Tottenham may have missed an opportunity by not promoting 39-year-old to be first-team coach

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Some at Tottenham Hotspur reportedly feel the club have missed an opportunity by not promoting Yaya Toure or Jermain Defoe as part of Ryan Mason’s coaching staff.

Mason is set to take charge until the end of the campaign after Cristian Stellini was dismissed following the 6-1 defeat at Newcastle United.

The 31-year-old has already managed Spurs temporarily before, having taken over from Jose Mourinho two years ago.

Of course, Mason was previously involved in Tottenham’s academy set-up before being named as part of Antonio Conte’s coaching staff last season.

And The Athletic reports that some inside Spurs feel that Yaya Toure or Jermain Defoe should have been given a similar opportunity under Mason.

Toure and Defoe snubbed for roles under Mason

The outlet claims that some at Tottenham felt it was a ‘missed opportunity’ when neither Defoe nor Toure was named as part of Mason’s interim staff on Tuesday.

Instead, Scott Parker’s former assistant, Matt Wells, was named as Mason’s right-hand man, while academy coach Nigel Gibbs was handed the role of acting first-team coach.

Meanwhile, Perry Suckling will stay on as goalkeeper coach and Gianni Gio keeps his place as the set-piece coach.

Toure was given a full-time role at Tottenham as part of the coaching staff in the academy set-up back in 2022.

The former Manchester City midfielder has previously spent some time with the club while working towards his coaching badges.

It was a surprise to see both Toure and Defoe not named as part of Mason’s coaching staff, despite their lack of experience.

The pair would have been a couple of experienced heads to have around the first-team set-up during what has been a difficult few weeks at Spurs.