Rangers: 'Winner' Jo Potter ready for pressure at Ibrox
- Published
Jo Potter was most recently assistant manager at Birmingham City
Jo Potter has promised Rangers fans she is a "winner" as she met the media as the club's new women's head coach.
The 35-times England cap replaces Malky Thomson in her first job in management, two years after retiring from playing.
Most recently assistant manager at Birmingham City, the 38-year-old has been tasked with wrestling the Scottish title back from Glasgow City.
"I'm excited and know the pressures that come with being at Rangers Football Club," Potter said.
"I put pressure on myself because I'm a winner. I know everybody expects us to win and we will expect to win, but it's a process that comes along with that."
Rangers took their defence of the Scottish Women's Premier League title to the final day of last season but were unseated as champions after a final-day defeat by City that also meant Celtic finished runners-up and took the second Champions League qualifying spot.
There was further disappointment seven days later when they lost to Celtic in the Women's Scottish Cup final at Hampden, although they did lift the SWPL Cup earlier in the season.
Potter played for Chesterfield, Sheffield Wednesday, Birmingham City, Arsenal, Charlton Athletic, Everton, Leicester City, Birmingham City and Notts County before playing her final season at Reading in 2021.
The former midfielder was also in the England squad for the 2015 World Cup and Euro 2017.
"I've always coached since I was 18," the Mansfield native said. "I've always known that it's something I wanted to do and I've coached for 20 years at different levels.
"It was always a long learning journey. I made sure I coached at every level from kids to senior football and my experience is there."
Potter has targeted taking Rangers "back into Europe".
"This club has all the facilities and everything that it needs to be at the top," she said. "I want to make these players better and for them to believe that they're the best in Scotland."
Potter 'about to realise size and scale of Rangers'
Potter was the club's preferred candidate and revealed that the involvement of Ibrox chief executive James Bisgrove in the two rounds of interviews helped persuade her to come north.
Rangers' Women's and Girls football manager Amy McDonald, herself a former head coach of the team between 2017 and 2019, said Potter is "about to realise the full size and scale of Glasgow Rangers".
"Everybody wants to win, but at Rangers, you need to win," she added.
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