Jurgen Klinsmann distances himself from Sunderland links - though he was never coming anyway

So Jurgen Klinsmann has ruled himself out of the Sunderland job to become the latest in a growing line of managers to suggest they have no interest in the Stadium of Light gig. Though let's face it, the German World Cup winner was never coming anyway.

Klinsmann joins the likes of Aberdeen boss Derek McInnes and former Leicester manager Nigel Pearson as recent figures to turn down the Sunderland job or distance themselves from it.

Others such as Sheffield United boss Chris Wilder and new Middlesbrough manager Gary Monk have become unavailable for Sunderland to talk to since David Moyes departed over a month ago. Though there are suggestions Monk agreed to join 'Boro the day after he left Elland Road.

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Klinsmann posted a message on facebook to distance himself from the vacancy at the manager-less, freshly relegated Championship side who are in the process of a prospective takeover, saying "No truth on rumours coaching Sunderland FC in the near future".

Thought it wasn't a categorical denial that he would ever consider the position, that statement is largely sufficient to dismiss reports in the national press that the group in talks with Black Cats owner Ellis Short to buy Sunderland have already sounded out the former Tottenham striker and World Cup winner.

And whilst it may be alarming to keep reading of prospective coaches distancing themselves from the Black Cats' hotseat, in Klinsmann's case this was never a job he was going to take and he probably wasn't the right man for it anyhow.

The 52-year-old is settled in Malibu and his eldest daughter is in her final year of high school. His son, 20-year-old Jonathan, has recently been selected for a trial with Hertha Berlin but for now Klinsmann was never swapping California for Wearside. The links to the Sunderland job were no doubt just a lazy way of filling column inches over the weekend.

Moreover, he probably just isn't the right man right now anyhow. Klinsmann - who was linked with the England job last summer when Sam Allardyce was snatched from the Stadium of Light - has not held a management position since he was dismissed from the USA national team job last November. And he's a largely derided figure in the States for his five year stint with the USMNT.

A drop into the Championship with a prospective modest budget at Sunderland would hardly have appealed to him. Klinsmann was loosely linked with Southampton before the Saints appointed Mauricio Pellegrino earlier this month but despite his links with top jobs, many believe his stock has fallen rapidly since he was appointed as head coach of the USA in 2011.

An inability to shake off the shackles of conservative, back-footed counter-attacking football blighted his final days in the American top job as did suggestions that on a technical level he was holding the USA back from continuing their development in the world game.

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Klinsmann has proved himself more figurehead than tactician and whilst his presence at a side like Sunderland right now would have provided the much-maligned Black Cats with a shot in the arm in terms of publicity and exposure, many doubt he is suited to club football.

And this club especially is a huge challenge. Sunderland are a toxic club with a toxic image in the game. Churning over managers and spitting them out with reputations and careers dented. Probably not what a coach fresh from a global stage with doubts over his philosophies would need right now as a career step.

Back to Simon Grayson it is then. Until the new owners arrive.