Favourite to Replace Villas-Boas Pleads for Talks With Tottenham Chairman Levy

Tottenham Hotspur caretaker boss Tim Sherwood has requested talks with chairman Daniel Levy regarding taking over on a permanent basis after securing the first win of his tenure in the Premier League against Southampton.

Emmanuel Adebayor's double either side of Jos Hooiveld's own goal helped Spurs towards a 3-2 win at St Mary's after Sherwood had selected a bold team with the intent of going on the attack.

The technical co-ordinator's tactics paid off and after securing his first win as Tottenham boss, Sherwood, who is the new bookmakers' favourite to replace Andre Villas-Boas, wants to be entrusted with the role on a full-time basis.

"The ideal thing for me is to have a chat with the chairman and see what's best for the football club moving forward," the 44-year-old said.

"I need to know what they're thinking. I don't want this job for five minutes. That's no interest to me. Are we going to move it forward or not? There are some great candidates out there for this job. It's a massive club with history and tradition. But whatever happens needs to be right for me, too."

Levy will likely have been impressed by Sherwood's gutsy tactics which saw Tottenham breach a Southampton defence – among the tightest in the Premier League – three times in 90 minutes on the south coast.

In particular, the recall of Adebayor after a season on the sidelines appears inspired, a move which has not only yielded three goals in two games, but also sparked a turnaround in Roberto Soldado's form.

With games against West Bromwich Albion and Stoke City in quick succession around the festive period Tottenham are likely to stick with Sherwood until the New Year and supporters can expect their side to continue to throw caution to the wind.

"It's the only way I know how to play," Sherwood said.

"It could have gone pear-shaped at the death, they could have got a ricochet and it might have gone in. Shore it up, people might have said. But you shore it up by keeping the ball. We should have been out of sight by then. There shouldn't have been any nail-biting."