Former Newcastle captain Kevin Nolan believes the Magpies realistically could not attract a better manager than Steve Bruce.
Bruce was appointed Newcastle manager on Wednesday morning, penning an initial three-year deal at the club.
His assistants Stephen Clemence and Steve Agnew will join him in the North East and Bruce has spoken of his 'delight' at the prospect of managing his boyhood club.
A lot of fans have been left underwhelmed that the Magpies have opted for Bruce after three years of Rafa Benitez but Nolan believes United would not have been able to attract anybody better.
When asked whether Newcastle could realistically appoint a better manager than Bruce, Nolan, who controversially defended Mike Ashley a couple of weeks ago, told BBC Radio 5Live: "I'd probably say no.
"That's no disrespect to Steve because I know Steve and he is a top manager.
"But I think the sort of the glamour of managing Newcastle has gone in terms of you are not going to get a Jose Mourinho, who is out there. I think Sam Allardyce came out last week and said he'd turn down an opportunity to go back.
"When you have someone the calibre of Sam, who is known to keep teams in the Premier League, and he's turning them down then I think we are now in that sort of next step where Steve Bruce is the best one for the job."
