Martin Ho spoke to the media at Hotspur Way on Friday morning, ahead of our Barclays Women’s Super League trip to Arsenal on Saturday (5.30pm UK).
Here are key points on what he had to say…
Martin on signing his new deal and whether he envisioned an extension so early into his tenure…
“I think it gives you some security going forward, you know you're part of the plan, you can build something here and also then it gives us a real opportunity to make sure we can achieve our ambitions moving forward. You don't envision that, you just put your head down, you do the work and if that follows then it's nice, if it doesn't you just keep working to make sure you put yourself in a position where you can do that when the time has to come to renew. But, no, I didn't envision it, and obviously it was a nice feeling when I spoke with Andy (Rogers) and Vinai (Venkatesham) and they wanted to extend the contract now. So, yeah, it shows a lot of belief and faith and I'm very grateful for that.
Martin on the importance of tying down players like Olivia Holdt and Matilda Vinberg to new contracts…
“It's really important. Olivia and Matilda are wonderful talents, they've still got a lot more to come, they haven't shown everything yet and they may have had some setbacks with a little bit of injury and illness throughout the season, but Olivia is now starting to really show the type of player she is and the consistency within her game and the impact she can have within our game model. Also, Matilda is starting to build up a little bit of form, she's scored a couple of goals, she got an assist on the weekend, and parts of her game are now starting to really show. But, for different players, it takes a little bit of time, probably extra for some, but two wonderful players and two players I feel we've got a lot more potential in, and I'm excited to work with both of them.”
Martin on the challenge ahead in the north London derby…
“It's going to be difficult. I'm under no illusions; we're not going to be able to just turn up and think we're going to have it our way. It's going to be difficult, they're ten unbeaten in all competitions, they're full of confidence, full of belief, they've got goals coming from every part of the pitch, so I have no doubt that they're going to be right at it. It's at their home ground and we're going to have to at times suffer without the ball and be prepared to do that, but when we have the ball we're going to have to express ourselves really well and make sure that when we go there we apply ourselves and we don't take the occasion in, we just play the game.”
On the performance against Manchester City last weekend and taking the positives from the second half display…
“If you look at the second half, we even had moments in the first half, but the statistics don't lie, we were miles ahead of them in the second half. To go away from home and have an expected goal of 3.07, obviously we outshot the opposition, we had more shots on target, so those kinds of big chances that have come our way, we just haven't converted and they have. I think they had six shots on target and scored five, so in the performance, especially in the second half and moments in the first half, I think we were reasonably good, we were competitive, and we just can't go into games and give teams 45 minutes of free football and then expect to come out with a result.”
Martin on Clare Hunt’s injury and what we will miss from her…
“Clare plays a vital part in what we do, her personality and character just around the group, but also the way she leads by example, she leads around the young players, especially those who are new to the group or have been here and just need a little bit of guidance, but her performances have been really good. If you look at her and Toko, they have played a lot of the games based on their performances and they've done really well as a partnership, they've been arguably one of the best partnerships in the league this season. But, obviously, you will naturally miss Clare because she's a big presence around the group and we'll make sure we keep her around the group as much as we can to support the rest of the team moving forward. It's disappointing for any player that gets injured, I never want to see that. It'll be disappointing for the team and the group around her, but we just need to make sure now we focus on the players we have here, which we do in those positions, which are good, experienced players, and we need to make sure that we put them in positions now where they get the opportunity to perform.”
Martin on the progress in the team this season despite suffering back-to-back defeats in the WSL…
“As a team, we've showed a lot of progress now moving forward and if you look at where we are now compared to where we were last season, we've taken big steps, we've grown in mentality and character, we've adapted and changed a lot of things away from the pitch, on the pitch, and I think huge credit to the players and staff for the work they're doing. We're in a really good space as a team, we're performing at a good level I feel, the odd performance in part of games hasn't been great and I'm the first to acknowledge that and take responsibility for that, but we need to make sure now we consistently perform and that's probably the part we need to get back to.”
Martin on Arsenal’s recent run of form ahead of our trip to the Emirates…
“They've had a really good run of form now, they've got a good group of players, they've got a wonderful manager and we know it's going to be a tough game, but what we don't do is show any fear. We have to show a belief and a passion and a willingness to compete, a commitment for the Club in terms of wearing the badge with pride and with a passion, and we will do that and then we have to apply ourselves correctly within the game to give ourselves a chance of getting a result.”
Martin on the ambition of taking the Club to the top after penning a new, long-term deal…
“While I'm here, I will work tirelessly to make sure this team and Club can be successful. We're always in discussions with leadership, myself, Andy, Vinai and the wider leadership team to make sure that we're in a position where we're bringing in the right players, the right profiles for this club. There's a real ambition and desire from not just leadership, but from the owners to invest in this team and they've been really, really good in believing in me to lead this project and team moving forward. We're in a really good position moving forward now into the summer transfer window and we'll continue to do that.”