Jackie McNamara believes John Collins could walk away from Hibernian unless he is given a slice of Scott Brown's fee from Celtic for new players.
Midfielder Brown is expected to complete a £4.4m move to the Scottish champions at the weekend.
And former Hibs defender McNamara said: "John's had a hard time of late, with players complaining to the chairman.
"But, if things don't get better, he is strong-minded enough to maybe walk away if he is being denied resources."
McNamara, father of Wolves defender Jackie, believes that the manager could leave Hibs with his head held high after lifting the CIS Insurance Cup after less than a season in charge.
That despite the much-publicised revolt by some of Collins' players ahead of the Scottish Cup semi-final defeat by Dunfermline.
McNamara does not expect Hibs to give Collins all the money from the Brown transfer.
"Hibs are a selling club, but I think John's got to be given some money to hang on to some of the players he's got who are top drawer - players like David Murphy, Steven Whittaker and these boys," said McNamara.
He also believes that new players must be brought in to bolster a squad bristling with more young talent.
"Maybe in two years time we will be talking about Lewis Stevenson, Ross Chisholm and Kevin McCann going somewhere," said McNamara.
"But the Scott Browns of this world do not come around every season."
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