McClaren led FC Twente to the Dutch title in his first job after leaving England Steve McClaren has been ruled out of the running for the Aston Villa manager's job, BBC Sport understands.
"McClaren has been told that at no point will he be interviewed," said BBC Radio 5 live Midlands football correspondent Pat Murphy.
"Owner Randy Lerner was influenced by the negative reactions of some Villa supporters on various fans forums and cancelled Thursday's meeting with him."
Rafael Benitez is favourite to take over from Gerard Houllier.
Villa are looking for a new manager after Frenchman Houllier quit in early June citing health reasons. The 63-year-old, who was in charge for only nine months, had missed the final month of the season because of heart problems.
"I understand Benitez is firmly in the frame for the Villa job but [former Fulham manager] Mark Hughes isn't," added Murphy.
Welshman Hughes resigned in June after less than a year in charge at Craven Cottage and has subsequently been linked with the vacant positions at Villa and Chelsea.
Former Liverpool boss Benitez has been out of work since he was dismissed by Italian side Inter Milan in December after six months in charge.
McClaren, 50, was sacked by German side Wolfsburg in February and is thought to be keen on a return to managing in England.
- Gerard Houllier's time in charge at Villa was the shortest of a permanent manager there during the Premier League era
He was in charge of Middlesbrough for five years before he was given the task of helping England to qualify for Euro 2008.
However, after stepping up from his role of assistant boss following the departure of Sven-Goran Eriksson, he failed to guide England to the tournament in Switzerland and Austria and was consequently sacked.
His next full-time role was at FC Twente, where he guided the club to the Dutch title for the first time in their history, before leaving for Wolfsburg in May 2010.
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