Dean Beckwith told the Chronicle & Echo at the weekend that the view from the dressing room is that Sampson - alongside assistant boss Malcolm Crosby - should be allowed to take the club forward beyond the end of the current campaign.
If the forme
r player is kept on in the top job, he is likely to find himself with a slightly reduced playing budget.
Attendance figures have not lived up to expectations this year, and Cardoza has talked of 'cutting the cloth' in a bid for self-sufficiency.
The chairman cites the examples of the top teams in Coca-Cola League Two as proof that you don't have to spend big to achieve.
Rochdale and Bury sit first and third, and they spend around £500,000 a year less than the Cobblers do on wages, while second-placed Bournemouth have been operating under a transfer embargo for the entire season. The low-spending model is one that is likely to be adopted at Northampton in the near future.
"If you're clever you can get a decent squad without spending too much money," said Cardoza. "If you look at Rochdale and Bury, they've both got much smaller budgets than us.
"Those two clubs will be paying significantly less on players' wages than us and they are top of the league, so it can be done.
"At the moment we're still having to put significant amounts of money in and we have to ask ourselves how long we're going to throw money into a black hole? The club needs to be self sufficient and that's what we are aiming at."
