In an exclusive interview with Football FanCast, Rob Lee, who is a Newcastle United Hall of Famer, believes Steve Bruce is doing all he can as Newcastle manager and doesn't believe Pep Guardiola would be able to do any better if he was at the helm.

Bruce claimed he wanted to match Rafa Benitez's top-half finish which he achieved in 2017/18, however the Magpies find themselves 17th in the Premier League and just two points ahead of the bottom three.

Despite this not being achievable anymore, Lee believes Bruce keeping Newcastle up would be a successful season and claims if Guardiola was Newcastle's manager his remit would be just to avoid relegation, too.

Speaking on what fans expect from Bruce and what kind of job the 50-year-old Spaniard could do on Tyneside, Lee told FFC exclusively:

"You could get Pep Guardiola as manager and say to him, 'there you go Pep, you can sell any player you want and I'll give you £20 million'. For one, he wouldn't take the job and two, he'd fail.

"I think Pep Guardiola said it himself, at Man City he's got the best team because he's got the most money and that's just football these days.

[snack-amp-story url="https://www.footballfancast.com/web-stories/rob-lee-exclusive-newcastle-united-premier-league-steve-bruce" title="Exclusive! Rob Lee's thoughts on Newcastle"]

"If you give any club £500 million to spend on players and wages, I guarantee you they'll be up at the top and that's regardless of what club it is because it's all about money. Unfortunately, at Newcastle, we've got an owner who's not going to put any into the club."

Until Mike Ashley sells Newcastle United their fans may well expect more relegation battles much like this season, should they stay up.

They've fallen off a cliff from the Kevin Keegan and Sir Bobby Robson entertainers and Champions League era, with many Newcastle fans now only knowing the Ashley era.