Frank Lampard won't be Sunderland's next head coach

FRANK Lampard won't be the next head coach of Sunderland.

The former Chelsea and England midfielder has been favourite with the bookmakers over the last 24 hours after his odds tumbled but he's not under consideration to take charge of the Black Cats.

Lampard has been heavily linked with the Burnley job this summer but is not in the thinking of Sunderland's hierarchy.

The Black Cats are understood to have leading targets in place after the search moved on from Liam Rosenior earlier this week.

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Kyril Louis-Dreyfus last week said he hoped a head coach appointment was "imminent".

QPR boss Marti Cifuentes is admired by Sunderland chiefs but there's no indication at this stage that any approach has been made.

Sunderland are understood to have other leading targets and talks have continued this week.

The future of Rene Maric is still unclear. The 31-year-old Austrian, currently in charge of Bayern Munich's Under-19s, has been on Sunderland's radar since early in the recruitment process. He was expected to step up to join Vincent Kompany's first team coaching team at the Allianz Arena, but that move has not yet been confirmed. Sunderland continue to closely monitor Maric's situation.