Big Day for Ryan Mason yesterday and for Spurs. Following Jose's exit, it would be good to see the Spurs win something, sadly Man City had other ideas though the Spurs did their best; well mostly. Hey ho, we shall see eventually.
New manager Ryan Mason, a "Spurs man", has been a bit of a journeyman, beginning his career at Tottenham in 2008 at 17 years old. He then went out to the regions, Yeovil Town, Doncaster Rovers, Millwall (along with Harry Kane), Lorient (not Leyton O) in Ligue 1, and Swindon Town. His debut in the Premier League was for Spurs in 2014, featuring in the League Cup Final losing to Chelsea in 2015. He also played firstly for England in 2015, then went to Hull City between 2016-18 where he played 16 games and suffered an horrendous skull fracture following a collision with Gary Cahill of Chelsea. The repair involved 14 plates, 28 screws, 45 staples with a 6in scar across his head. Shocking. Cahill? seemed OK!
His playing career ended in 2018 after 143 apps and he then coached at the club, suddenly being called to manage the Spurs' side in 2021, following Jose' departure.
Mason joined the coaching staff of Tottenham Hotspur in April 2018. In February 2019, he suggested that heading should be banned for children. He was made the official academy coach for the Under-19 UEFA side in July 2019 and then the head of player development (U-17 to U-23) in August 2020.
On 19 April 2021, Mason was named interim Head Coach of Tottenham Hotspur, until the end of the season. At the age of 29, he became the youngest man to have taken charge of a Premier League team. Mason won his first match in charge of Tottenham, beating Southampton at home 2–1 on 21 April.
A slight controversy over this appointment is that Ledley King and Chris Powell might have been considered "more senior" to him in line for the appointment.
By coincidence, with "youth" in mind, I watched on a black and white, BBC TV, the original coverage of the 1959 FA Cup Final. Syd Owen was the player-manager of Luton Town, then a First Division side, who lost 1-2 to Nottingham Forest. He led the team out at Wembley and captained his team from centre half, as well as being the Hatters' manager, following the club's previous administration which was done "by committee". Owen was Footballer of the Year that season. A unique double. Owen was at Luton from 1947-59 playing 388 times and scoring a huge 3 goals. After Luton as coach, he went to Leeds Utd with Revie and then to Man Utd as a Youth coach, working with Dave Sexton, spotting Mark Hughes! He earned 3 caps for England and played for the Football League XI when it was chosen.
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