Ryan Mason explains Harry Kane action after final whistle amid leaving Tottenham claim

Tottenham caretaker manager Ryan Mason says there is little to read meaning into Harry Kane waving at fans after the final whistle in their 3-1 defeat to Brentford on Saturday afternoon.

Bryan Mbeumo scored two beautiful goals to turn the game on its head after Harry Kane had curled home the opener for Spurs in the first half.

Kane’s goal brought the best display of football under Ryan Mason with Emerson Royal and Son Hueng-min all going very close to adding a second in the first half, and they should have- because Brentford switched things and dominated the second half with Yoane Wissa sealing an emphatic 3-1 win in north London for the Bees to keep their European ambitions alive.

Kane’s goal was his 28th league strike of the season and he would have won the Golden Boot by a mile but for a certain Erling Haaland at Manchester City who has bagged 36 goals already.

The defeat though was Tottenham’s fifth in their last seven games and with their English striker’s long-term future still up in the air, manager Ryan Mason says it could be misleading to read meaning into the striker’s annual goodbye message.

He told reporters after the defeat: “He waves at the crowd every season. I saw him waving two years ago and you guys were convinced he was leaving. He was just thanking the fans as he does every season.”

The way the season has fallen off will concern everyone at the club, especially after a promising start with Champions League football and Antonio Conteb backed by an injection of £150 million to bring in the likes of Bissouma and Ivan Perisic.

They came into this game having won all their last three home matches against Brentford but the comprehensive nature of how the visitors turned it around makes it quite telling of the character and mindset of the players.