Redknapp has offered to give Mason help if that is indeed the case. He said: "Yeah of course, I would love that.

"With a young manager, I often think that they don’t use older figures, but I think there is room for older people to go in with them and work with a young manager, even if it was only for a couple of days a week just to be around. They can bounce ideas off you – I think that’s important.

"It’s a difficult job and when you’re young it’s important to have someone experienced there with you. I took people like Jim Smith who was older than me, at Portsmouth I’d already managed about 1000 games before I took Jim with me, but he was fantastic for me.

"I had Frank Lampard Sr with me, I took Glenn Hoddle, Steve McClaren – I think you need good people around you, it’s important. It’s a lonely job and you need all the help you can get."

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