Ryan Mason’s record as Tottenham’s interim manager

Ryan Mason’s last tweet before temporarily replacing Antonio Conte’s temporary replacement read: “Well done lads.”

Tottenham’s latest acting head coach was praising the Premier League Cup won by the club’s under-17s rather than anything the senior side has turned out in recent weeks. Mason acted as Cristian Stellini’s assistant for each of the four matches that Conte’s former right-hand man oversaw after the divisive Italian ranted himself out of the role in March.

After meekly watching Tottenham unravel in a destructive opening 21 minutes against Newcastle last Sunday, Mason will be tasked with guiding a team stripped of all confidence through the final six games of the campaign – if he can last that long.

Mason has experience of helming a rocky ship after taking over at the end of Jose Mourinho’s toxic tenure at Tottenham two years ago.

Here’s how the former midfielder fared under similar circumstances in April 2021.

At the tender age of 29, Mason became the youngest manager in Premier League history when he took charge of his first match at home to Southampton.

Five players on the pitch that day were older than the slender figure wearing a puffer gilet (he did name Tim Sherwood as one of his most influential coaches) in Tottenham’s technical area as Spurs fell 1-0 down before half-time.

Gareth Bale would praise Mason’s “very good half-time team talk” after the contest. The Welsh icon levelled for Spurs in the 60th minute before Son Heung-min, an honourary member of Tottenham’s ‘Welsh mafia’, converted a 90th-minute penalty to complete the comeback.

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Mourinho’s sacking had been in the post for some time before Levy pulled the trigger but the exact timing – a matter of days before Tottenham contested the Carabao Cup final against Manchester City – seemed odd.

A year on from his premature departure, the decision clearly rankled Mourinho. Ahead of Roma’s Europa Conference League final with Feyenoord in 2022, the serial winner sniped: “Of course, the semi-final gives you the right to play a final – if you are not sacked before the final.”

Mourinho would later boast that he had won “25 and a half trophies. The half is the final that I didn’t play with Tottenham”. Stepping into the Portuguese coach’s shoes, Mason couldn’t end Tottenham’s 13-year wait for a trophy, falling to a header from Aymeric Laporte.

Bale scored six goals across Mason’s seven matches, comfortably the most of any player during the manager’s brief reign, including a hat-trick against relegation-bound Sheffield United at the start of May.

Mason had been a Tottenham player the last time Bale had scored a Premier League treble, failing to make the matchday squad for a 4-0 win over Aston Villa in 2012.

There was a dramatic clash of experience when Marcelo Bielsa’s Leeds United hosted Mason’s Spurs. Bielsa was coaching Mauricio Pochettino – the manager that most inspired Tottenham’s caretaker (sorry Tim) – before Mason had even been born.

Bielsa’s experience ultimately helped Leeds over the line in a match which swung after a tight offside call which left Mason seething. “My first, second and tenth look is that it’s not an offside decision,” he fumed at full time.

Harry Kane finished the campaign with a league-leading 23 Premier League goals – and also topped the assists charts impressively. However, only two of those strikes arrived under Mason’s watch as Tottenham’s chief goal-getter played through pain in the closing stages of the campaign.

Kane did fire in the opener against Wolves to briefly reignite Tottenham’s hopes of Europa League qualification but couldn’t rediscover his prolific streak in time to haul Spurs into the top six.

Mason only lost one match at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in charge of Spurs. Unfortunately, it was his only outing in north London in front of Spurs fans and ended with the team getting booed off the pitch.

A blooper reel-worthy own goal from Sergio Reguilon, slicing a volley with his evidently weaker right foot beyond Hugo Lloris’ dive, gifted Aston Villa an equaliser before Ollie Watkins sealed three crucial points as the visitors battled against the drop.

The previous Premier League game Tottenham fans had witnessed in person saw Spurs defeat Arsenal to climb atop the table. Five months on, Mason’s penultimate match made for very different viewing.

Mason took charge of a Spurs side sitting seventh in the table. After seven matches, four wins, a cup final defeat and a pair of league losses, that is where the embryonic coach left them.

Tottenham’s performance under Mason may not have shifted the club’s position but a final-day comeback – inspired by a brace from Bale in the last four minutes – nudged Leicester City out of the top four.

For the second season in a row, Leicester had spent the vast majority of the campaign inside the Champions League qualification places only to finish fifth. Two years on, Spurs may suffer the same fate unless Mason can improve upon his previous interim tenure.