Alex McLeish believes Steve Bruce is resigned to his fate at Newcastle United amid speculation he is set to lose his job.
And the Scot boss expects a "world leader in football coaching" to take Bruce's place in the St James' Park dugout.
.Following the completion of the takeover last week that saw a Saudi Arabian consortium consisting of the Public Investment Fund, Amanda Staveley and the Reuben brothers end Mike Ashley’s 14-year reign as owner, a number of managers have been linked with the role should it become available.
The likes of Brendan Rodgers, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, and Lucien Favre are all names that have surfaced in the past seven days.
Speaking to Football Insider, McLeish claimed that Bruce has come to terms with the fact his days are numbered at St. James’ Park and the former Aston Villa boss is expecting a big name to replace him.
He said: “I never want to see one of my mates (be sacked).
“The guys who have been in the opposite dugout, who you’ve been to many charity nights and LMA dinners with. Guys like Steve, you get a real good feeling for them.
“You never want to see them getting sacked but I almost felt that when I read Steve’s comments last week, he was resigned to losing the job.
“He was still in a very positive way. He’ll still be getting looking after, but at the same time no manager wants to lose their job.
“Steve, he can look back through turbulent times and I have a bit of empathy. He’s tried keeping teams in the Premier League even when they’re not spending as much as everybody else.
“Now there’s a difference and they will. It looks as though they will go for one of the top, recognised managers in the world. Top 10 or top 20, whatever. I feel that’s where they’ll go next.
“I would feel they’d go for someone who’s got the experience of being a world leader in football coaching.
“There’s no point being the richest club in the world and not getting the creme de la creme of the coaches.”
