By Rachel Cohen.
9^th January 2026.

Martin Ho spoke to the media before back-to-back games against Leicester City in the league and FA Cup. The Spurs manager discussed what has already been a busy transfer window. He praised the support he has had from the club and said we may still see more incoming players. He also discussed how new signings, Maika Hamano and Signe Gaupset might fit within the squad and praised departing long-time player, Ashleigh Neville as ‘iconic’.

Season so far

Martin Ho described himself as ‘optimistic’ going into the second half of the season. “We want to make sure that we continue on the work we’re doing. We’ll be better at it and hopefully have a strong second part of the season.” He also emphasised the importance of all competitions. “We want to, any competition we’re in, whether that’s the League Cup we were in, whether it’s the FA Cup, whether it’s the league, we want to make sure that we’re competitive in all competitions and we’ll do that moving forward.”

Transfer window business not done

It has been a busy start to the transfer window with Spurs already bringing in five players – Signe Gaupset, Hanna Wijk, Matilda Nildén, Julie Blakstad and Maika Hamano (the latter on loan). Asked whether this meant that Spurs had finished their business, Martin Ho said that the club were “still in the market.”

He emphasised, however, that Spurs would be selective about additional signings. “I think as a club, you and as a coach, you want to make sure that you do everything you can to make sure your squad’s in the best possible shape going into, as they’ll probably say, the the kind of big end of the season. So we’ll still be in the market, we’ll still look for if we feel we can strengthen any areas, but yeah, I’m very selective in what I want and what the squad needs. I want to make sure that’s the right person, the right fit for us moving forward.”

Ho said that all five of the incoming signings would potentially be “in contention to play” for Spurs this Sunday. The manager also rejected the idea that there needed to be an ‘adaptation phase’ “When people players come into the building, you obviously want them to adapt, …but actually it’s how quick the player and how much the player is ready to perform. If you feel they’re ready, then I think it’s an opportunity for those players and for you to put them in as a coach.”

Club backing

Ho praised the backing he had received from Spurs’ club leadership. “Yeah, the people around me in terms of the club, the ownership of the club, Vinay, Andy, Rebecca, the Lewis family, they’ve been outstanding in providing me with the opportunity to bring these players in. We identify them and then we try and see if it works. There’s obviously a lot of pieces to put together within the puzzle to allow that to happen. But yeah, I couldn’t have asked any more. The club have given me everything we’ve asked for and what we needed within the squad to make the squad depth a little bit bigger. So yeah, and I can’t be any more thankful they’ve done everything they can. And we’ve enabled ourselves to get over the line with some good signings.”

Obviously some of this has to be taken with a pinch of salt – as what a manager needs to say to maintain the support of the club for future signings – but nonetheless the difference with transfer window vibes on the men’s side of the club could not be more stark.

Ashleigh Neville’s departure

Ho described the longstanding full-back as “a wonderful person” and “an iconic figure for this football club and as being part of building this club and the success this club has had getting to the point of where it is now. She’s a role model for a lot of young players and a lot of people within our fan base and within the squad.” He also promised that “the club will make sure that she’s remembered in the right way.”

In discussing the logic for Neville’s departure Ho described it as “a decision of moving forward and how we want to move forward and also for Ash on a personal level at the same time. We’re just making sure that it’s right for us as a club and we have to at some time move forward as a club and go to where we want to go. And I will make them decisions and I’ll get some right and I’ll get some wrong at the same time.”

As part of this Ho emphasised that “It was important that we had people in before we allow people to move on.” And that “I think you want to make sure that you’ve got different profiles [in full-back], which I think we do. And I think in football, football’s now evolving. Every full-back isn’t a full-back no more. You see maybe sometimes central midfielders playing there, you sometimes see a centre-back playing there because of the profile that you want. And we’ve seen that with Josefine. Josefine is a different full-back to playing with Ashleigh Neville. Ashleigh Neville is different to Charli [Grant]. Charli’s different to Araya [Dennis]. It just depends on what you want and what I want in that moment.”

The manager also identified what the Spurs new signings offer at full-back: “Obviously Julia Blackstad provides us with another option at left full-back. And then you’ve got Hannah Wijk, who’s probably one of the up-and-coming talented players within the Sweden under-23s on the verge of the national team. So she’s a very, very experienced player at senior level and at national level, but also in European competition. The opportunity to bring Hannah here when she had so much opportunity to go to other clubs within this league was important. And she’s a young talent, but she’s got lots of experience.”

Signe Gaupset’s arrival

Young Norwegian star, Gaupset, has played for Ho previously (at Brann). The manager described her as “shy as a person” and needing some time to adapt to a very new environment, but emphasised that “she’s trained really well. She’s settled into the group on the pitch and I think that’s maybe where she comes into her own a little bit. When she’s on the pitch, she’s more relaxed. You can see the level of quality she possesses on the pitch. And then away from the pitch, she just needs to settle in with, yeah, new environments, new culture, and also then her surroundings personally about moving into a new place and the new areas around her and what she needs to be aware of.”

He also said that he is “really excited for her” and described the Norwegian as a “wonderful” person. “She’ll give you everything and she goes about her work very quietly.”

He also reflected on where Gaupset might play within his Tottenham team. “When I was in Brann she played as an 8 or a 10, depending on how we played the game and how we set up. So either of those two positions, I think long term, for her long term career, I think she’d probably be more as an 8 because of her power and speed and her ability to break lines, not just with individual passing, but with her ball carrying. So I think as an 8, she can go box to box really well.”

“She can play as an isolated 10, which I’ve been accustomed to when I was in Brann. But she’s also for the national team, played off one of the sides and worked inside as another midfielder or another central 10. So she has the versatility to play in any of those positions and whatever we set up the game plan like and whatever I feel her skill set will be used more, we can use in all of those three positions, but probably her best position is probably an 8 or a 10.” It will be interesting to see whether this means less playing time for one or both of Eveliina Summanen or Drew Spence, who have been almost ever-present in deep midfield this season.

Maika Hamano’s loan

Martin Ho reflected on the logic for bringing in Japanese national player, Maika Hamano, from Chelsea on loan. He talked about how she fit a particular need for “more depth in those attacking areas.” He emphasised that Hamano would enable the team to be more adaptable because “She can play in numerous positions. She can play wide, central and as a nine, she’s done that before. So it’s having that versatility in the squad to be able to be adaptable.” He also highlighted her skill: “her quality as a player is second to none. I think everyone’s seen that with her performances at Chelsea. …As a person, she’s outstanding and as a player, she breathes the quality we want. And I think now going into the second part of the season, she will give us something a little bit different to what we have within the attacking parts of the pitch.”

Injury progress

Supporters will be pleased to know that Ella Morris is back on the grass and also that both Tinka Tandberg and Olga Ahtinen have been progressing well and are “probably looking to return the end of January to be in the squad.” He said that “they’re both on the pitch, they’re both been in part of training. They’re just building back up to where they need to be. And I’d say with the end of this month is their targeted return date in terms to be back.”

Ho also noted that Jess Naz’s operation to deal with an ACL had gone well.

Leicester double header

Spurs have a good record against Leicester, having won the last four home WSL games to the Midlands team – all by the same (1-0) scoreline. But Martin Ho was not taking anything for granted. He especially praised the job that their manager, Rick Passmoor has done since joining the club late in the summer. “I think since Rick’s got in there, Rick’s done an outstanding job and they’re well organised. They’re very aggressive in terms of defensively. They step on, they press high. And then with the ball, they’re very fluid. They’re very dynamic going forward with their movement. So we know they’re going to be a threat. And I have a lot of respect for them as a team.”

“And I think before the season, everyone was probably, in a way, writing Leicester off in terms of before the season started. But I’m glad to see that they’ve proved a lot of people wrong and Rick’s done the same with how he’s come in and got them doing what he wants. So, we know it’s going to be a tough game. And I don’t think there’s any game now that you go into where you think it’s a kind of a gimme and you’re going to come out with a result. You’ve got to earn it. We’ve got to show respect more importantly to the opponent. And If we do that and then perform to the levels I know we can and more, then I believe we can get the outcome we want.”

Sunday’s game will be the first of a double header – with Spurs playing Leicester again the week after in the FA Cup. Ho discussed the particular problems posed by playing the same team twice in a row. “I didn’t expect to have a straight double header like we did just before the break. But yeah, you have to set up a little bit different. We have to pose maybe different tactical, different formation in terms of how we want to play in both of these games. Both of them mean the same to us. We want to win both games. So yeah, we have to find, and my job is to find an unpredictability in how we play, whether that’s individual personnel or that’s tactically. …But probably after the first game, you have a better idea of what you might do in the second one.”

Centre-backs and the Asian Cup

Ho was asked to look ahead to how he might cover during the Asian Cup when the first-choice centre-back pairing (Clare Hunt and Tōko Koga) are both likely to be away for several games. Ho emphasised that Molly Bartrip was also now competing for a starting place and said that the club were making plans for this period. “Molly’s a wonderful player, vastly experienced and she has a lot of quality. And I want to make sure that when we go into that period that we’re efficient, we have a plan in terms of what we want to do. And there’ll be some adaptation in that part of the pitch 100%, but all three of those centre-backs are competing really well now in training and not just going into the Asian Cup, going into all these league games coming up, they’re pushing one another. And when it comes to that point where the Asian Cup comes, we need to be adaptable, but we need to have a plan in place, and there are things we’re already starting to think about.”