Tottenham Hotspur interim manager Ryan Mason has claimed that the Lilywhites have "huge decisions" to make this summer in the wake of their failure to qualify for European football for the 2023-24 season.
The managerless North London outfit travelled to face Leeds United sitting eighth in the table and requiring Aston Villa to slip up against Brighton & Hove Albion to stand a chance of finishing in the top seven.
Spurs did the business at Elland Road with a 4-1 win over Sam Allardyce's side, who were relegated as a result, but Villa's 2-1 beating of Brighton saw Unai Emery's men seal Europa Conference League qualification.
One year on from returning to the Champions League under Antonio Conte, Tottenham will have no continental football next term for the first time since the 2009-10 campaign in the wake of another turbulent season under Daniel Levy's stewardship.
With no permanent manager or sporting director currently in place, Mason has warned Levy that he is facing "huge" calls regarding playing and non-playing staff this summer as Spurs try to rebuild burned bridges with their disgruntled fans.
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"I think there's some huge decisions to make for the football club. First of it all it's to understand who we want to be and where we want to go going forward," football.london quotes Mason as saying in his post-game press conference.
"Then it's realising who fits that, members of staff and also players as well. It's an important few weeks now and hopefully we make the right decisions.
"As I said we probably need to understand where we want to go and who we want to be and that's the most important thing. Once you decide that then you can employ the people that fit that and then I think everyone is quite clear on the direction we would like to go.
"We have quite a big squad. Whoever is in charge in pre-season, there are a lot of players and decisions to make. Ultimately I think we need to get back to who we want to be, who our fans want us to be and then going forward we will have better results on a more consistent basis."
Spurs needed under two minutes to break the deadlock at Elland Road through all-time top scorer Harry Kane, who netted his 29th and 30th Premier League goals of the season alongside a Pedro Porro effort and farewell Lucas Moura goal.
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Amid rife speculation of a possible summer departure, Mason believes that Kane still does not get the appreciation he deserves, waxing lyrical about his all-around play as well as his goalscoring abilities.
"I think he probably doesn't get the appreciation he should. The goals yes, outstanding, a 30-goal season in the Premier League is incredible but also his overall performances are just outstanding," Mason added.
"I also think as well to go through what happened in the World Cup, from a mental point of view, to come back and do what he's done for the past four or five months, I think it speaks volumes for the player and the person."
Tottenham end the 2022-23 campaign with 18 wins, six draws and 14 defeats to their name, amassing a total of 60 points while conceding 63 goals, their most since the inaugural Premier League season in 1992-93.
Ben Knapton
