Meet the Manager - Wed 21st September 2005

The Cowdenbeath Supporters Club hosted a 'Meet the Manager' event with new Cowden boss Mixu Paatelainen at Central Park on Wednesday 21st September 2005. The event was a huge success and attracted a good turnout with Cowdenbeath fans getting the opportunity to ask Mixu about his views and aspirations for Cowdenbeath FC.

Tactics

Likes a passing game, playing the ball out from the back and through the midfield and using the width of the pitch. The ideal being for front men to hold up the ball with midfield getting up in support and when appropriate going on past the forwards. No problem with long passes if you have players who can actually hit a long pass direct to a man but no liking for a long ball game where ball is punted over the heads of the opposition defence. 3 rd Division sides tended to be built round big, experienced central defenders and high balls punted from the back were just what they liked.

Players

Pleased with the squad and their enthusiasm and commitment. Difficult situation following Dave Baikie’s departure in controversial circumstances. He was impressed with the loyalty and support the players gave Dave Baikie – that showed team spirit and what he would expect from players. The players though accepted Dave had made the difficult decision to go and Mixu was very happy with how they had welcomed him and worked with him.

Our record showed we were defensively sound. Centre-backs Ward and Ritchie are perhaps ‘the animals’, the sort of dependable centre backs you need. Wardy’s fantastic in the air while Innes is a great leader. The midfield had done a good job last Saturday and Marc Millar had adapted well v Montrose to playing a deeper lying central midfield role. His experience and poise on the ball was an asset. Up front, he acknowledged we would benefit from a big centre-forward not perhaps unlike himself. He was looking for more shots and more goals. He felt Ryan McCallum showed promise and at 6ft 2 could go on to develop along these lines given time and experience. Liam Buchanan’s great enthusiasm was highlighted and his tireless running also really helped by creating space and tiring defences. Iain Mauchlen had unfortunately suffered a pretty serious kidney injury and he was a loss as he had been showing tremendous commitment for the side. His brother Markus would do well for us he felt and would benefit as he played more games bearing in mind the match v Elgin was the first time he had played for several months after breaking a leg. Andy Jackson was a player who Mixu feels will score goals for us as he has done at every level and as he gets used to 3 rd Division football. Mark Baxter he believed would prove to be an excellent capture. In addition, Mixu praised the great attitude of players such as Andy Carlin, Gary Fusco and Robert Downs who had all been left on the bench at times recently.

Opponents

He hadn’t been impressed with any particular one of our opponents more than any other so far. He had watched Berwick in the Cup v Stirling and had been very impressed by them then but felt when we played them we deserved a result. Mixu hadn’t seen a team yet which he felt was demonstrably better than us when we played to our capabilities. His objective was obviously to achieve progress and automatic promotion of course was a goal. Failing that then a play off spot was the aim. It was still early days and he was looking for his team to build consistency. Every team will have its bad spell in all likelihood albeit Berwick and Stenny had made first class starts and the other sides had to try and stop a gap developing.

Club Set Up

Gordon McDougall had impressed him a great deal not least with the tireless work he puts in for the club. He confessed with a smile that it would perhaps be dishonest if he went as far as to say that when he was a boy growing up in Finland he had always dreamed of one day being at Central Park! He was though absolutely delighted to be asked to take the post by Gordon and the Board. He had coaching experience and had been keen to get into management. He admitted that like any new manager there was a learning curve to be tackled. The youth set up and the training facilities were first class. He had also changed training back to Tuesday and Thursday evenings and had appreciated the players fitting in with this. It was a little bit difficult with there being no reserve league but he would seek to use a diet of practice matches, friendlies, bounce games to keep all the squad involved. There was also a reserve League Cup tie v Gretna coming up.

Departures

Forfar had made an offer for Darren Gribben. He was happy if Darren wanted to stay with us but with the opportunity to step up to Division 2 Darren was keen to move when advised of Forfar’s interest. Alan Fleming had now been sold to Kelty. He felt Alan was a fine keeper and would benefit from the regular game he would get with Kelty. He would be happy to perhaps see Alan back at Central Park some time in the future and he was welcome to train at Central Park.

Referees

On referees, he felt they had a difficult job and he wasn’t perhaps always the most patient when they made mistakes. He didn’t have any real criticism although it would be nice if they could apologise when they made a mistake.

Fitness

On his own fitness – he said he would like to be back playing but he still had a problem when he tried to push off on his left leg. There was no power. He therefore couldn’t say when or if he would be able to play. John Cusick had resumed training after a calf problem but then his other calf went. Physio Neil Bryson is working with John and he is sure Neil can help him back to full fitness soon. John would be a good addition to our line up with his experience and would add a bit of bite to the midline. Brian McNaughton has been a great help and he also has an excellent knowledge of local and junior players.

New signings

It would be desirable to get one or two players on loan from Premier, top 1st Division clubs – either experienced guys or promising young players coming through who would learn more in the 3rd Division than in playing reserve/youth fixtures. He has a good deal of contacts in the game and is also continually looking at and trying out trialists, etc. The squad he had inherited from Dave Baikie provides a good foundation and like any squad it will gradually change and evolve over time.

Support

 Mixu had been very impressed with the support from the fans so far. Great to hear fans getting behind the team and this was a real boost to the players. He particularly highlighted the tremendous backing he and the players felt the fans provided up at Elgin. He believed that the fans and the players had to work together for success. A bit of encouragement even when things go wrong is invaluable and helps stop players losing confidence. Football is 80% confidence, it’s mainly played in the head.

On a lighter note he also confirmed to the Supporters Club committee that he certainly hadn’t advised any youth team players that if they travelled in the Supporters bus to 1 st team matches they would get free transport as some young lads had claimed on the bus to Methil!