ASTON VILLA manager Brian Little has signed a new five-year contract believed to worth around £2 million with the League Cup holders.

Little, who had two and a half, years remaining of his current deal, has committed himself to the club until 2002.

And chairman Doug Ellis revealed that Little had signed the contract before the speculation making him one of the candidates for the manager's job at Newcastle after Kevin Keegan's sensational departure.

Little has transformed the fortunes of Villa since he arrived in controversial circumstances from Leicester City as the sacked Ron Atkinson's replacement in November 1994.

He steered Villa out of relegation trouble in his first half season and in his first full campaign steered them to a League Cup final win over Leeds United and a place in the UEFA Cup.

The start of this season was up and down with Villa crashing out of Europe to part-timers Helsingborgs and losing their grip on the League Cup but Little's side have now recaptured their best form and are challenging for the Premiership title.

Ellis said: "This is tremendous news for Aston Villa. I rate Brian very highly, the best of the seven managers I have had in my charge during my many years at the club.

"He has already done a tremendous job in his two and a bit years here and I am confident he can lead us on to even greater success. We are certainly not going to be too far away this season.

"We talked about the contract in the summer when we were tying up players on long-term deals in the wake of the Bosman case.

"I told Brian then to wait until the New Year when we would sort something out. We presented the contract to him on January 1st and he signed it immediately.

"When there was all the panic and speculation about him going to Newcastle, I knew that he wasn't going there because he had, already signed the new contract. I was quietly smiling!"

Little admitted: "I would have liked to have kept the deal quiet because I am not the sort who likes to go shouting off about things but it is a tremendous deal.

"I came here wanting to be successful and have the opportunity to be here for some time. I would like to be here for even more than five years but that depends on if we are successful."

Ironically, Little's first match since the deal was revealed will be against Newcastle today - the team he supported as a youngster.

Meanwhile, Liverpool completed the bargain signing of promising Norwegian defender Bjorn Tore Kvarme yesterday.

The 24-year-old defender has signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with Liverpool, who beat off opposition from several top European sides including Rangers.

Kvarme, rated in the £2 million category, was allowed to leave Norwegian champions Rosenborg on a free transfer under the Bosman ruling.

But it is unlikely that he will make a swift debut for injury-hit Liverpool because of a delay in international clearance.

Kvarme was a childhood Liverpool fan, though he did not allow that to affect his decision in joining the club.

"They had to sell the club a little bit but Liverpool is a big club and it is a big ambition for me to play for a team like this," admitted the player.

Kvarme will effectively replace John Scales who was recently sold to Spurs £2.8 million.

. New Linfield manager, David Jeffrey, faces the ultimate baptism of fire at Windsor Park this afternoon. Jeffrey leads the team officially for the first time against Crusaders, the foes they fear most.

It took Linfield nine matches in fact to secure a win over their Belfast opponents and a repeat of that Seaview breakthrough triumph would be the perfect start for the new regime.