Simo Valakari, who led SJK to the championship nine years ago, has received a new head coaching job from Scotland.
Simo Valakari is St. Johnstone’s new head coach, informs the Scottish Society. The Finnish coach signed a contract until 2027 with the club ranked tenth in the Scottish Premier League.
He says he is excited about the new challenge and sees a lot of potential in the St. Johnstone crew.
– When I looked at the team as a whole and also the players, I see a lot of promise in it. Although of course the recent results have not been as positive as we would like.
– There is no time to waste in football, every minute in training is important. I’m looking forward to meeting the players and when we take the club to a new level together. First, we have to play good football and show that we all care about the logo we play for, said Valakari.
Owner Adam Webb praises that the Finn has the right vision for the future of the club and believes that Valakari’s experience, enthusiasm and creativity will bring joy to St. Johnstone in the future.
St. Johnstone recently gave the go-ahead to their previous head coach To Craig Levein because of poor success. The crisis team has lost four of its last five matches and won one of the seven league games in total.
The 51-year-old Finnish coach was last in charge of the Latvian Riga FC and before that he had an impact at SJK, KuPS, Norwegian Tromsö and Latvian Auda. Valakari coached SJK to the Finnish championship in 2015.
For the first time, Valakari will be responsible for the draw in St. Johnstone sticks next Sunday, when it will travel to Ibrox from the third series against Rangers.