Lauren Smith praised the vision and professionalism of Tottenham Hotspur head coach Rehanne Skinner and says the club is targeting a top-half finish in the Women’s Super League.
Lauren Smith ‘Excited’ to Work With Rehanne Skinner
Lauren Smith Enjoying Her Time at Spurs
Smith arrived as Skinner’s assistant coach in January after holding the same position with the Wales national women’s team.
In a virtual press conference organised by Next Gen Sports Solutions earlier this week, she said: “It’s been really enjoyable and interesting for me because she was the assistant manager at Wales before I took the job there.
“She left and I almost replaced her. People think we know each other, but we’ve actually never met before until we started talking about Spurs. She was one of the main reasons that made me decide to make the move there because of her vision and professionalism.
“She likes to work collaboratively and wanted somebody to support the vision she was trying to achieve at Tottenham. That’s what was really exciting for me.
“There’s a long-term project to achieve with Rehanne and I’m excited to be a part of it and work with her.”
Top-Four a Long-Term Target
The Spurs assistant coach says that the long-term target is to break into the top four of the Women’s Super League, but says the aim for this season is to secure a top-half finish.
“At this moment the focus for us is maintaining a high-performance environment, and eventually build a squad that’s striving to be in the top four and to be the best. We don’t want to settle.
“But a top-half finish would be a successful season for us this year. There’s been a lot of change from players coming in, along with myself, Rehanne and some of the staff too. Because of all the change, a top-half finish would be a good achievement.”
Spurs are in the midst of their second season in the Women’s Super League after winning promotion in 2019, and Smith feels that the gap between the current top four and the rest will slowly decrease in the coming years.
“At present, you could say it is closing one week and then the next you’d be seeing the top sides winning by seven goals.
“There’s a very big difference in quality if the best teams are on top form. But if they don’t produce their finest performances, then there are definitely points to be had.
“You’ve got to be at your best when you play them, and do everything you can to take advantage of any sort of drop in the performance levels of the top teams.
“But over the next few years, I’m sure there will be changes in that top four.”
