Hull boss Steve Bruce has told BBC Radio 5 Live that reports linking him with the Newcastle manager's job are "disrespectful" to Alan Pardew.
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The pressure cranked up a notch on Pardew on Saturday as his team were humbled 4-0 by his former club Southampton, prompting the 53-year-old to skip the postmatch news conference at St Mary's.
Bruce, who ensured a difficult spell with arch-rivals Sunderland from 2009 to 2011, said talk of him taking over at St James' Park was out of order.
He told the "Sportsweek" programme: "It isn't nice -- it's a horrible Sunday morning for him and I find it very, very disrespectful that I'm linked with somebody else's job when he's still in a job.
"It's a hard enough job we've all got. We all know what it's like now in football management. That part of the game will never change, but for me at the moment I'm just concentrating on the game against West Ham [on Monday night] and leaving all that aside."
Bruce, who guided the Tigers to their first FA Cup final last term, added: "After what happened to me at Sunderland, it's similar to what Alan Pardew is going through now. I know how difficult the north-east is. I've been here for a couple of years. Hull gave me that chance to get back up and running again and for that I'll always be grateful.
"I've only been here a couple of years, and we've had a really good couple of years."
The match at St Mary's could scarcely have gone worse for Pardew, whose side looked extremely vulnerable in defence. Fans held up a "Pardew Out" banner in the away section of the ground, with club owner Mike Ashley attending the match in person.
Pardew told Sky Sports on Saturday: "It is not easy to digest and not easy for the players either to play under those circumstances, so we have to be strong and try and tough it out this week and come back next week.
"We just have to put ourselves on the line, really, and be brave. Certainly, we have a bit more quality than we showed today, for sure, and we need to get that on the pitch."
Pardew famously signed an eight-year contract with Newcastle just under two years ago, having led the Magpies to fifth place in the 2011-12 season. The club's fortunes have waned significantly since then, however, and Pardew's position came under great scrutiny in March when he headbutted Hull's David Meyler.
Newcastle fined him 100,000 pounds and gave him a formal warning over that incident, while the Football Association handed down a seven-match touchline ban.