Martin Ho: Tottenham are a sleeping giant in women's football, says Spurs boss as he signs new long-term deal ahead of North London derby
There's no bigger boost ahead of one of your biggest games of the season against your local rivals than a managerial extension - but Tottenham and Martin Ho have done just that ahead of Saturday's trip to Arsenal in the WSL, live on Sky Sports.
The 35-year-old has signed a new long-term deal just nine months after he arrived at the club, having overseen quite a turnaround since Spurs finished in 11th place in the WSL last season.
Tottenham are currently fifth and at one point in the season, were disrupting the traditional top four as well as sitting ahead of Arsenal.
As the season has worn on, Ho points to consistency as one reason for a drop away from that European race, but he has certainly proven that, with a bit more work, Tottenham can become part of that elite WSL group.
Download the Sky Sports App and stream Arsenal vs Tottenham for FREE
Not got Sky? Get Sky Sports or stream with no contract on NOW📺
Live WSL table | Watch FREE match highlights from every WSL game
Ho has now been given the time and trust to do that work with a new contract, and it is one that caught him by surprise.
Discussing how the deal came about, he exclusively told Sky Sports: "Three or four weeks ago, Andy [Rodgers] dropped me a message and said 'can we catch up in the morning?' and naturally, when the managing director sends you that, you're thinking 'what's going on here?'.
"But he'd had meetings with the leadership team and the board and they were really pleased with what we're doing and the direction we're going in.
"They wanted to make sure I'm here for the longer term to work on this project and take it forward. They felt I was the person that could help them achieve what they want to achieve, which is nice to hear as a coach.
"Then you want to make sure that you can align on a lot of things and we align on absolutely everything. I absolutely love the staff and players I work with.
"I feel we actually have a lot going for us here and we're maybe a bit of a sleeping giant in women's football. It just needs that little bit of direction and polishing and we can really take big steps.
"That's a credit to everyone that's been before me that has enabled this club to be where it is, and I have a lot of respect for them.
"I'm really thankful to the ownership, the leadership that believe in me and have given me this opportunity. I want to make sure I can repay that faith by giving them some silverware."
It is perhaps a measure of Ho's own success that, with defeats to Everton and Manchester City in their last two games, it is the first time Spurs have registered back-to-back WSL losses under him.
Tottenham are almost in a bubble of their own in the table, currently six points from the Gunners in fourth, but nine ahead of everyone else. The improvement and ambition is clear, but the ceiling to those above them has not yet been smashed.
"We can't be comfortable where we're at because we're not," Ho said. "If you want to close that gap, you need consistency - that's the biggest thing for me.
"You can talk about players and all these other things, but actually consistency gets you in that position and the teams above you are there because of consistency.
"At the end of the season, where you finish is where you deserve to be and I always say to the players, persistence gets you there, but consistency keeps you there.
"We have to find a consistent level in our performance. If we find that as a team and individually, we can really push the bar.
"Maybe at times we've just been inconsistent with performance. We had a really good spell early [in the season], we've had a good spell when we've come back, and we've had a little dips in form, which naturally happens, and the responsibility is mine to make sure we don't have those dips."
There was no better demonstration of this than against Man City on Saturday. The WSL leaders stormed into a 5-1 first-half lead, but a far better performance from Spurs in the second half kept their opponents at bay.
In fact, Bethany England - who is set to make her 200th WSL appearance this weekend - scored the only goal after the break, but the inconsistency between halves was stark.
"It was a disappointing performance in the first half," Ho said. "We didn't get going, we weren't aggressive enough in our close duels, our one vs ones. We didn't defend the box for first contacts well enough and we didn't win enough of them. Even second phase, we didn't pick up enough.
"The second half was much more like us. We were more aggressive, we were closer in the duels to win the ball higher up and in our half, we defended the box well. We had so many opportunities with the ball, we were brave, we had a lot of individual brilliance, intuition and creativity in the middle parts of the pitch.
"Maybe by half-time, looking at the game, the pressure's then off the players because you're 5-1 down and you can play with a little bit more freedom and not something sitting on your shoulders.
"If we perform like we did in the second half, which we know we can do at a good level, then we can compete with a lot of teams.
"We need to make sure that we put that [second half] performance in every week. We can't allow ourselves to only have a 45-minute performance - we have to make sure that we're on it for 90, and at this level, if you don't do that, you get punished. We have to look at that as more of a wake-up call than an alarm."
Tottenham will be hoping to have one of the best 90 minutes of their season when they travel to Arsenal on Saturday, live on Sky Sports. Spurs held their North London rivals to a goalless draw in November, and will be hoping to hand Renee Slegers only her second loss in 21 games at the Emirates Stadium.
When asked - simply - how do Spurs go about beating Arsenal? Ho replied: "Score more goals than they do - that's probably the easiest way to do it.
"I enjoy these games and the players do too. You shouldn't have to motivate them for a North London derby - there should be a real pride and passion within to represent this club and play in these games.
"What we definitely have to do is make sure that we perform to a high level and maximise the potential in each individual, and if we play the way we want to play, we can be a match for anyone.
"We performed relatively well against them early on in the season at home and really took the game to them in the first half. We had to do a lot more defending in the second half, but it showed real character.
"That should give us belief that when we want to perform at that level, we can do it. The big thing for us is finding a consistency with that and not leaving it too long before we actually perform at a high level within the game."
The building blocks are there for Tottenham. Ho has quickly and effectively implemented his own ideas among a talented squad, with preparations to build on that next season rapidly gathering pace.
"We've got a really good foundation in place now to build from and the standards, the expectations, the playing style and the identity is really set so going into next year, it's how we can build on that growth and really evolve," Ho added.
"You have to evolve the squad if you want to progress and we will do that in the summer, but it's got to fit our dynamic as a team and with the person - their characteristics as an individual are really important.
"We will do business in the summer, we just need to make sure it's the right players in the right positions and by doing that, we will not only evolve as a squad, we'll have more competition and balance through the team."
Keep an eye on the sleeping giant. Before long, they might rise from their slumber to give those above them in the WSL something to think about.
