JO POTTER is excited by the challenge that awaits as she settles into life in Glasgow as she reflected on her first few days as Rangers women’s head coach.
The 38-year-old was appointed successor to Malky Thomson as the new of new era of the side begins as they look to win back the league title in the new campaign and compete for domestic silverware.
Speaking to the media for the first time alongside Women’s and Girl’s Football Manager Amy McDonald the new head coach acknowledged the demands to bring success at the club as she looks forward to the upcoming season ahead.
She said: “I am excited and I know the pressures that come along with being at Rangers football club, there is nobody that puts more pressure on than me myself, I am winner, I like to win and I know that everybody expects us to win.
“We all expect to win but it is a process that comes along with winning, we need to understand that as staff, and the players need to understand that as players and how it looks to be a winner and that is something that I am going to try and bring day in day out.”
The former England international has been impressed by her new surroundings with her side returning for pre-season training this week as she accessed her time with the team so far.
She continued: “It is everything that I thought it was going to be, it is really impressive and a great environment to work in, soon as you come through the door you can feel how impressive it is, for me I have just really enjoyed getting in here, meeting all the players and getting back on the grass and doing business.”
Potter has outlined her ambitions for the club moving forward and highlighted the continuous growth of the women’s game overall as something she will be looking to continue to move in the right direction.
She added: “Speaking to the club and seeing the direction that they want to go in, and at the forefront of women's football up here, it is really exciting, you can see the growth in women's football in general.
“I have been around women's football when it wasn't there, and we were still fighting, we will always have to fight to put where it should be but that is something that really intrigues me, I like to help the growth of women's football and help to get it where it should be.”
“We definitely want to get back into Europe, it is an aim, that's an exciting prospect to see where we can go on that level, we just want to keep building and moving forward and however that looks along the way and we are always forward thinking and wanting to be better.”
Amy McDonald has highlighted the qualities that made Potter the standout candidate to take the club forward and is confident she will be able to bring success to the Light Blues.
She said: “I think it is really important that you have someone that understands the growth and the mindset that is around women's football at the moment, given the journey that Jo has went on as a player and also the coaching dynamic of that, and as well we are really clear in every aspect of the club that I think is coming through just now.
“We want to be really modern in the way that we approach things both on and off the pitch, which Jo was aligned to, and I think the biggest thing for us for is just having good people.
“All of that combined as we moved through the interview process and we started getting to know each other and that getting to do a deep dive in the football became really clear that Jo was our preferred candidate.”