Blades job is not for me, claims Arnold

The 49-year-old former Australia boss, who won the A-League with the Central Coast Mariners last season, told the Australian newspaper that the Blades had interviewed him for their vacant position.

But, after a video call which included former Blades manager Dave Bassett, Arnold said he had no hesitation in turning the job down.

He told the newspaper: “In all honesty, I didn’t have to think too long or too hard about it. It just wasn’t for me.

“Forget that the financial offer in itself was quite poor, but I would have been taking three steps backwards in my development as a professional coach if I had gone.

“Being one of the bigger lower league clubs, I was expecting a lot more in terms of how they wanted to develop as a club on the field.

“But they just didn’t seem interested when I was talking about playing a short passing game and taking the football another level up. It was about smashing the ball long and working on set-pieces... it was prehistoric stuff. That’s not the way to develop a football team.”

United, who were play-off semi-final losers to Yeovil, sacked Danny Wilson with five games of last season to go and have been searching for a full-time replacement ever since.

Sheffield United were not available to comment, with former defender Robert Page linked with the job.

Sheffield Wednesday’s Lewis Buxton has agreed a new two-year contract at Hillsborough.

The right-back won Player of the Year last season and his current deal was due to expire this month.

Buxton, 29, joined Wednesday on loan from Premiership side Stoke in October 2008 before making his Hillsborough switch permanent in January 2009.

“I’m delighted to sign here, I’ve enjoyed my time at the club and I’m pleased it’s all been sorted early so I can look forward to my future here and the new season,” said Buxton.

“It’s up to us all now to push on up the Championship and build on what we have achieved over the last few seasons and I’m looking to forward to the challenges that lie ahead.”