Rumour Mill: Boro and Bolton on alert over Carson's move to Villa

The England goalkeeper, currently on loan at Villa Park, was believed to be close to signing a permanent £10million switch from Merseyside to the Midlands.

But while O'Neill admits he is a big fan of Carson, who hit the headlines for the wrong reasons after his costly blunder as England lost their Euro 2008 qualifier with Croatia, he denies being close to making him a full-time Villa employee.

"Is the Scott Carson deal going through? He is here for the season and we have heard nothing from Liverpool at all," the former Celtic boss said.

"Of course, that doesn't mean that you couldn't start talking about something before the end of the season and I'm aware Rafael Benitez mentioned something about it a week or so ago. But Liverpool haven't spoken to us - and haven't spoken since Scott was capped for England.

"I will look at the situation and Liverpool will be very much in the driving seat because they can dictate what the player is going to cost. But there is no agreement on a fee. It is as simple as that. The rest of it is hearsay."

Sam Allardyce's future as Newcastle boss is looking bleak after he was confronted by senior players in a revolt over tactics. It is widely believed the former Bolton boss will be sacked if the Toon Army are beaten by Arsenal tomorrow night.

Chelsea striker Andriy Shevchenko fears he is on his way out of the club and is ready to line up a move to America's Major League Soccer and the New York Red Bulls and New England Revolution are both interested in acquiring the former AC Milan marksman's services.

Arsenal are on the trail of PSV Eindhoven's £5m-rated Holland international midfielder Ibrahim Afellay while Manchester City boss Sven Goran Eriksson is chasing Marseille striker Mamadou Niang as a cheaper alternative to Bolton's Nicolas Anelka.

But Eriksson is still considering whether to make a £12m bid for Anelka, as well as an £8m bid for Liverpool striker Peter Crouch.

Reading manager Steve Coppell is ready to quit, saying he has taken the club as far as he can and Everton want to sign Wolves' £4m-rated keeper Wayne Hennessey.

Blackburn boss Mark Hughes has assured Robbie Savage he still has a future at the club despite leaving him on the bench for the last three games.

But Benni McCarthy could be on his way out of Ewood Park after throwing a tantrum and then driving home when he was taken off against Newcastle.

Wycombe boss Paul Lambert has emerged as the shock contender to become the new Scotland manager and David Sullivan says he will remain Birmingham's owner at Christmas as Carson Yeung's takeover is less than ten per cent likely to happen.

Derby's new manager Paul Jewell is set to spend £2m on Blackburn striker Jason Roberts and Fulham boss Lawrie Sanchez has again been linked with Portsmouth's out-of-favour midfielder Matthew Taylor while Arsenal misfit Jens Lehmann is wanted by German side Wolfsburg.

Rumour of the day: Sunderland manager Roy Keane will be handed the finances to buy Bobby Zamora from West Ham and David Nugent from Portsmouth to give the Black cats some teeth in January.

No chance: AC Milan's Croatian defender Dario Simic has snubbed a move to the Premier League and instead wants to join Lokomotiv Moscow.