Martin O'Neill is surprised that Brendan Rodgers consented to the new fly-on-the-wall documentary about Liverpool which will be broadcast on Channel 5 this month.

Being: Liverpool is already being screened in the United States and, among many other things, includes footage of Rodgers, the club's new manager, and his captain, Steven Gerrard, in their respective homes.

"No," said Sunderland's manager when asked if he would ever partake in a similar project. "I wouldn't want to do that myself. I love watching these fly-on-the-wall things as long as it's not me but I don't think Brendan went into Liverpool with his eyes closed.

"He must have had a number of meetings with the owners, he must have agreed with the way they want to work. The documentary couldn't have been done without his consent. I wouldn't be up for that but, whatever way he does things, is entirely up to him."

Having read several newspaper reviews of Being: Liverpool, O'Neill is, however, looking forward to watching it. "As long as it's not about me, I love watching them," he said.

"I liked Peter Reid's one here [Premier Passions], the one at Leyton Orient a couple of years ago, where the manager [John Sitton] went ballistic, loved it. The best one I have ever seen though was the final days of Malcolm Allison and Manchester City. It was fantastic. Played out to Stevie Winwood's music in around 1981, with John Bond coming in to take over. Really, really great. That's brilliant. But I wouldn't want to do it myself. I couldn't deal with any of my cohorts saying: 'Yes boss, no boss,' like Phil Neal in the Graham Taylor documentary."

Lee Cattermole would be bound to loom large in any documentary about Sunderland. O'Neill's combative central midfielder and suspension-prone captain has entered the final year of his contract and is hoping for a lucrative extension.

"I would like that," said O'Neill. "I have never wavered from that, I would like him to stay. He is in his final year of his contract and is in a decent bargaining position. He did well in the games he played last season but he missed as many as he played through one reason or another, generally suspension.

"Overall I am generally pleased with him but Cattermole will not have grown up when he is 40. Will he change a great deal? Unfortunately not. I have kept him as my skipper, I need my head examined, I don't know why. But I do like Cattermole, I like him.

"The one thing about Lee, he wants to play everybody's shot for them. He wants to do everything. He wants to take the ball off the back four, join in everything. He needs to temper a few things and has done really well for me. Actually, deep down, he is a decent lad. Doesn't always show it but really is a decent lad."