Ryan Mason believes other people have let down Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy but that the club must use this disappointing season to learn what the fans want.
Spurs could finish anywhere between seventh and ninth depending on results on the Premier League's final day. They need to end up seventh to have European football next season in the shape of the Europa Conference League but to do so would need to win at Elland Road on Sunday - having not won outside London since October - and hope Brighton prevent Aston Villa from taking all three points at Villa Park.
After a poor season which has seen three separate managers, making it 16 different people at the helm, including caretaker head coaches, during Levy's two decades as chairman, a growing number of Tottenham fans have been aiming their frustrations towards the 61-year-old with chants at every game calling for his exit.
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While Mason has been critical in recent weeks of the club's lack of strategy in lurching from one style of manager to the next, he believes the chairman has also been hurt by the lack of success at Spurs and this season's disappointment in particular. The young acting head coach feels that Levy has also been let down by others.
"It hurts him, it hurts everyone committed to this club and everyone who really cares and wants this club to be successful," said Mason. "One thing I will say is he's spent money, he's tried and I just think ultimately he has probably been let down by other people but that's football. That happens and hopefully we can get things right quickly, make good decisions and it can turnaround."
Mason hopes that this difficult inconsistent season can be the one that makes Tottenham realise exactly what they need to do and who they want be and how they need to make the fans happy.
"I think the biggest positive will be the future, and if we're clever and if we do it right, then I think we'll look back on this season and say it was tough, disappointing, but ultimately it made us realise what we want to be, who we are, what our history and DNA probably suggests we are, what our fans want, what our fans demand and hopefully there is a connection very soon where we look back and say do you know what, disappointing season, absolutely yes but it helped us, it helped us," he said.
Mason was asked whether he thought former head coach Antonio Conte will be feeling vindicated after his tirade about the club before he left, having now seen them slip down the table since his departure to a potential mid-table finish.
"We haven't won an away game since January, conceded 60-plus goals this season so this isn't something that has just happened in recent weeks," he said. "Obviously we were left in a position in the league table that was probably false, in terms of other teams had games in hand.
"When you level them out, I think the first game we had against Manchester United we might have been seventh in the table so there were a lot of things that were probably false. One thing I will say is I respect everyone that I have worked with and I have learnt off a lot of people, but at the same time I am my own person, I have got my own people and believe how not only this club, but how any football club I am at in the future should work and operate."
The 31-year-old believes that getting a permanent head coach named at the club quickly would be beneficial to everyone.
"Yeah of course. I see the value in that, definitely. Ultimately decisions on players are going to be made in pre-season. We’ve got a lot of loan players coming back. It’s a big squad," he said.
"Those decisions are for a manager or head coach, I think you need time on the grass, you need to be around the players to feel what players are like and how you want to work them and who fits the way of thinking."
Mason believes his own future at Tottenham will be sorted soon after the season ends: "These discussions will happen in the summer and sure they will happen relatively quickly."
He is ready to be a manager, wherever that may be: "I really believe in who I am, what I do and what me and my team do. I have belief like I’m sure every head coach or manager does. I think this recent spell in this period of time has definitely confirmed it."
Mason and Harry Kane came through from the club's academy and he knows the striker has been hurt by this season at the north London club.
"Of course [he has], definitely. As a player who has come through the academy who really feels the club inside of them, it’s difficult," he said. "I speak on behalf of our fans as well and everyone associated with the club who loves and cares about it, it’s been a tough season, it really has. It’s been a disappointing one. It’s important now that we bounce back and make sure we can get that good feeling back."
The key word for Mason is commitment and he wants to see it at every level through the club he clearly loves.
"I think everything [needs commitment]. Honestly, I think everything whether that’s a cleaner, groundsman, members of staff, players here, coaches here. They need to be committed to this football club," he said. "It's a massive football club. It's huge and it's an honour to work here, to play here.
"I've played here. I felt that pride whenever I put on the shirt, and for anyone who's lucky enough to represent us next season, first of all, they need to be committed to the football club, and then of course going forward there needs to be commitment to a certain way and an identity, philosophy of how we want to work and operate."
Mason reiterated that the constant chopping and changing of football philosophies at Spurs has had an impact on the squad.
"It's probably difficult at times when you have different ideas of working and different ways of playing," he explained. "For some players it can be tough to adapt naturally, but I think when when you stick to something over a period of time, then you probably have an easier transition for players coming in and coming out because you know what they should look like."
Tottenham are going to have to overcome their wretched away form if they are to finish the season on a positive note with a noisy Elland Road waiting for them.
"It's a great game. I'm looking forward to it and I hope my players are looking forward to it as well. It's going to be intense like it always is at Elland Road," admitted Mason. "There's a lot riding on it and I think I'll get a feel, an understanding, inside the first five or so minutes about how the game is going to go and how we can use it to our advantage because ultimately they have to win the game. We have to be clever and use that to our advantage."
He added: "I've made it very clear that if anyone isn't up for the fight and they don't want to play in this type of game then it's probably best we don't play with them because it's going to be an intense game, you have to ready, like it is every single week in the Premier League."
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