Southampton manager latest to be Tottenham's rumored favorite

Frank De Boer is Tottenham Hotspur's No. 1 candidate? Nope, Mauricio Pochettino is!

The Mirror says Pochettino is the club's top choice to be manager as the rumor mill continues to churn. Expect another three managers to top Spurs' list and four others to be offered the job before the club has a new manager.

Pochettino's stock has dropped a bit in recent months, although it was nearly impossible for him to be as hot a name as he was earlier this season. He led Southampton towards the top of the table, making him everyone's favorite manager, but the Saints have since slipped to eighth, making expectations of him far more reasonable.

Eighth place is still an excellent standing for Southampton and Pochettino has done a great job at the club. While some may not want to see Spurs hire him, there's no doubt that he's competent.

The question is whether Pochettino is the best manager Spurs can get, and whether he can meet the club's expectations. Of course, that would be determined by how much Tottenham are willing to spend and a discussion on what can be reasonable expected of the team.

It's unlikely that many people are going to prefer Pochettino to De Boer or Louis van Gaal (feel free to debate how realistic he ever was) and some may even want to see Spurs take a chance on someone like Thomas Tuchel (me!), but the Southampton boss isn't a bad name to have in the mix.