NEWCASTLE boss Steve Bruce admitted he expects to lose his job as he took training on the day of the club’s Saudi takeover.
The 60-year-old, who has been in charge of the Magpies since July 2019, was already the bookies’ favourite to be the next Premier League manager sacked.
And those odds were slashed once more when the £300million deal to buy the club from Mike Ashley was officially completed.
Eddie Howe, Antonio Conte, Frank Lampard and old boss Rafa Benitez are among the favourites to replace Bruce, with the new owners already admitting they will assess the manager’s situtation.
Even telly duo Ant and Dec are on the list, at 250/1.
Bruce appeared upbeat while taking charge of Newcastle’s training session as he prepares for the 1,000th game of his managerial career, against Tottenham after the international break.
But he admitted he may have to reach that milestone at a different club with the new owners primed to swing the axe.
Speaking after the takeover, he told The Telegraph: “I want to continue, I’d like the chance to show the new owners what I can do, but you have to be realistic and they may well want a new manager to launch things for them.
“New owners normally want a new manager. I’ve been around long enough to understand that.
“That decision is not up to me. I accept that and I will accept what comes my way. I have to wait to have those conversations with people when the time is right.
“If I don’t make it to a 1,000 games against Spurs, you might say that could only happen to me, but I don’t think it would be cruel. It’s just football.
Winless Newcastle currently sit 19th in the table with just three points from their opening seven games.
But Bruce hopes the takeover could bring better times to his boyhood club, even if he is not involved.
He went on to add: “This is not about me, I cannot stress that enough. I have said from the first day news of this takeover came out in public, that if it is the best thing for the football club, if it takes this magnificent football club forward then I am all for it.
“I am not going to be bitter or angry about anything, whatever happens. Of course there will be sadness if I lose my job, it’s the job I’ve wanted my whole life, certainly since I became a manager and as hard as it’s been, I have been enormously proud to be manager of Newcastle United. That will never change.
“Do you know what? I’m not the most important talking point now. What happens to me, well, it’s not irrelevant, but this is about the football club and its future.
“I really hope this is the start of an exciting new era, it certainly sounds exciting when you read about how much money Saudi Arabians have.”
The Saudis who have taken over the club are said to be the richest football club owners in the world, worth around £320billion.
But attention will now turn to Saudi Arabia’s human rights record.
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Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman is the chair of the PIF and was implicated in approving the 2018 murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
Gary Lineker tweeted: “Football fans want their clubs to succeed, but at what price? The dilemma facing NUFC supporters.”
While Amnesty International urged the Premier League to ‘overhaul their standards’ regarding human rights.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
