From the Rink to the Pitch: Ilmari Hartikainen

A good looking squad man and a positive start to life at the club!

A homecoming of sorts for Ilmari on the horizon, should be interesting.

mgriffin2012 I think they will be really good this year but I have a lot of holes to fill

C.J.Lippo Hopefully they remember him haha

15 December 2020

Well today is my first press conference here for TPV. I am very excited to be here and ready to answer all these questions. What is funny this is my first ever press conference with me doing something that has not been done before I know there will be a lot of media attention on me. I am nervous but I have done these in hockey so no biggie haha.

For this press conference Chairman Ville Salonen and Director of Football Teemu Neimenen will be joining me. Media wise we have many major Finnish here. I have a little surprise for everyone so this should be good.

Ville Salonen:"Good afternoon for those who do not know my name is Ville Salonen and I am the Chairman of this club, I would like to welcome you to this introductory press conference for Ilmari Hartikanen. He would like to start with some welcoming remarks"

Ilmari Hartikanen: "It is good to be here today and I am happy to see many familiar faces and many new ones. I am open to any questions and if you know me from my days in hockey I can be very blunt and honest so fire away friends."

"Alright, Ilmari, let's begin the questions. First, let's go with your new job. What are your feelings on being the manager at Tampereen Pallo-Veikot?"

"I am very honored that Ville has hired me. As you know I am from here and being able to get my first head coaching gig with a hometown team means the world to me. I am excited for what I will be bringing here and want to face Ilves so badly. To those that don’t know me well I played hockey for Tappara and Ilves have been a rival of mine since forever."

"Obviously you join this club after spending the last year with RoPS and that was your first job in football. Can you tell us what you had to do to get to this point?"

"Well after spending my final year with HIFK I decided to take a year of. During this time, I went to many football matches and feel in love with the coaching side of things. In the Spring of 2018 I decided to get into coaching. Thanks to the Turku Agreement I was able to fast track myself to where we are now.”

"What are your long-term plans and short-term plans for TPV, if any?"

“This club is already on the up especially after what Janne Viljamaa was able to do and I will continue it. For goals I want us up to the Veikkausliiga within the next five years.Also I want TVP to become Tampere’s club"

"A little bit too ambitious, don't you think?"

"Not at all my friend, Like I said Janne laid the ground work and I will continue it."

"Some might doubt that a hockey guy such as yourself can transition successfully into football. What would you say to the doubters?"

"From my studies both sports are very similar in the coaching and training aspects and I feel those two areas of my expertise will help me grow. I want to be a pioneer for those who are interested in switching sports but are afraid to as hockey is king here"

"Do you have any transfer targets in mind?"

"Yes, there are a few that I am looking at but nothing really at this point."

"Could you please talk about your play style, from what I have seen it is really unique and something we haven't seen in Finland yet?"

"Sure, well I have a few tactics that I like to employ that are about heavy attacking and counter attacking, it all depends on the situation but during play things can change on a fly. These tactics have helped give my clubs tons of goals and really good defensive records, TPV will flourish under the system. I have worked on this with RoPS and it was very successful there. I wanted to fuse the aggression and in your face play of hockey and the style and grace of football."

"Will you be concentrating solely on the Veikkausliiga, or will you be focusing more on the cup competition, like the Suomen Cup?"

"League is top priority as that is the only competition this year."

"Where do you see yourself in 10 years?"

"Great question, well I want to still be coaching either with TPV or someone else. I want this club to be a Veikkauliiga main stay. If I did get a job offer I would love to coach in the United States. I played hockey briefly over there and loved it.” I am so sorry but I am done with questions for now as I have a lot to do in such a short window. It has been a pleasure!"

Ville Salonen: "Well it looks like that is all for now thank you for coming out to this today and there will be a meet and greet in a few days if you would like to get to know Ilmari a little more."

Oooooh interesting he chose to talk about other jobs keep it coming man, great stuff

01/01/2020


TPV defeat rival FC Ilves 5-4 in preseason "friendly"


On the first day of the new year two local rivals would come together in a preseason match. The two clubs Tampereen Pallo-Veikot and FC Ilves faced each other in the first Tampere Derby of the new decade. TVP and rookie manager Ilmari Hartikanen would win in a 5-4 edge of your seat match in front of 1881 supporters who braved the cold.

Two goals from TVP Striker Salomo Ojalai helped his club win in this very exciting match up. Salomo is seen as one of the key players for Ilmari Hartikanen in the 2020 Kakkonen Campaign.

TVP fan favourite Paavo Näykki got his club off to a hot start in the 13th minute with a nicely timed header. Four minutes later Ilves would equalize thanks to a goal from Lauri Ala-Myllymäki. He was lucky to score as the ball hit the woodwork and somehow crossed the line.

As the first half was winding down Ojalai would help his team by scoring giving them a 2-1 lead at the half. Three minutes into the second half TVP would increase their lead to two thanks to a goal by Henri Innanen.

TVP would score their final goal in the 54th minute as Salomo Ojalai scored his second of the game.

With the score starting to get out of hand Ilves would change up their game plan. This would be helpful as they would score two more times in the 59th and 9th minutes.

You usually shouldn't be celebrating a preseason victory but with this being a match against a hated rival I think we should have an opportunity to do so. I am really proud of this teams commitment of playing amazing football in this match," said TPV Manager Ilmari Hartikanen. The 36 year old manager is no stranger to Ilves as he faced them several times in his hockey career as a member of Tappara.

For TVP their next match is a friendly against Jong Ajax on 17 January. For Ilves they begin Suomen Cup Group D play against Pallokerho-35 Vantaa on 22 January.

Quality upset there mate Ik it's just pre-season, but you've got something good going here

25 January 2020

The first half of the 2020 preseason is over for manager Ilmari Hartikanen and his squad. Overall it was a very successful two months with a record of 2-1-1. The second half of preseason will kickoff on 8 February.

Decent start to pre season, although I do think that anyone who decides in Finland to go and watch a friendly in January may need some professional help

A good pre season there mate, plenty to build on!

ninjaskill Haha yeah but its been a mild winter at an average of 4C so I think we have some global warming going on lol.

mgriffin2012 So far so good, hopefully the last four are just as good

12 February 2020


Today marks the opening day of the 2020 Transfer window for clubs here in the Kakkonen. This window is open from today until 29 August. During the past few months in charge Director of Football Teemu Neimenen and Manager Ilmari Hartikanen have been hard at work getting a few players. Five players have joined the squad since the the start of the Hartikanen era three of which have joined us today. Here are the five new faces here in Tampere!



Mika Johansson Goalkeeper


Mika is the first person to join the club in the rein of Hartikanen. The 35 year old journyman goalkeeper has spent his whole career here in Finland. He joins us on a free transfer after being released from Honka where he made 84 appearances between 2016-2019. Mika will have a chance at the starting spot this year.


Yves Koffy Kouadio Striker


Yves is the second player to join TPV. The 22 year old Ivorian was added on a free transfer on 3 January. He had spent the majority of his career in Italy with Udinese Calcio but failed to make any appearance with the club during his time between 2016-2019.



Janne Koskinen Midfield

The 18 year old joins us on a €120 fee from felow Kakkonen B club IF Gnistan.



Mika Tamminen Striker

This 16 year old prospect has a bright future with TPV after joining us for €120 from Pallokerho-35 Vantaa


Nikolas Saira Winger


Nikolas joins TPV after the last several years with FC Espoo. The 21 year old is seen to be a huge pickup and looks to be one of Ilmaris key players this season.



You can see all five of these guys in action in our next friendly as TPV Ukrainian side Vorskla Poltava in the second match of the second half of preseason. The match is set for a 3:00pm kickoff at the Tammelan stadion on 15 February.

Some good signings there mate, adding to an already good looking squad! Big things ahead I think!

Looks like youve picked up some properly good players there, looking forward to the season ahead

mgriffin2012 I really think these guys will be a massive help towards promotion.

Atoobie Yeah and I don't think I will sign anyone else at this point my squad looks set for the season. I think we might have a chance at promotion as I feel this squad is strong and the teams I have faced in preseason have helped this team.