Kirsi Ala-Lipasti, who unexpectedly ended her career, was disappointed in Manse PP’s performance – game director Antti Vihtkari responds to criticism

Kirsi Ala-Lipasti, who played 15 seasons in the women’s Superpesis, announced last Wednesday that she will end her playing career. The negotiations on the extension contract with Manse PP ended unexpectedly.

Played in Tampere for women’s Superpes since 2013 Kirsi Ala-Lipasti announced last Wednesday that he was ending his playing career. Manse PP and Ala-Lipasti negotiated an extension contract in the summer, but a new manager Antti Vihtkari informed the player last Monday that there would be no continuation.

– After the end of the season, we still negotiated with the new game manager. I understood that the club and the management were willing to make a deal. Later, it was announced that the role and salary would be reduced. Finally, on Monday of last week, there was an announcement that we do not want to sign a contract with you, Ala-Lipasti tells Urheilu.

The new training season of the Manse PP team started on Wednesday. According to his own words, the previous announcement about the reduction of the role came as a bomb to the main player of the last seasons. Ala-Lipasti, 31, asked for game reasons for the reduced role.

– I didn’t get any other justification than that this is in the team’s interest, Ala-Lipasti says.

Ala-Lipasti is disappointed with how Manse PP acted in the negotiations. The negotiations eventually dragged on for more than a month. Ala-Lipasti had trouble getting the lead as the fall progressed.

– Having played in the club for a long time, I would have hoped that things would have been talked about directly and discussed right away. The work was unnecessarily prolonged and we talked a little about what hurts. I would have hoped that the matter would have been handled much more neatly, he says.

According to Ala-Lipasti, he was given to understand for no reason that a further contract was in the offing. The player himself would have liked to play one more season.

– The feelings are mixed and sad that this is ending and also about how the matter was handled, he says.

“There was nothing dramatic about it”

The manager of Manse PP changed Jari from Cavernelis Antti Vihtkari, who served as the team’s second game manager last season.

– It probably sounds pretty big and bad, but it’s a sport and this kind of thing is part of it. The negotiations dragged on and on, and it was concluded that he would no longer be offered a contract. There was nothing dramatic about it, says Vihtkari, who started washing in the fall.

There have been changes in the player group of Manse PP’s team since last season. Players have quit and new ones have been acquired to replace them. The number of players in the team decreased by three from last season.

– There have been big changes in the team. Three big faces from Manse will be left and now we will start building a new team, says the game manager.

“On Mansen’s face” Vihtkari refers To Senni Salline, Henna to field fabric and to Ala-Lipasti. Sallinen played in Tampere for five seasons, Peltokangas for nine and Ala-Lipasti since 2013. Peltokangas and Ala-Lipasti already had time to play for Manse PP’s predecessor, Mansen Räpsä, who played for Superpes in 2013–2015.

According to Vihtkari, as a game director, he does not make decisions about the team alone, but the decision is made together by the entire coaching group. Of course, it is up to the game director to announce the decision.

– For me, as a game manager, it feels terrible to tell a player that a contract is not offered. This time, his role did not suit the team, so the contract was not made for him, Vihtkari sums up.