Former Premier League and Scotland international striker Duncan Ferguson has rejected the chance to become the new manager of League One strugglers Forest Green Rovers, according to a report from Alan Nixon on Patreon.

The Gloucestershire outfit sacked Ian Burchnall on Wednesday afternoon after only appointing him at the end of May to replace Watford-bound Rob Edwards, taking the 39-year-old from non-league sleeping giants Notts County.

Burchnall won just 11 matches out of a possible 37 though in all competitions and it has led to his dismissal by Dale Vince, who has seemingly targeted Ferguson for the vacancy.

However, the 51-year-old, who played Premier League football for Newcastle United and Everton and has been interim manager of the Toffees on two separate occasions, has turned down the chance to take his first permanent head coach stint at The New Lawn.

Both Middlesbrough and Blackpool of the Championship have been interested in Ferguson in recent months, according to Nixon, but those jobs in the end went to Michael Carrick and Mick McCarthy respectively.

The Verdict

Having already garnered interest from two Championship clubs in the past few months, it isn't exactly a surprise to see Ferguson turn Forest Green down.

The Scotsman will have aspirations of managing at that level due to that past interest and Forest Green would be too much of a step down from that.

Dale Vince has made lots of changes to the playing squad already this month before Burchnall's sacking, with the likes of Amadou Bakayoko, Jamie Robson and Jordon Garrick coming in to strengthen a squad that looked thin on the ground.

So, whoever is appointed as Burchnall's successor has something to work with to try and save Rovers from the drop - it just won't be Ferguson.