Mauricio Pochettino has been installed as the bookies’ second favourite to become the next Tottenham manager.

The Saints boss has long been linked with the job at White Hart Lane with Spurs chairman Daniel Levy said to be a big fan of the Argentinian.

It appears likely that the Tottenham job will become available in the summer with Tim Sherwood widely reported to be facing the axe at the end of the current campaign.

The bookies have priced Louis van Gaal at 4-7 for the Spurs job, with Pochettino second favourite at as short as 4-1.

Frustrating though it is for Saints fans, the speculation over Pochettino’s future continues to rumble on while he has not signed an extension to his contract which expires in just over a year.

A poll on dailyecho.co.uk showed that 85 per cent of supporters felt that it was important Pochettino, pictured right, signed a new deal before the summer.

A whole host of the club’s top stars have also come out and publicly called for their manager to be tied down to a new deal.

Pochettino has been coy about his future when asked, and has emphasised that he prefers to concentrate on pushing Saints to the highest Premier League finish he can before worrying about anything else.

Last week, when asked again about the Tottenham job, he said: “The first thing is that I still have one more year on my contract.

“The second thing is that we still have six games until the end of the season and we are trying to focus as much as we can to get the maximum number of points out of those games.

“Third of all, as first team manager I am always focussed on the team and the game ahead.

“I am also working in a calm manner and I am open to discuss with the board whenever it’s convenient and necessary the future but I think there is still time until that happens and I am always open to discuss with the board whenever it’s necessary in the future.”

Pochettino has also indicated he wants to hear more details from the new board about the future of the club – but that is best left until the summer.

“At the moment, we’re in the midst of finishing the competition as best as possible,” he said 11 days ago.

“I am not a manager to speak about individual situations when we’re in the middle of doing that, which also includes my own personal, individual circumstances.

“I think the fact that I still have an additional year on my contract is proof enough that we should be focusing on the league, focusing on the competitions.

“After these six weeks, then we can speak about things in a calm manner and I can get to know more how the club wants to move forward, what the new project at the club is and how we move forward from then on.

“With everything that has happened in January, with the arrival of a new team, a new vision for the football club, a new vision in a commercial and sporting sense, I don’t think it is time to be speaking about decisions or making abrupt decisions.

“I think once the season is over, we can make a deep analysis of how we want to move forward. We want to listen, especially more than anything to the new team, how they want to go forward with the new team and then we can make a decision with the new team about how we move forward.”