On Thursday evening, those who phoned up Leeds' official Clubcall line heard that Martin O'Neill would be appointed David O'Leary's successor "within the next seven days". Yesterday, those who tuned in to page 221 on Aertel read that "Celtic players jetted off to Ireland this morning for two pre-season games in Dublin, but O'Neill was not on the plane with them" .

So, it was clear: Martin O'Neill was about to make Elland Road his new home. Or was he?

Yesterday's Yorkshire Evening Post enlightened us a bit, but not much: "O'Neill today flew to Ireland for the start of Celtic's pre-season tour but travelled on a separate flight from his players, fuelling speculation that he is about to quit the Parkhead club.

"O'Neill is heading for a more important date with the club's leading shareholder, Dermot Desmond. He is due for a showdown meeting with the Ireland-based Desmond where it's possible that the former Leicester boss could hand in his resignation.

"The manager was involved in a six-hour meeting with Celtic bosses Ian McLeod and Jim Hone last night as the Parkhead club made one last-ditch attempt to keep their man at the helm.

"Celtic are thought to have offered O'Neill an improved, four-year contract in a bid to persuade the Irishman to pledge his future to the Scottish outfit. The talks are believed to have lasted until the early hours without O'Neill agreeing a new deal. His unwillingness to commit his future to Celtic could now give Leeds chairman Peter Ridsdale the green light to make a formal approach.

"O'Neill's decision to fly separately to Ireland and head straight for a meeting with Desmond has further fuelled the speculation that he may be about to walk out on the club."

So, that was that? Not quite. O'Neill, in his after-lunch speech at the Burlington Hotel yesterday afternoon, announced that "there has been no approach from Leeds and I want to see through the remaining year of my contract."

Either Clubcall and the Yorkshire Evening Post had got it hopelessly wrong, or O'Neill was playing extremely hard to get.

"I was shocked when I heard that David O'Leary had been sacked, but these things happen in football," said O'Neill. "There are only a few managers in football who are unsackable, like Brian Clough, Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson - and I am not one of them. I know that I can be sacked at any time, but if Celtic do not sack me I intend to see out my contract."

Admitting that he was astounded by the attention he had received since O'Leary's sacking, O'Neill said: "I can't really understand it - if I was Robert Redford I could understand all the fuss, but I am not."

He's no Sundance Kid then, but whether he turns out to be Leeds United's new Butch Cassidy still remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, Arsenal have entered the race to sign the England centre-half Rio Ferdinand, long pursued by Manchester United, in an attempt to reunite him with his international defensive partner Sol Campbell.

Ferdinand's immediate future at Elland Road hangs in the balance while Leeds appoint a successor to O'Leary. But with the chairman Peter Ridsdale under pressure from the plc board to reduce debts approaching £77 million -- and with the attempt to off-load Robbie Keane to Sunderland for £9 million having already foundered - the Yorkshire club will have to listen to offers for their prize asset.

Pini Zahavi, the 23-year-old's representative, is due to meet Ridsdale on Monday, with a move away from Elland Road the anticipated outcome. But, while United had been expected to bid around £30 million for his signature, the Double-winners have asked to be kept informed of Ferdinand's situation and over the last fortnight have made a number of inquiries through a third party.

Sources close to Ferdinand expect a formal bid from Arsene Wenger, likely to break the British record of £28.1 million paid by United for Juan Sebastian Veron last summer, to be made early next week.

Coincidentally, Alex Ferguson yesterday challenged his Premiership rivals to spur the transfer market into action. "I have never known \ so quiet," he said. "But it may activate as soon as somebody buys a player. One or two transfers could start a domino effect."

Rangers will go into the Scottish season with a new man at the helm after David Murray announced he would hand over the chairmanship and the day-to-day running of the Ibrox club to vice-chairman John McClelland.

The move will change little at Rangers. The 50-year-old Murray will now become the club's honorary chairman but, more significantly, he will retain his 66 per cent ownership. Nothing of any consequence will be decided without his approval.