Former Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew says he has no interest in the Sunderland job due to his history with their Tyne-Wear rivals.
Sunderland are looking for a new manager following David Moyes' resignation at the end of their Premier League relegation campaign, while Pardew has been out of the game since his sacking at Crystal Palace last December.
However, the 55-year-old - after four years at St James' Park - does not see a role at the Stadium of Light as a viable option.
"Being the opposite of Newcastle, I don't think [Sunderland] is the club for me," Pardew told Sky Sports News.
"Sometimes, when you have been a manager at a big club like that, to go to a rival is something I wouldn't do so that wouldn't interest me.
"But it is a great club and next year they really need to make sure they get back to the Premier League where they belong."
22 - Only I.Branfoot (25 in 1993), O.Coyle (25 in 2011) & J.Lyall (23 in 1994) lost more PL games in a year than Alan Pardew in 2016. Gone.December 22, 2016
And Pardew added that he will only take a new job if he can see an ambitious "project" at a club.
"It will be, for me, about the project," he said. "If I think the project is going to be a chance of promotion, a good finish in the Premier League or a cup run, then I will be interested.
"Us managers, we wait by the phone and see what happens."
‘He instantly popped into our ratings as one of the best U21 midfielders in Europe. The impressive thing is Slot has made him into more of a no.6' Inside Ryan Gravenberch's transformation at Liverpool
‘I don’t think Liverpool would look at Ollie Watkins, a striker isn’t a pressing issue for them – it’s Arsenal who need one’ Former Reds star explains why his old club don’t need an out-and-out forward this summer
