Was the appointment of Ryan Mason racist?

[Yacob1964]

Ok that's a valid question. I have no idea what the answer is, because I don't know what the factors were in deciding who to take charge for the 7 games.
The problem is, your opinion is not evidence. It's not proof of the appointment being based on anyone's race. So to go from 'I wonder if it was the other way round' to Windy's assumption that 'the board of tottenham hotspur are racist' is an unsubstantiated leap. And when we use terms that are as serious and damaging as 'racist' we should be extra careful to back up our claims.

If Chris Powell was a so called white man, and Ryan Mason was a so called black man, do you believe Ryan Mason would still have got the Job I very much doubt myself, Levy would have probably told the so called black Ryan Mason that he didn't have the experience and rightfully so, for this particular post I would have assumed that Levy would have gone with the best qualified person and that was the so called black Chris Powell.

 

[robin09]

If Chris Powell was a so called white man, and Ryan Mason was a so called black man, do you believe Ryan Mason would still have got the Job I very much doubt myself, Levy would have probably told the so called black Ryan Mason that he didn't have the experience and rightfully so, for this particular post I would have assumed that Levy would have gone with the best qualified person and that was the so called black Chris Powell.

I said in my previous post that I can't know the answer to that question. None of us do, because we don't know anything about the people who made the decision, or their reasoning for it.

I can give some hypothetical counter arguments that don't require us to think about the colour of anyone's skin, purely for the purposes of the discussion, though.

Chris Powell hasn't had a particularly successful managerial career. It could be argued that there was nothing to suggest he would be able to unite this squad immediately, for a quick fire 7 games.

Ryan Mason played with many of the current squad, those that know him, probably have a good personal relationship with him. The board wanting a pendulum swing to the opposite of Jose's man management style.

We may have seen promising signs in Mason's coaching of the youth team and thought now was a good chance to see if he has the potential to step up to a higher level, where it was always going to be a very temporary tenure.

Ledley King could very well have been chosen, had the opportunity come 12-18 months down the line when he has the required qualifications. For the same reasons as picking Mason over Powell, Ledley would also have given us a chance to test the potential coaching potential from within the current staff.

I prefer to use the principle of charity when talking about people I don't know, making decisions I'm ignorant about. Rather than assuming they recruit people based on the colour of their skin.

 

['O Zio]

Ryan Mason's appointment was race based, he had no managerial experience, Chris Powell has actually managed professional teams put it this way if Ryan Mason had Chris Powell's experience and Chris Powell had Ryan Mason's experience who would you choose, wouldn't go with the one who has more experience?

Your point makes no sense unless the only two factors.involved in hiring someone are their experience and their race, which clearly isn't the case. People get hired instead of people with more experience than them for all kinds of reasons every day in all walks of life. In the "real" world it could be because the slightly less experienced person was more passionate about the role/company or something. It could even be because they were cheaper to hire due to their leader experience

In this Mason Vs Powel situation, there's also all kinds of context you have to take into account. The club weren't hiring someone to be the next permanent manager, they were hiring someone relatively inoffensive to fill a hole for a couple of games to get through to the end of the season. What was needed for this role wasn't necessarily the most experienced manager, there was barely any games left to even do any proper managing of. The job description was someone that wouldn't ruffle any feathers and wouldn't get dogs abuse even if we'd lost all of the remaining games and Mason fits that bill.

For a proper well respected coach like Powel, potentially with managerial aspirations in the future, taking on the end of season run for a team that are a total mess isn't exactly a dream job either way is it? There's plenty of potential for it to do more harm for your reputation than good, so giving it to someone like Mason with no reputation in the first place to ruin also makes sense from that perspective. Plus, correct me if I'm wrong, has there been any indication that Powel ever wanted the job?

 

[Geyzer Soze]

I think it's highly disrespectful to Mason.

Would such a thread be tolerated if Powell had been appointed, and people wanted to talk about 'Did he only get the job due to affirmative action?'? Such a thread would be disrespectful to Powell, and would not be tolerated. So why is this one?

Fucketty fuck

 

[mrboombarrakoomba]

No, it was because of my spell he was appointed so not racist by any means.

 

[Jamturk]

This is based on conjecture.

Ironically judging this situation in these terms is the same as judging someone by the colour of their skin.

 

[Sevens]

If Chris Powell was a so called white man, and Ryan Mason was a so called black man, do you believe Ryan Mason would still have got the Job I very much doubt myself, Levy would have probably told the so called black Ryan Mason that he didn't have the experience and rightfully so, for this particular post I would have assumed that Levy would have gone with the best qualified person and that was the so called black Chris Powell.

Yes, I do believe he'd have been given the job had he'd been black and of a similar background. Mason is very highly thought of at the club. Not because of the colour of his skin, but because he always has been, even as a youth player and there has always been talk of his footballing intelligence (McDermott loved him and rated him as one of the best prospects he'd ever worked with). When he returned to the club as a coach it was clear he was (is) being groomed. Also being so young there would have been a lot less push back of his demotion, irrespective of how well Spurs did under his caretaker management, even though he would have had greater respect from a few players in the first team than Powell has.

Powell, on the other hand, was a very good pro and is a massive Spurs fan. He'd already had a shot at management and didn't succeed, hence why he is now coaching our youth players instead of being a manager elsewhere.

The more likely reason Mason got the job over Powell is simply nepotism. Nepotism is rife in the football world and to prove it's not a colour point, I'd suggest that Ledley King is only at the club as a coach due to nepotism. I've certainly not seen or read anything to suggest that King is a great coach (and some of the awful defending this season would circumstantially back that up) and yet he is still at the club after all of Mourino's guys got the boot. Levy knows Mason. Levy would have reached out to the likes of Harry Kane and John McDermott and asked them for their view. He probably doesn't know Powell that well.

Spurs aren't a racist club and from my time supporting the club they never have been. I first started watching Spurs during the Garth Crooks and Chris Hughton era and they were both loved by the vast majority of Spurs fans, as was Danny Thomas (I don't know any Spurs fan at the time who was absolutely gutted about what happened to him).

For all his faults, Levy is a businessman. He is going to choose who he feels is the best available man for the job. He isn't going to potentially lose himself and Spurs millions because he doesn't want a black coach in charge.

 

[parklane_B39-R16-S25]

Aren’t they being racist by giving the poisoned chalice to the white guy instead of the black guy lol

 

[double0]

The question is uncomfortable (many people will bury their heads in the sand or really can't deal with being told truths) but also indicates an acceptance to look into details which can be a good thing long term for equality.

In this case Mason qualifications and suitability came ahead of Chris Powell and Ledley King as an example.