Brendan Rodgers rules out taking Manchester United job

Louis van Gaal has seen off another possible successor.

Sam Allardyce may have crossed a major barrier when he took over the Sunderland job having previously been in charge of rivals Newcastle, but the chances of a former Liverpool manager ever taking over at Old Trafford, or vice versa, is remote. Jose Mourinho may feel that that he is in pole position for the United job if and when Van Gaal leaves, but one of his former assistants, and Liverpool's most recent manager, has now ruled himself out of the running. Brendan Rodgers is likely to return to football management at some stage, but speaking to Talksport, he was blunt about the chances of him ever parking in the manager's spot at Old Trafford.

"I think when you manage Liverpool that Manchester United job is gone," Rodgers said.

The Ulsterman was sacked by Liverpool in October after a summer spending spree which failed to generate the results the club were hoping for. Rodgers has sympathy for the Dutchman's current position with Liverpool's great rivals, and feels the players must take a huge share of the blame.

"There is no way that Louis is sending out his team to have so few shots on target. This is a guy that has been around along time, he built the Ajax team in 1995 that was attacking with possession. He went to Barcelona and Bayern Munich and they were all attacking. "I think it's a lot to do with the players. Do they have the players to excite like before. That's a big part to do with it as well. "This is a guy who's been at the top of his game for a long long time and it's difficult for him and he'll have known what it's like coming to England. "