Any head coach need to be adaptable, changing their approaches to reflect the football trends. But there are often elements that are unshakeable – for Tottenham boss Martin Ho, that is individual development.
It is a ideal that has been at the forefront of his approach since his early days of coaching and has carried him through a range of roles.
“I’ve always had a feeling for wanting to support and help people, then having a real passion for football and wanting to put both of them together,” he said.
“Going into coaching was big for me because I was able to help and support people’s careers. Then more importantly, try and build a career myself which I could be proud of with ambitions of wanting to coach abroad and in England.”
Ho has certainly gone some way to matching his own coaching dreams, while continuing to develop the players under his tutelage at both youth and senior levels. In an exclusive interview with Sky Sports, the Spurs boss walked us through his career so far, and how he implements his individual development philosophy.
Beginnings on Merseyside
Martin Ho began his career with Everton and Liverpool in his hometown
Ho began his coaching career at Everton, spending time with the youth and women’s teams and learning from those around him.
“I was within the boy’s academy at Everton first, and learnt a lot about how to coach younger players, how to design and put together practices that could be effective for certain age groups.
“Then I went into the women’s team at Everton. There was a complete scale up when we went from part-time to full-time and the requirements that the players have, like seeing people maybe finish work and then come in, and how you have to adapt and alter training depending on the load.
“I really built a clear understanding of the wider football design and practice. I also had a really good grounding, at such a young age, as an assistant manager with Andy Spence.
“He taught me a lot from how you coach, video analytics stuff, how you put that together, how you break down a game, and then how you deliver the message you need for the players, whether that is in relation to the game or to someone’s individual development.
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“That’s where I really got a big hunger for individual development and seeing them when they moved on to bigger clubs or they moved on to a new journey.”
Combining both elements of his time at Everton, Ho made the move across Merseyside to Liverpool as technical director of women’s football.
While there, he helped evolve the girls academy sides, setting up a clear pathway to the club’s first team. He also coached the U21 side to a league win.
“My passion for individual development and growth was big there because I learnt how to put a clear framework in place for that academy from a football perspective, but also off the pitch in terms of nutrition, performance psychology, the physical performance and how they all need to interlink for a young player to have the best chance of making it professionally.
“Seeing players through the U21s to signing professional contracts at Liverpool, it gives you a lift as a coach that you’ve played that small part.”
‘Stoney changed my mind on what a head coach looks like’
Ho spent four years as assistant coach at Man Utd
Before he joined Tottenham, WSL fans would have recognised Ho from his time as assistant manager at Manchester United, working under Casey Stoney and current boss Marc Skinner.
He helped to coach players like Alessia Russo and Ella Toone, who have gone on to win multiple domestic and international trophies.
“It was really big for me, seeing Casey work as an ex-professional and a really wonderful head coach,” Ho said.
“I was able to see a different way of working as her assistant. I had clear responsibilities with the ball and how we conduct ourselves with it, but under Casey’s game model, which was so good for me, learning from someone with such stature in the game.
Ella Toone and Alessia Russo were coached by Ho at Man Utd
“I learned so much from her, from leadership in terms of management, how she conducted herself, her ways of working. Her mannerisms and behaviours were impeccable, and she really changed my mind on what it looks like as a head coach. She’s someone I still go back to now for advice and support.
“My last two years under Marc [Skinner] were really good. I had a lot of responsibility on the pitch, coaching and delivery, and bringing all of his ideas to life in both phases of the game.
“There was also pushing and challenging the individual development of those players, some who have moved on and been part of that Lionesses squad and been very successful in their own careers.
“That was something I really enjoyed, where I could really bring to life someone else’s game model, but also help the individual grow. I learned so much about myself as a coach in that time at Manchester United.”
‘Being a head coach is totally different’
Ho’s first head coach role was with Norwegian side SK Brann
Next was the big step up – from assistant to head coach. Ho replaced former West Ham boss Olli Harder at Norwegian side SK Brann in 2023.
“I felt it was a step I needed to take to answer some questions for myself, if I wanted to be a head coach,” he reflected. “You always have a feeling of wanting to have that spot, but actually you don’t really know what it entails until you’re in it.
“And believe me, it’s totally different. You have more responsibility and accountability. All eyes are on you. It’s added pressure, but I thrive off that.
“It was also me being able to try my ideas of football, and seeing if they would work or not. It was what I thought about when I first started coaching, putting that into practice.
“It was me having to find the ways that we can win games, the way we can develop players and the staff to make sure that they’re at the highest level we can be, so the players get all the support they need.
“That’s probably been the biggest part I’ve noticed, the delegation and management of staff to make sure that they can be highly effective. I really enjoy this side of it and you don’t really know until you do it.
“I also had such a big emphasis still on individual development that we enabled so many players to move on from Brann when I was there to go into big clubs in Europe. That will always stick with me. It’s all brought me to this place now where I’m really happy and I’m enjoying the job.”
SK Brann lost to Barcelona in the Champions League, where Ho came up against Jonatan Giraldez
Ho made history with SK Brann too, becoming the first Norwegian side to reach the group stages of the Champions League in the 2023/24 season. They reached the quarter-finals too, but were knocked out by Barcelona.
“Those experiences, when you’re in it, you don’t really enjoy it because you’re so ingrained in what’s going on, whether it’s your team preparing or playing,” Ho added.
“But when it finished and we played Barcelona away in the second leg, it was kind of like a dagger to the heart. I wish I would have enjoyed a lot more of those moments.
“I’ve matured so much as a coach and as a person from those experiences and I learned a lot from playing against some of the best coaches. I played against Sonia [Bompastor] when she was at Lyon and Jonatan Giraldez at Barcelona and so many other wonderful coaches who we played against in the group phase.
“I gained so many experiences, like not getting too high when you do well and not getting too low when you lose, but always trying to find that middle ground of how you can be better, as well as appreciating what you’ve done.”
Balancing development and results at Spurs
Ho has made a strong start to life as Tottenham head coach
Ho has continued to be successful at Tottenham. After a season that saw the club finish second from bottom, Spurs have flirted with the WSL’s top three this year and are currently level on points with local rivals Arsenal.
But football is a results-based business. While individual development is also important, results are king, so how does Ho go about balancing the two?
“Probably the biggest part of it is the training methodology – how we like to train, how we train the right behaviours, the right technical attributes, and having very clear development plans for the players in terms of us knowing what they can be better at.
“Whether you’re younger or older, we can always help you evolve because the game changes, you change technically, physically and so on. So how do we help the players change and adapt, but making sure we have a big emphasis through the week on individual developments?
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Highlights from the WSL game between London City Lionesses and Tottenham
“If that’s not individual, it’s either sectoral between a couple of units or also sometimes just players on the same side of the pitch. The biggest thing for me is finding the time in the week where we can block that work out and the players seeing the value in it, which they do.
“That’s where I feel we can really push that, but not just on the pitch, we can push it off. We do a lot of video analysis, we break down the game a lot collectively and individually. The staff sit down with the players to go through certain actions and characteristics they have that we can probably be better at.
“It’s trying to find different ways we can do it and that will always be a part of me, but you have to find a very clear methodology and a way of working to allow that to happen. We have a really good one here and I think the players have bought into it really well.”
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