Central Coast Mariners boss Graham Arnold has branded Sheffield United "prehistoric" after rejecting the chance to take charge of the club.

The 49-year-old, who won the A-League with the Mariners last season, has also blasted the financial terms offered by the League One outfit.

"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," he told reporters at a press conference.

"I walked out of that meeting with the club's board and football director Dave Bassett, and said 'wow'. It just blew me away. 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."

Arnold has previously coached Australia.