Jan Vertonghen must have a smile. The RSCA captain could find a familiar face as the new coach of Sporting Anderlecht in the person of Ryan Mason. The two men played 54 games together for Tottenham.
If this comes to fruition, and despite the Belgian being older, there would be a hierarchy between the two, with Mason in a good position to be Brian Riemer’s successor at the head of the RSCA. Vladimir Ivic, a 47-year-old Serbian coach, is also in the race but the Englishman seems to be holding the rope.
Aged 33, the former midfielder is currently assistant to Ange Postecoglou at Tottenham. But he feels ready to launch into the real world like T1.
At Sporting, he would have his very first experience as a head coach. Like David Hubert, who will remain on the staff as announced long ago, Mason has had two interim stints with Spurs. He played the fire service after the departures of José Mourinho and Cristian Stellini in 2021 and 2023. During his first interim, at 29, he became the youngest coach in the history of the Premier League.
If he still holds this record, it is because his playing career changed in January 2017. Following a head-to-head collision with Gary Cahill during a Chelsea – Hull City match, Ryan Mason was forced to stop his profession as a footballer a year later at only 26 years old.
He quickly began a second career in coaching with his training club Tottenham. He was in charge of the U19s but also the development of the U17s to the U23s. An interesting experience if he arrives in Anderlecht, known and recognized for its Neerpede training center.
And this, even if his status, in comparison with David Hubert, will inevitably make some supporters cringe, an increasing number of whom would have wanted the Brussels resident to be kept as T1…
