ANDREW MILLS, Charlton’s newly appointed general manager (football) has denied mounting speculation that Hull City’s Peter Taylor has already been handed the job of succeeding Alan Curbishley.

Adam Pearson, Hull’s chairman, has given his 53-year-old manager permission to speak to Charlton while bookmakers are quoting Taylor as the odds-on favourite for the job.

Reports suggest that negotiations are so far advanced that Taylor will appoint 49-year-old former Chelsea, Manchester United midfielder and Millwall coach Ray Wilkins as his assistant.

But Mills insists it is not a done deal and stressed: "I’m not saying Peter Taylor’s name isn’t on the short-list but we shall be interviewing other candidates."

Taylor’s chances have been strengthened by the fact that his agent, Billy Jennings, once employed Mr Mills who is a former director of Premiership Management plc, a leading football agency.

Taylor, who has a house in Benfleet, Essex, formerly managed Dover and more recently Gillingham where he spent a season before moving to Leicester.