Soccer-Interim boss Mason open to staying at Spurs in coaching role
LONDON (Reuters) - Tottenham Hotspur interim manager Ryan Mason said on Friday he hoped to remain at the Premier League club next season and did not rule out a return to his position on the coaching staff if a new boss is appointed.
The 29-year-old former Spurs midfielder was elevated from his position with the club's youth development department to first team coach and was named interim manager after Jose Mourinho's dismissal last month.
Mason guided Tottenham to wins in his opening two league games but they lost 1-0 to Manchester City in the League Cup final last month. A 3-1 defeat at Leeds United on Saturday left them seventh in the table with 56 points from 35 matches.
Asked about his future ahead of Sunday's home game with Wolverhampton Wanderers, Mason said: "At the start of our conversations it was 'Can you help until the end of the season?' After that the role is there to return to what I was doing.
"So as far as I understand at the moment, there's three more games, and I'm incredibly proud to be in this position, helping this club. And then after that, my hope is to remain here. I love this club, I want to help this club.
"That was the conversation before, we've had no conversation since, because the priority and the aim has been on the games in the Premier League, and obviously we had a League Cup final as well, and to try and win the games in hand."
Mason said defender Ben Davies, who has not played since March due to a leg injury, would likely miss the remainder of the campaign as Tottenham try to secure a European spot.
(Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)
