Former Rangers manager Dick Advocaat has turned down the offer of a managerial post at Sunderland.

Advocaat's nine-game rescue mission at the end of the season ensured that Sunderland stayed in the Barclays Premier League - a success story that had the Dutchman in tears on the final day of the season.

However, after being offered a permanent deal as head coach, Advocaat has revealed that he will be turning his back on club football.

The former Holland and Serbia boss has not completely closed the door on taking another job on the international stage - but he will not be involved in the day-to-day business of managing a club side.

Advocaat took over in March after Gus Poyet was shown the door with the club in desperate need, and his reign was only ever intended to be temporary after he was persuaded out of near-retirement by the chance to test himself in English football, albeit briefly.

Sunderland were already in the process of drawing up a short-list in the search for a permanent successor to Poyet and although Advocaat was quickly catapulted to the top of it, the homework they carried out before his arrival remains in place.

But while time is short before the players are due to return for pre-season training, Sunderland are in no rush to make a crucial decision after getting it wrong so many times in the recent past.

The new man will be Short's fifth appointment in four and a half years and after twice gambling on potential rather than proven quality in the shape Poyet and Paolo di Canio, it remains to be seen what kind of head coach he is looking to employ.

Former West Ham boss Sam Allardyce, who played for the club, was immediately installed as the bookmakers' favourite, but he does not necessarily fit into that template, and his indication that he will take an extended break from the game may rule him out.