Former St Kilda chief Brian Waldron believes the Suns know who their next coach will be, once Rodney Eade leaves his post at the Gold Coast.
Gold Coast slumped to 5-7 after a poor loss at the hands of Carlton on Saturday night, as Eade's future continues to remain up in the air.
Waldron joined Kevin Bartlett on SEN's Hungry for Sport on Tuesday morning, and suggested the Suns believe former Carlton caretaker coach John Barker is their man for the future.
“That was a coach–killer the other night...that was the game that was the death knell,” Waldron said.
“There are never any guarantees, but I can say the man they want is John Barker.
“They’ll go through a process and they’ll get the best person – John Barker."
The former Lion and Hawk played 168 games over his 13-year AFL career, and has since been a member of Carlton's staff since 2011.
Barker took over the Blues after Mick Malthouse was sacked midway through the 2015 campaign, and the caretaker coach led Carlton to three wins from the final 14 rounds of the season.
His performance during that stretch saw him as one of the frontrunners for the permanent position, although current coach Brendon Bolton eventually took the reigns.
It wasn't the only change that Waldron flagged at the Suns, with out-of-contract football manager Marcus Ashcroft also set to be replaced.
“There is a little fella sitting at headquarters called Tristan Salter who will be up there as well. He will be footy manager up there,” Waldron said.
“He (Salter) is one of the CEO’s men who is at the moment head of talent development (at the AFL).”
It's not the first major story that Waldron has broken this season, after telling listeners back in April that North Melbourne had offered GWS Giant Josh Kelly a nine-year deal worth $9 million.