Ryan Mason has taken over head coach duties at Tottenham with immediate effect following Cristian Stellini's dismissal. The Italian oversaw a humiliating defeat to Newcastle United at the weekend as Spurs were dealt huge setback in the race for top-four.
The north Londoners found themselves five-goals behind after just 20 minutes at St James' Park before going on to lose 6-1. Tottenham now sit fifth in the Premier League on 53 points, while Manchester United hold fourth on 59 points with two games in hand.
Eddie Howe's side currently reside in third on 59 points and just one game in hand. While a Champions League qualification place may seem out of reach for Tottenham, Mason has inherited the difficult task of steadying the ship at Hotspur Way and climbing the table.
READ MORE: The Antonio Conte advice that Cristian Stellini ignored in Tottenham's heavy defeat vs Newcastle
Mason was named caretaker manager of the club in April 2021 after Jose Mourinho was controversially sacked by Daniel Levy. In his first game in charge, the 31-year-old secured a 2-1 win over Southampton before losing to Manchester City at Wembley in the Carabao Cup final.
He then went on to win three of his final five games as interim boss. Interestingly, Mason's preferred formation seems to be a 4-2-3-1; Stellini opted to trial a back-four against the Magpies on Sunday and he quickly reverted to a back-five after 21 minutes.
Speaking on talkSPORT last month, Harry Redknapp claimed that he would be open to returning to the Spurs dugout and assisting Mason. The former Tottenham boss said: "If someone asks you, I think it would be hard to say no, I’ll be truthful. When you love it, you do find it hard to say no, as Roy and Neil [Warnock] would agree.
"No definitely not, that has not happened. But you look at what you’re doing now, sitting around, having a game of golf, and it’s not the money, it’s the challenge, you love it, the buzz of it, winning a game is a fantastic feeling. It’s hard to say no."
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