Meet the Manager - 31st July 2006

Cowdenbeath Supporters Club hosted a 'Meet the Manager' event with Cowden boss Mixu Paatelainen at Wee Jimmies on Monday 31st July 2006. The event was a great success and attracted an excellent turnout of Cowden fans young and old. Cowden fans got the opportunity to ask Mixu about his views and aspirations for Cowdenbeath FC and to reflect on Cowdenbeaths championship season. Before any questions were asked Mixu was presented with a quaich in recognition of his efforts last season from the Supporters Club on behalf of all Cowden followers. Mixu replied that he was delighted to receive this and that he was accepting it on behalf of his players as they were the ones who had performed on the pitch and they won the title. Player of the Year do had also been a great night for everyone players, himself and fans. Stuart Allan summarises the proceedings below:

Last Season

Was a bit worried when he saw us play v Queen’s Park when he was taking over but was delighted with response from the players, the work they put in and he felt all of them had improved as players through this. The squad had a great morale and there was an excellent dressing room spirit at Central Park. Draw at Shire near end of season wasn’t a surprise – that’s football - but his players’ feats in the run in especially when we had all those midweek games represented a fantastic performance.

Opponents this season

He feels that Morton, Peterhead and Stirling Albion are strong sides in the league but believes that with the squad that we have we don’t need to fear anybody. He isn’t really interested in the c word - consolidation - re Cowden. He wants us to do as well as possible. The real aim is to keep seeing progress and improvement taking the club forward. Morton he felt were a strong side, Peterhead were strong at the back with a settled side and nippy up front, while he had heard good reports about Stirling who had a lot of pace in their line up. Didn’t think we would score so many goals this season as the standard of opposition will naturally be higher but his own ethos was built round attacking play and that was the way he wished to carry on. He also encourages players trying to take on opponents – sure sometimes we may lose the ball but if you don’t have the ability and courage to try to do so you are unlikely to readily be able to unlock good defences and create chances.

Players

He feels that the squad we currently have is certainly good enough to cut it in the second division. He was of course disappointed to lose John Ward and Armand One. Mixu is very pleased with the new signings and feels now there is healthy competition in the team now with 2 or 3 people available for each position. He has stretched the player budget already but of course he would look at the possibility of loan players as well. As for Mikko, he would need to speak to his agent – their father!

Fitness

Dougie Hill will be out for a few months and has just began walking again and will soon be swimming if all goes to plan. Davie Hay will be out for a few weeks after his finger operation. The injury was sustained last season and flared up again when pre season started. The hope was that the close season might have allow it to heal of its own accord. Mixu confirmed that he wouldn’t play for Cowdenbeath and that his boots were now on the shelf.

Support

Mixu again thanked the fans for the superb backing last season and hopes that we can continue our vocal support throughout the coming year. He hopes that the Elgin game at the end of last season will have attracted people back to the ground and hopes that the memories of that day will stick in the minds of all the fans at the game. Days like that were what football was all about and were what made youngsters lifelong supporters of their clubs.

Central Park

Mixu recognises that the stadium is bit run down. He hopes that the Fife Council will help and allow the club to sell Central Park. Then hopefully Cowden could move to a new more modern stadium. Meantime Gordon McDougall as he spoke was working on enhancing the floodlights at the ground.

Youth team

Mixu is delighted that Cowden are the only part time club in Scotland to have Elite Status. It may be a bit tough for the teams at first as the standard of opposition has greatly improved but he is confident they will find their feet and benefit greatly from this. This status will make Cowden a more appealing prospect also for youngsters.

Match Officials

Feels that the referee has a tough job and he understands that they limited time to make decisions. He was not happy with the situation at Linlithgow last Saturday. He couldn’t believe a week before the new season in a friendly we didn’t have proper linesmen - he was not blaming Linlithgow for this at all but it meant we had to play an alien system and couldn’t push up the pitch as we normally do. We were forced to defend too deep. It’s all about a professional approach.

Training

Was a bit critical of Scottish/British football attitudes to a degree. He expected players to work hard at their game. All our teams/players have their own training programmes involving weights, flexibility training, sprinting, fitness, etc plus football based training is very much tailored to developing players’ abilities. For example analysing players performances and weaknesses during matches and then building a programme to enhance these. E.g. timing of runs, keeping possession, finishing. Here practice again and again was essential with repetition based on replicating the scenarios players would face in a match as a key element.