Aaron Lennon told football.london that he wants Tottenham to let their attacking stars off their leash as they search for their next manager.
The 36-year-old retired winger knows a thing or two about being part of a fearsome attack at Spurs having played for the club for a decade. He showed he is still just as fit and sharp on Sunday as he played alongside a whole host of former Spurs stars such as Jermain Defoe, Robbie Keane, Ledley King, Danny Rose, Michael Dawson, Edgar Davids and Sandro in a remarkable charity match for Tottenham's popular kit man Steve Dukes in memory of his father and in aid of Essex & Herts Air Ambulance at Bishop's Stortford FC in front of 3,500 fans.
Managed by Harry Redknapp, the Spurs side won 7-1 against a team containing celebrities and ex-players with Defoe scoring a hat-trick, Keane netting twice, Sandro once and Keane's young son coming on late in the game to round off the scoring.
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The Tottenham players rolled back the years with their attacking play and with the current Spurs side containing the likes of Harry Kane, Son Heung-min, Dejan Kulusevski and £60m signing Richarlison, Lennon is desperate for them to be given the licence to fly at opposition teams.
"It's been a difficult season for Spurs and the fans. I've watched them a few times and sometimes I look at that forward line and I just think 'someone let them off that leash'. Just let them off that leash," he told football.london.
"They need a reset, they need to get a new manager and sporting director and they need to start again because it's a fantastic club with some amazing people."
Lennon had a beaming smile throughout much of Sunday's charity match and he admitted it was special to be back among his old team-mates.
"It was amazing. This was a special group for me. I've got so much love for all of these lads here. Some of my favourite times in my career were with these boys here. It's been an amazing day," he said.
"The Brazilian boys I haven't seen for ages, Sandro and [Heurelho] Gomes. They're two of my favourites, great characters and they're the ones I haven't seen for the longest but it felt like I saw them last week. That's how close we were.
"There's a few of us who have kept ourselves in good shape, getting in the gym and looking after ourselves and I think the opposition were a bit surprised by how fit a few of us were."
The Spurs stars turned out in their droves to help out kit man Dukes, who has been at the north London club for 36 years and befriended so many players over the decades.
The number of big names he was able to attract to the game, which sold out within 24 hours, is testament to his popularity within the club and the plan is to turn into an annual event at even bigger stadiums and one day hopefully the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
"When Dukesy aked if I would come down and play, I said 'of course', there wasn't even a hesitation. If you look at the turnout and the players that got involved, you can see how popular he was in that dressing room," said Lennon. "We had an amazing time with Dukesy and he's an absolute legend and you can see how much he means by the turnout."
So what next for Lennon, who only retired from football in November after a career which brought 416 Premier League appearances, being directly involved in 100 goals in them, either through scoring or assisting, with 21 England caps to boot?
"I'm up to a few things, doing a little bit under the radar. I'm doing a little bit of work with my agent at the minute, looking after a few players on and off the pitch and potentially going to do my [coaching] badges. I'm going to do a few things and then see how it goes," he said.
When asked whether like his team-mate Defoe he could return to Spurs to do some coaching with the academy, he said with a smile: "Who knows? We'll see."
To donate to the fundraising in memory of Charlie Dukes you can head to the JustGiving page right here and you can look out for the latest news on the match auction on Steve's Instagram page right here. For those wishing to put their cause forward to be considered to receive money from the funds raised, they should email cdcharityfootball@yahoo.com
