Southampton manager Mauricio Pochettino has been tipped to reject Tottenham Hotspur and the chance to replace Tim Sherwood by former Spurs caretaker manager Clive Allen.

Pochettino is the bookmakers' favourite to succeed Sherwood, who was sacked a season into his 18 month deal at White Hart Lane on Tuesday.

The Argentine boss guided Saints to a top half finish in the Premier League with a team made up of young English players including Adam Lallana, Jay Rodriguez and Luke Shaw but uncertainty has reigned over his future since the departure of executive chairman Nicola Cortese.

But Allen, who has twice been installed as Tottenham caretaker boss under the stewardship of chairman Daniel Levy, worries the position comes too soon for the Southampton chief.

"It's a really difficult situation that the chairman finds himself in because there's no doubt the brief will be to change a number of players," the former Tottenham striker told talkSPORT.

"A manager has to come in who he feels will be able to structure a new squad of players to be realistic contenders next season.

"That's not going to be easy if he's a foreign manager, who's not necessarily going to know the type of players who are going to be the right quality for the Premier League.

"Pochettino has that experience. He's done a great job at Southampton but I don't know whether he will be looking to move on from there at this stage.

"He's done it there with a lot of young players which I think might be very attractive for Daniel Levy."

Despite winning 14 of his 28 games in charge, Sherwood was dismissed on Tuesday after Tottenham activated a clause in his contract allowing them to dismiss him this summer.

Ajax boss Frank de Boer, has made no secret over his desire for the role while ex-Manchester United manager David Moyes and Napoli's Rafael Benitez are also in contention as Levy searches for the 13<sup>th manager of his tenure in north London.

Tottenham Hotspur FC