Birmingham’s Bruce era to end

Birmingham City boss Steve Bruce will be named Wigan manager early next week, according to reports.

It has been widely reported that Bruce will treble his earnings by signing a £45,000-a-week deal to move to Wigan – a move that will be completed when their owner Dave Whelan returns from Dubai.

Whelan claimed that Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson considers Bruce and Blackburn Rovers boss Mark Hughes to be the two best young managers in the game, and what they learned from the legendary Scottish manager has helped them become as good as they are.

Whelan was quoted by skysports.com as saying: “Steve is enthusiastic and just what we need. Whenever I speak with Sir Alex Ferguson – who I regard as ‘The Master’ – he always says two of the best young bosses around are Steve Bruce and Mark Hughes.

“They played under Fergie at Old Trafford, they always give 100 per cent and, if your head is screwed on like theirs is, you can’t help but learn from the great man.”

Birmingham are expected to allow Bruce to move due to the question marks hanging over the future due to the prospective takeover by Carson Yeung. However, it has also been suggested Bruce may face a fight to take assistant boss Eric Black with him to the JJB Stadium.

Birmingham are expected to receive around £3million in compensation if Bruce does sign the deal and bring the curtain down on his six-year spell at St Andrews.