Nick Woltemade, but instead he now finds himself operating in something close to a front two alongside Wissa, filling the void left by the German forward. While it remains difficult to draw any major conclusions about this reshaped Newcastle side so early on, Jaissle at least knows how he wants his team to play and what kind of personnel that system demands.

Across Newcastle’s three league matches so far this season, the Magpies have created fewer chances and had fewer attempts than their opponents in every one of them. Only against Championship side West Brom, to whom they allowed 1.46 in Expected Goals (xG) and two actual goals, did Newcastle enjoy most of the game.

It was much the same at The Den as in the previous round: Newcastle deserved the win, but their second-tier hosts were not comprehensively outplayed.

Just like Newcastle’s summer transfer activity, there is still a great deal that remains to become clear.

Teams going through change rarely perform with the consistency of a settled side, and despite Newcastle’s unbeaten opening to the season, they look exactly like that kind of team. Impressive one moment, unconvincing the next. Perhaps that is simply the sign of a squad still trying to discover its identity, its leaders and its star names, all of which left during the summer.

Well into the second half, Newcastle had goalkeeper Lukas Hornicek’s post to thank after Tairyk Arconte came within inches of scoring the opener. Then came Willock. The Londoner turned in Lewis Hall’s cross for his second goal of the season after what had been Newcastle’s only properly constructed move of the half down the left flank.

With the lead secured, Jaissle’s side began to play with confidence again, almost as though they had instantly rediscovered it, tapping into a fresh surge of adrenaline.

Newcastle came through the Lions’ Den without too much damage. They were not dragged into a war of attrition or physically battered throughout. A tougher examination awaits at Leeds next Monday, but they remain five matches unbeaten, something they could not claim at any point last season.

It was only in the 87th minute that Jaissle’s terrace chant, sung to the tune of Baccara’s ‘Yes Sir, I Can Boogie’, was heard for the first time all evening. It continued until the referee blew the final whistle seven minutes later. And then carried on beyond that.

If this match revealed little else of major substance, then nowhere else in English football this week, and perhaps even this season, was there a sharper contrast in dugout dress sense than between Jaissle and his opposite number Alex Neil.

This latest version of Newcastle United appears to be everything and nothing at the same time, but an unbeaten start cannot be argued with. Keeping that momentum going for as long as possible will be vital while they continue to work out exactly who they are and what they want to become.