Ryan Mason has been thrust into the spotlight at Tottenham Hotspur after Jose Mourinho was sacked on Monday morning.
Mason took first-team training and is expected to work alongside Chris Powell until the end of the season after Mourinho and his coaching staff were relieved of their duties.
The 29-year-old is the club’s head of player development, having initially been invited back to Tottenham in April 2018 to help take training and complete his coaching badges.
As a former midfielder for Spurs, Mason made 70 appearances between 2008 and 2016. He will now be in charge of many of his former team-mates.
Born in Enfield, Mason came through the club’s academy and after going out on loan to Doncaster, Millwall, Lorient and Swindon, he established himself under Mauricio Pochettino.
Mason made 29 appearances for Spurs across the 2015/16 season, but only made only eight starts in the Premier League, with Mousa Dembele settled in central midfield.
In order to gain regular minutes he moved to Hull City for £13million in August 2016. His last match in a Spurs shirt came in a 5-1 thrashing against Newcastle United on May 15, 2016, the last game of the season.
Gini Wijnaldum scored twice, while goals from Aleksandar Mitrovic, Rolando Aarons and Daryl Janmaat secured the win for Rafa Benitez's side, despite a red card for Mitrovic, as Erik Lamela scored Spurs’ consolation.
A glance over Pochettino’s team from that game reveals many familiar names, with seven of Mason’s team-mates still contracted to the club.
Spurs ended that season with consecutive defeats that allowed Arsenal to finish one point ahead in second place in the Premier League, but it had been a largely positive campaign.
A lot of that was down to Harry Kane, who scored 28 goals across all competitions and won the Premier League golden boot with 25 strikes.
Like he does today, Kane led the line for Spurs that day and he was flanked by two of his current team-mates too. Son Heung-min played on the left, with Lamela on the opposite side.
Son scored just four Premier League goals in 2015/16 - his first season with the club - but has since blossomed into one of the league’s most dangerous attacking players.
One of the few players who are no longer at the club is Christian Eriksen, who played in the No10 role behind Kane that day. The Dane left White Hart Lane for Inter Milan last year.
Partnering Mason in central midfield was Eric Dier, who remains at the club but has since moved back to central defence.
Kyle Walker, right-back that day, stayed for a further year before sealing a £50m move to Manchester City in the summer of 2017.
Toby Alderweireld remains at Spurs, but his long-term centre-back partner Jan Vertonghen moved on to Benfica last year after eight years with the club.
Ben Davies is still at Tottenham, but is not a regular since Sergio Reguilon’s summer move from Real Madrid. Hugo Lloris is still first-choice goalkeeper, but there has been speculation over the 34-year-old's future after nine years with the club.
None of the substitutes from that game against Newcastle have any involvement with the club any more, although Danny Rose is still under contract with Spurs, despite being frozen out by Mourinho.
Michel Vorm, Clinton Njie, Nacer Chadli, Josh Onomah, Kevin Wimmer and Tom Carroll have all since moved to new clubs.
Tottenham XI vs Newcastle: Lloris; Walker, Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Davies; Dier, Mason; Lamela, Eriksen, Son; Kane.
