Southampton chief odds on for Spurs gig as J-Rod airs concerns

In-demand Southampton boss Mauricio Pochettino is the 8/13 jolly to take over as Tottenham manager, with Saints’ England midfielder Jay Rodriguez admitting in a recent interview that the Argentine’s future is “up in the air and we’re not sure at the moment”.

Rodriguez would have harboured high hopes of joining Saints’ England trio Adam Lallana, Rickie Lambert and Luke Shaw for Roy Hodgson’s side’s attempted escape from World Cup Group D at 8/13 odds, after making the 66-year-old’s last two friendly squads.

An anterior cruciate ligament injury sustained in Southampton’s April loss to Manchester City put paid to the former Burnley man’s Brazil dream, but a mighty 2013/14 Premier League goal-haul of 15 in 30 starts has piqued the interest of some of the top flight’s big-spending sides.

Spurs have been credited with an interest in ‘J-Rod’ alongside his current coach, who has been a revelation after initial misgivings regarding his appointment, following Nigel Adkins’ sacking in January 2013.

Adkins brought Saints up two successive divisions and would have expected to consolidate their Premier League status, having led them to a respectable 15th place after 22 games.

Pochettino’s only previous managerial experience ended with his dismissal from Spanish outfit Espanyol after four seemingly unspectacular years, but former Southampton chairman Nicola Cortese was clearly watching developments at the Catalan club with keener eyes than most.

In his first match in charge on the road, Pochettino’s team’s performance was hailed as the best all season by an away side at Old Trafford by Sir Alex Ferguson as Manchester United sneaked a 2-1 win.

Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea all fell to defeat at St Mary’s under the new gaffer, but even better was to come from Southampton this term, with an impressive eighth-place finish failing to tell the full tale of a team who were just four points off top spot after the first nine fixtures.

Lallana and Shaw have become two of the hottest properties in English football off the back of Saints’ success, but both will likely be keeping tabs on the boss’ situation before deciding on summer moves.

All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.

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