Tottenham news round-up: Maddison destroyed as Ryan Mason exit mooted
Tottenham Hotspur have experienced a rare midweek free of matches as Ange Postecoglou tries to turn his side’s form around.
The Lilywhites are still reeling from being dumped out of two domestic cup competitions within four days, losing 4-0 to Liverpool in their EFL Cup semi-final and 2-1 to Aston Villa in the FA Cup fourth round.
Successive cup exits leaves the Europa League as the only trophy Postecoglou can realistically hope to win in his second season at Spurs, who return to Premier League action against Manchester United on Sunday.
Here, Tottenham News rounds up all the latest breaking news stories from Thursday, 13 February
Roy Keane takes aim at Tottenham in ‘cuckoo’ James Maddison rant
Speaking on Stick to Football (13 February), Gary Neville, Jill Scott, Ian Wright and Roy Keane debated who will help Tottenham return to form as Postecoglou starts to welcome players back from injury.
James Maddison was raised as one potential candidate to help lift the Lilywhites up off their bootstraps, but Keane argued that as he’s not a favourite of Postecoglou, Maddison won’t make much of an impact.
He said: “Hold on a second, Maddison? We saw Maddison at Tamworth and he got taken off. Tamworth are non-league. People say Maddison is the man, when’s he going to step up to the plate?
“He got relegated with Leicester and probably will get relegated with Spurs. Maddison isn’t bad, but if you think he’s going to come back and get Spurs top six, you’re in cuckoo land.”
Jamie O’Hara tells Tottenham to strip Son Heung-min of captaincy
Another underperforming Spurs player was taken aim at when Jamie O’Hara spoke to Grosvenor Sport (13 February), with the former Lilywhite arguing that Son Heung-min isn’t “the right captain” for them.
The South Korean – given the armband in 2023 – has been linked with an exit from North London come the summer, and O’Hara argued that some off the pressure needs lifting off Son’s shoulders.
He said: “There’s no fight, no heart, no desire, and certainly no leadership – for me, that lack of leadership comes from the manager and the captain.
“I hate to say it, but Son Heung-Min is not the right captain for this team anymore.
“He’s a fantastic player, an incredible servant to the club, but when it comes to pulling the team together in tough moments, he’s not the one to step up.
“A captain should be someone who can lead from the front, someone who can grab the team by the scruff of the neck and get the team out of a hole.
“Son isn’t that, it’s time to take the captaincy off him and give it to someone else.”
Ryan Mason could leave Tottenham for Championship side
Postecoglou’s already had a heavily depleted squad to deal with for most of this season, but could be set to lose a member of his coaching staff after Ryan Mason emerged as a candidate for an EFL vacancy.
Mason is a 25/1 outsider with BetVictor to become the new manager of Blackburn Rovers, as relayed by Oddschecker on 13 February, which would be his first ever permanent role as a first-team head coach.
The former Spurs and England midfielder has twice stepped in as the Lilywhites’ interim manager, and if he stays put while results worsen in North London, he could do so again if Postecoglou is given the boot.