St Johnstone have been granted permission to speak to Simo Valakari - here's everything you need to know about the McDiarmid Park frontrunner.
St Johnstone owner Adam Webb’s first managerial headhunt has not come without its challenges. The American’s reported attempts to attract Scott Brown, Peter Leven, and latterly Larne boss Tiernan Lynch to McDiarmid Park have all proved unsuccessful, and attention has now turned to Riga manager Simo Valakari.
The Saints have been allowed to speak to the Finn, but what do we know about him?
Winning mentality
After a 19-year playing career, Valakari wasted no time in moving into coaching, and has managed six clubs in three nations over 14 years in management. His first taste of success came with Seinajoen Jalkapallokerho, who he took from the second tier in Finland to their first ever league title in just three seasons. He also won both domestic cups with SJK, but was surprisingly sacked just a year after their Veikkausliiga success.
He again displayed his winning prowess with KuPS five years later, leading the side to consecutive Finnish Cups, two title challenges and regular European football. After leaving by mutual consent following his second season, he was quickly snapped up by FK Auda in Latvia’s Virsiliga, and led the side to their highest ever finish in his solitary campaign. Valakari would leave Auda for league rivals Riga in December last year, and has since led the side to victory in the Latvian Supercup, as Riga currently sit second in the table.
Such success and a move toward a more positive tactical ideology would tick more than a few boxes for Saints fans.
Red flags
After leaving SJK in 2016, the former Derby County midfielder moved to Tromso in Norway and failed to repeat the same success. After two mid-table finishes the side were relegated in 2019, and he left shortly after.
There’s also concern over what has been a chaotic spell of upheaval. St Johnstone would be the fourth club in three countries in just two years for Valakari, which begs to question how much of a long-term solution he would be to the Saints’ problems.
There will also always be naysayers quick to point out a lack of experience working in Scottish football.
Fir Park veteran
However, Valakari is not a complete stranger to Scotland’s game. He made over 100 appearances for Motherwell between 1996 and 2000, where he established himself for the Finnish national side and earned a move to the Premier League with Derby.
Analysis
There are virtually no similarities to draw with the previous incumbent Craig Levein, who almost exclusively worked in Scottish football but never tasted silverware over a long managerial career.
This shows a shift in ideology at McDiarmid Park and it’s interesting that Tiernan Lynch also fit the archetype of winning trophies in ‘smaller’ leagues, suggesting a certain intent from owner Webb.
It’s not totally ridiculous to suggest that Jimmy Thelin’s early success at Aberdeen could already be inspiring a wave of foreign appointments in the Premiership, and Valakari certainly presents an intriguing storyline should he become St Johnstone’s first foreign boss.
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