Newcastle United’s new owners have sacked head coach Steve Bruce.

Bruce was expected to be replaced after the Saudi Arabian-backed consortium, led by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), completed a £305m takeover of Newcastle on October 7.

The 60-year-old remained in charge for the 3-2 defeat to Tottenham – his 1,000th match as a manager – with non-executive chairman Yasir Al-Rumayyan and director Amanda Staveley watching on at St James’ Park.

The defeat left Newcastle second bottom of the Premier League and winless after their opening eight games of the campaign.

Newcastle said the process of recruiting a new head coach is under way, and Sky Sports News understands former Roma boss Paulo Fonseca has emerged as a contender.

Graeme Jones will lead the team on an interim basis, starting with Saturday’s trip to Crystal Palace.

Bruce: This could be my last job

Bruce guided the club to 13th and 12th-place finishes in his two years in charge but faced persistent hostility from fans, who criticised his style of play.

Speaking to The Telegraph after his departure, Bruce said: “I think this might be my last job.

“It’s not just about me; it’s taken its toll on my whole family because they are all Geordies and I can’t ignore that.

This will probably be me done as a manager – until I get a phone call from a chairman somewhere asking if I can give them a hand. Never say never, I’ve learnt that.

“They have been worried about me… especially my wife Jan. What an amazing woman she is, incredible, she’s just a fantastic woman, wife and mother and grandmother. She dealt with the death of my parents, hers have not been very well. And then she had me to worry about and what I’ve been going through the last couple of years.

“I can’t take her for granted, she has spent her whole life following me around from football club to football club and if I was to say to her tomorrow, I’ve been offered a job in China, or anywhere, she would say, ‘Steve, is this right for you, do you want to do it?’ And she’d back me again.

“I’m 60 years old and I don’t know if I want to put her through it again. We’ve got a good life so, yeah, this will probably be me done as a manager – until I get a phone call from a chairman somewhere asking if I can give them a hand. Never say never, I’ve learnt that.”

The PIF, worth £700bn, owns an 80 per cent share in the club after completing its takeover from Mike Ashley.

In a statement prior to Sunday’s game, Newcastle director Amanda Staveley said the club wanted to be “patient and considered” in their approach and that “change doesn’t happen overnight”.

Staveley is a chief executive at PCP Capital Partners, who are part of the investment group, along with the Public Investment Fund (PIF) and RB Sports & Media.

Speaking after Newcastle’s 3-2 defeat to Tottenham on Sunday, Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp said Bruce looked like someone who would welcome being relieved of his duties.

“My feeling when I look at him is that he’d almost like to be put out of his misery as well,” said Redknapp. “He looks like a man who has done as much as he can, and he is a symbol of the previous regime.

“He’ll be hating every second of it, nobody enjoys that unless you have something wrong with you. He doesn’t want to be here. I think he’ll be relieved when he gets that phone call.”

The stats which cost Bruce

Bruce’s Newcastle have picked up just three points from a possible 24 this season. Only once have Newcastle made a worse start to a Premier League season. In 2018-19 Rafael Benitez’s side picked up just three points from their opening 10 games – but went onto finish 13th.

No side has conceded more Premier League goals than Newcastle this season. They’ve shipped 19 goals in their opening eight games. That makes it their joint-worst ever start defensively to a Premier League season – they also conceded 19 in their opening eight in 1999-2000 under Ruud Gullit & Bobby Robson (went onto finish 11th).

In fact, Newcastle have conceded the most Premier League goals since Bruce’s appointment in July 2019. They have also faced the most shots per game of any Premier League side.

The Magpies have won only three of their last 17 Premier League home games and a worrying statistic is that St James’ Park has not seen back-to-back Premier League home wins since December 2019. They’ve also kept just two clean sheets in their last 27 Premier League home games.

Interestingly Bruce won exactly the same number of points as Benitez did in each of their two full PL seasons at the club. Bruce’s side scored three more goals but conceded 25 more goals when compared to Benitez.

Redknapp: Newcastle need a big January transfer window

Sky Sports’ Jamie Redknapp:

“Newcastle need a big transfer window.

“They need to get the right characters in during January in the spine of the team. This squad right now is one of the favourites for relegation – you can see it in the mistakes they make every single week. A new manager might change it but it’s hard.

“If Allan Saint-Maximin doesn’t get the ball, it’s hard to see where the quality is coming from. The first goal [against Tottenham] was excellent but after that, the patterns of play weren’t there. They looked a side devoid of confidence and belief. Once Tottenham got hold of the ball, they had extra quality in midfield.”

Newcastle fixtures: What’s coming up for next manager?

October 23: Crystal Palace vs Newcastle – 3pm kick-off

October 30: Newcastle vs Chelsea – 3pm kick-off

November 6: Brighton vs Newcastle – 5.30pm kick-off

November 20: Newcastle vs Brentford – 3pm kick-off

November 27: Arsenal vs Newcastle – 12.30pm kick-off

November 30: Newcastle vs Norwich – 7.30pm kick-off

December 4: Newcastle vs Burnley – 3pm kick-off

December 12: Leicester vs Newcastle – 2pm kick-off, live on Sky Sports

December 16: Liverpool vs Newcastle – 8pm kick-off

December 19: Newcastle vs Man City – 2pm kick-off, live on Sky Sports

December 27: Newcastle vs Man Utd – 8pm kick-off, live on Sky Sports

December 30: Everton vs Newcastle – 7.30pm kick-off