Kalle Koskinen: The Iceman

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There was plenty to cheer about for Peimari United fans as their side recorded a 3-0 second leg victory to secure a 6-2 aggregate win over MiKi Mikkeli in the Kakkonen Playoffs. The victory has earned Peimari United promotion to Ykkönen (second tier of Finnish football), as well as a place in the Kakkonen final, where the league title will be at stake.

Kalle Koskinen spoke publicly of his frustration following the first leg, a game in which Peimari United conceded twice in the second half to allow MiKi an opportunity to claw their way back in the tie, and his players responded to that in the second leg. In front of their own fans, Peimari United produced a far more composed performance and looked to be the dominant side straight from kickoff. Indeed, MiKi goalkeeper Saku Romppainen was forced into a number of fine saves early on as Peimari looked to assert themselves thoroughly.

Riku Sjöroos, as so often before, was Peimari's star man in front of goal, and he was the man to open the scoring for the hosts. The left-sided attacker latched onto a long ball from full back Lauri Parkkunen before charging into the box and beating Romppainen with a deft outside-of-the-boot finish. The goal sparked cheers around the 393 fans which turned out for the game.

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Eero Hyökyvirta added a second goal to the game in spectacular fashion. From all of thirty-five yards, the holding midfielder picked out the top left corner with a wicked curling free-kick. It was a goal which will be remembered for a long time by the Peimari faithful, and the players and fans celebrated together following the goal which all but secured promotion.

With twenty minutes remaining in the second half, Peimari United completely killed off the tie with a third goal on the night, and a sixth over the two legs. Rasmus Nielsen held the ball up well before laying off to Samuli Vihervirta who beat Romppainen with a low, swerving effort. The goal drained MiKi completely, and delighted Peimari's players and fans. It was game over.

The victory earned Peimari United a place in the Kakkonen final, where they will play either PKKU or MK Mikkeli. As well as that, Peimari United have earned promotion to Ykkönen, Finland's second highest tier of football, a feat which had never been achieved by the club.

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Kakkonen Group B winners Peimari United will face Kakkonen Group C winners MP Mikkeli in the Kakkonen Playoff final on 26th October. Peimari United defeated MiKi Mikkeli in the semi finals while MP Mikkeli dispatched of PKKU to reach the final. Both sides have already earned promotion to Ykkönen but will play against each other at Lahden stadion in Lahti to contest the Kakkonen title. The winner will bring home the trophy.

It has been a remarkable season for Peimari United. Since hiring Kalle Koskinen last December, the club has gone from strength-to-strength, first lifting the Kakkonen Cup trophy before then reaching the final of the Suomen Cup. It took a very strong HJK side to defeat them in the final. Since then, Peimari United surged all the way to the top of their Kakkonen group, which they ended up topping by sixteen points.

Timo Paasolainen was hired as the MP Mikkeli manager last November and lead the club to first place in Kakkonen Group C, topping their group by four points. MP Mikkeli will be returning to Ykkönen for the first time since playing in the competition in 2015.

Peimari Untied and MP Mikkeli had played against each other already this season in the semi final of the Kakkonen Cup. The game itself was an absolute thriller, ending 3-3 after full time before being settled by a penalty shootout. Peimari United came out on top of the tie, earning a place in the Kakkonen Cup final which they also won. Will Peimari United come out on top of this game too, or will MP Mikkeli win the fixture?

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Peimari United secured their second trophy of the season as they won the Kakkonen league title with a 2-0 win over MP Mikkeli in the playoff final. Goals from Eero Hyökyvirta and Rasmus Nielsen (from the penalty spot) were enough for Peimari United to win the game and to, ultimately, win the title. Both clubs will play their football in Ykkönen next season, but it will be Peimari United who enter the league as Kakkonen league champions.

The final itself was played at Lahden stadion in Lahti in front of a crowd of 842. It was a chilly evening with autumn soon to turn into winter and the players and fans were wrapped up warmly for the fixture. The cold didn't do much to dampen the mood as fans of both clubs were in full voice for their respective teams. Banners and flags were adorned, while songs and chants rung through the terrace.

The atmosphere was electric but the game was controlled. Peimari United were the dominant team and had raised their game for the occasion. MP Mikkeli were their toughest opposition in league play, but Peimari looked impenetrable in defence. Despite the best attempts of the Mikkeli side, they were unable to beat Kalle Koskinen's well-organised back line.

Eero Hyökyvirta had made a name for himself throughout the season for scoring spectacular free kicks, and the Peimari United holding midfielder added another one to his collection on the half-hour mark. From a wide-left position, Hyökyvirta dispatched a lethal curling effort which nestled in the top left corner of MP Mikkeli's goal, despite goalkeeper Scott Angevine getting a hand to it. It was advantage Peimari United.

The second goal came just after the hour mark. Riku Sjöroos had worked his way into the MP Mikkeli penalty area before being chopped down by Jiri Haikonen. Seventeen year old Danish striker Rasmus Nielsen took the responsibility of the penalty, and calmly slotted the ball to the left of Scott Angevine to double Peimari United's lead.

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Peimari looked like adding a third but long range efforts from Sasha Popovitch and Jesper Brechtel whistled agonisingly past the post, before Rasmus Nielsen saw a close-range header blocked off the line by Ozéias Graciano. Despite Peimari's best efforts to further extend their lead, they came up short in the final few minutes of the game, but managed to walk away completely unscathed as MP Mikkeli failed to muster any sort of chance in the ninety minutes.

Peimari United captain Tatu Mäkelä lifted the trophy at full time in front of their jubilant fans, who rejoiced with an eerie delight. It was another trophy in the bag for Kalle Koskinen's men, who were going from strength-to-strength. Alongside the Kakkonen Cup trophy, Peimari had a very successful season. While they anticipated Ykkönen to be a much tougher league, the sky was the limit for this group of players.

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"What I can offer you, Kalle, is a boost to the wage budget of roughly one thousand Euros extra per week. This would bring the total wage budget to just under four thousand Euros per week. That is all I can promise now until I have secured some sponsorship deals and other partnerships which will see the club benefit financially. If we can secure similar, if not better, deals to what we have had for the past year then I would expect to be able to increase the budget."

Increasing the budget was the major topic of conversation in our meeting. Just a day after lifting the Kakkonen league title after successfully quelling the challenge of MP Mikkeli at Lahden stadion in Lahti, the club chairman, Antti Eklund, and I had elected to sit down to put plans for the club into motion as soon as possible. My assistant manager, Taulant Kolaj, also sat in on the meeting as we planned to have all plans in place by the beginning of November. That would allow us the entire first month of winter to sign players that would align with our goals.

Following a successful season in Kakkonen (third tier in Finnish football), which saw us completely dominate the league and the Kakkonen Cup, we had decided that only a hand full of new signings were required for us to present a reasonable challenge for the Ykkönen title, and earn promotion to the Veikkausliiga, in the next campaign. However, we were acutely aware that the caliber of players which we were eyeing up would require a significant increase in our total wage spend. An increase of approximately twenty-five percent was a good start, but nowhere near enough.

I pondered what Antti had proposed. While the increase in wage budget was a relatively significant one, it was nowhere near enough for the signings I had planned. While I was still very much a rookie football manager, I was acutely aware that board meetings always required compromise and nobody ever left the room fully satisfied. It was nigh-on impossible to match everybody's ambitions in one sitting.

"I had hoped for more, to be honest, but I think the increase will suffice for now. Taulant and myself have decided upon which players we shall retain for next season and which players we shall let go. With some luck, we should be able to free up roughly seven hundred Euros per week more in wage budget from outgoing players. That is, of course, if we can find suitors for those who have contracts extending beyond next month.

In terms of planned incoming players, we have a provisional shortlist of players outlined. At the very minimum, we will be looking to bring in two attackers, two defenders and one midfielder. For our ambitions, we can expect to be shelling out three hundred Euros per week in wages for each player. That is, of course, if we get our targets. Any other signings on top of that would be a bonus, especially if we are able to secure the signatures of some of the country's finest youth players.

We do have to be wary that there will be some heavy interest in a number of our players. Aatu Hakala has impressed in goals for us this season and, as a regular starter for the national team's U19s side, is always in the spotlight. Kevin Larsson is also widely considered as one of the nation's top prospects and has impressed as an inside forward and, while he hasn't had the best of seasons, Rasmus Nielsen is still a hot property. To add to that, Sasha Popovitch has been heavily linked with a move to a Veikkausliiga by several media outlets. I haven't heard of any serious interest so far, but we could be looking at facing an uphill battle in keeping any of these players if bids do come in. They are prized assets of ours and, from a footballing perspective, we cannot afford to lose players of their quality and age profile."

Antti nodded in agreement before suggesting that the club would be forced to listen to offers if sizable transfer fees were discussed. We totted up what we believed to be reasonable selling prices for each player in the squad and, satisfied that the topic had been covered, we moved on to discussing other agendas which ranged from fan engagement to match-day merchandising.

As seconds became minutes and minutes became hours, we had come to agreement on a number of terms. Both Antti and myself had to make compromises with our ideals and our visions but that was part of running a club. It was important for the club to move in a similar direction but to have different approaches. It provided clarity in the form of multiple perspectives. In this aspect, Taulant was invaluable. Despite his inexperience in being involved in the world of football, particularly professional or semi-professional, he offered a previously unexplored perspective of things. While Antti offered a financial perspective and I offered a football perspective, Taulant offered a fan-based perspective. His words were a breath of fresh air which eased discussions.

The public image of the club's footballing philosophies on the pitch was one which pleased us all. Football fans across Finland had fallen in love with our high-intensity, incredibly technical style of playing. It required incredible discipline tactically, as well as a superior physical background and a strong technical foundation. It was 'total football' in its most modern form. The brand of football which we deployed, inspired by my former manager Pep Guardiola and former opponent Jürgen Klopp, was 'setting the tone for success on and off the pitch', according to Antti. I had made it my objective to uphold the philosophies which fuelled the on-pitch approach, and evolve the playing style to something which Peimari United could truly identify by.

The final agenda in the meeting was a somewhat personal one. With my relationship with Elsa Heikkinen beginning to blossom, it had become difficult for her to continue her position of employment reporting on my progress as a football manager. I felt partly responsible for Elsa's job becoming unsustainable and felt obliged to help her career to continue to progress. On her behalf, I negotiated a deal with Antti for Elsa to become the club's new Head of Public Relations. Elsa was to be responsible for the club's public image, with a keen focus on increasing the social media stature of the club.

The future of Peimari United was an exciting one. The club had not become a big one overnight. It still had many steps to climb, many challenges to overcome. However, it was becoming a footballing dynasty, piece-by-piece, and the Peimari United train was gathering momentum. The club was heading into the unknown. Having never been an Ykkönen club, the threat of the unknown was a dangerous one. But we were ready for everything that was to come. We were the lions of Paimio; we were the Paimion Leijonat. For better or for worse, the club had transformed my life. It was time for me to continue to transform the club.

The first test of October was to end the group stage of Kakkonen. We did so in some style as we brushed second placed P-Iirot Rauma to the side in a 4-1 victory. It was a performance and a result which epitomised our dominance in the league over the past season. It was comfortable, we were clinical, we were deadly, and we were unforgiving.

MiKi Mikkeli were to be our playoff semi final opponents. The victor over the two legs was to earn a place in the playoff final, where a league title was at stake, but the winner of the semi final was to also earn promotion to Ykkönen. Our goal scoring prowess came to the fore in the first leg as we attained a three-goal cushion. However, we allowed complacency to creep in during the second half of the first leg and conceded two soft goals. While we had done enough to earn victory on the day, MiKi were still alive in the tie.

We killed off any chance MiKi had in the the second leg by scoring another set of three goals. This time, however, we proved to be unrelenting in our defensive press and forced them well out of their comfort zone. We conceded no goals in the second leg, earning promotion to Ykkönen and a place in the Kakkonen final as a result.

The final was a mismatch in reputation. MP Mikkeli were major favourites for the game, judging by reputation, but it was us who shone the brightest. Both of our goals came from dead-balls, with Hyökkyvirta scoring from a free kick and Nielsen scoring from a penalty, but our general overall play was just as impressive. A well deserved trophy victory.

Riku Sjöroos was our hero in October. The in-form attacker scored six goals in the four games we played, including a memorable hat trick against P-Iirot Rauma. We would not have won the league without his scoring exploits. He was one of our real heroes.

We did it! League champions! Our incredible goal scoring ability was the reason we won the league and it was a credit to the players for the work they put in every day in training to play in the way we envisaged. HOORAH!

Our finances settled, somewhat, following the Kakkonen final. It was in a much stronger position and, with sponsorship fees set to arrive soon, we were happy with the current situation.