Rosenborg and the Swedish Football Association called off talks on Friday afternoon as it became increasingly clear that Hamrén was going nowhere.

“We agreed that the parties stood too far away from each other for further discussions to be meaningful and lead somewhere,” said Rosenborg’s Terje Svendsen in a statement.

Hamrén remains under contract at Rosenborg until 2010. Neither side would comment on Friday about the amount the amount of money that would have been required for the Swedish association to buy Hamrén out of the contract.

The Swedish FA admitted that Hamrén was one of the top names on its list but said it would have to live with the fact that it was not possible to secure his services.

“We’ll now continue our work, strike off Erik’s name, and keep the tempo up to find a new head coach. And that’s all we have to say for the moment,” said the organisation’s chairman Lars-Åke Lagrell.

Sven-Göran Eriksson and Hans Backe have previously withdrawn from consideration for the job in favour of positions with English club Notts County.

Another possible candidate, Fulham manager Roy Hodgson, has said previously he hasn’t been approached about the job and that he expects his future to remain with the English Premier League club.

Outgoing Swedish coach Lars Lagerbäck decided to step down after nine years as Sweden’s manager following his squad’s loss to Denmark in World Cup qualifying.