Pundit makes off-camera remark about Ryan Mason’s appointment

Stephen Warnock has claimed that Tottenham Hotspur should have appointed Ledley King as the interim head coach until the end of the season instead of Ryan Mason.

The news of Jose Mourinho’s sacking on Monday morning came as a bit of shock for many since the decision was made just six days before the Carabao Cup final.

The club announced on Tuesday that Mason will take charge of the first team until the end of the season, supported by Chris Powell and Nigel Gibbs, with Michel Vorm serving as the temporary goalkeeping coach.

When Sky Sports pundits were discussing Mason’s appointment, Warnock, who was part of the panel was caught in an embarrassing off-camera gaffe when he admitted he didn’t agree with the appointment, not realising he was actually on-air.

According to The Daily Mirror, the former Aston Villa man said: “Mason? No, I don’t agree with that, Ryan Mason… I don’t know, but what I’m saying is that if you get a figure..”

Presenter Rob Wotton, who did not realise the show was on-air, cut him off at that point and said: “Oh there we go, welcome back. Still just reflecting and reading this breaking news we’re getting this morning about Tottenham.”

Later in the show, Wotton came back to Warnock to give him a chance to explain his comments and the pundit insisted that handing King the job would have gone down better with Spurs fans.

Warnock told Sky Sports News: “Yeah, we were just talking off air and our mics were left on, and we came back to the show a little earlier.

“I was just saying that I thought that the right thing to do would be to put Ledley King in charge from a fans’ point of view and from Daniel Levy’s point of view.

“To have a legend in charge on the touchline and have Ryan Mason alongside him. Obviously, he’s very highly thought of, with the under-23’s and that was my thought process behind it.

“I wasn’t slagging Ryan Mason in any way at all, that was just my feel on the situation.”

Spurs Web Opinion

Most Spurs fans would have expected King to take charge of the first team but I trust Levy made the right call as he knows both of them well. Besides, King has been in a coaching role for less than 12 months while Mason has a couple of years of experience under his belt with the youth sides.

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