Kuopio Palloseura, the reigning champion of the National Football League, is changing its head coach. Piloted KuPS since 2019 Ollipekka Ojala steps aside for the time being due to sick leave and replaces him Pauliina Miettinen.
Miettinen tells Urheilu that he was busy last week.
– Last night was spent staying awake and watching the games. Of course this is really great, Kuopio is my hometown, there is a good organization and team. I’m really excited, but at the same time there’s a bit of fear mixed with feelings, because there’s a lot of work to be done, Miettinen commented.
– I have been waiting to coach again. There have been offers, but I haven’t taken them because nothing has felt right. However, this felt like my own. It feels like somehow the circle closes when you get back home and coach again. Yes, coaching is my thing.
KuPS is third in the series after seven matches. The Kuopio team lost their second consecutive match on Sunday, when Åland United was better at home with a score of 4–3. A week earlier, HJK claimed the points from Kuopio with a clear 4–0 victory.
KuPS has won the previous two championships and was close to advancing to the group stage of the Champions League last season. The team’s player budget, 250,000 euros, is clearly the biggest in the series.
Experienced Miettinen returns to coaching duties
Miettinen, 51, originally from Kuopio, started his playing career at KMF, from where the road led to, among others, MPS and HJK. In the national team, he played both as a goalkeeper and as a field player.
Miettinen started his coaching career while playing at university in the United States. In the 2010 season, he received a rare opportunity for a Finn, when he coached Sky Blue FC, which played in the US premier league, for a few months.
With PK-35 Vantaa, Miettinen twice won the double championship and also twice led his team to the playoffs of the Champions League.
The last time Miettinen coached the club team was in the 2021 season, when he was the head coach of Tikkurila Palloseura. Since then, he has worked as a kicking technique coach and worked as an expert for , among other things.
A job offer from Kuopio opened unexpectedly.
– Yes, life got a little messed up. I think fate intervened, maybe this was meant to be. Moving to a new city is a big deal, it has caused discussion at home and a little elsewhere, Miettinen admits.
For example, the World Cup trip to Australia and New Zealand planned for the summer will now be missed.
– Everything was already planned and paid for, but now they will be renewed. I think this is more important now and we will go to Australia later in life!
Miettinen’s previous coaching career at Tikkurila’s Palloseura ended with silver at the Championship. At the end of the season, the club, which suffered from financial problems, suddenly gave up its league license.
For Mietti, the season was anything but easy. Off the field, he also fought another battle, as he was diagnosed with breast cancer.
– I have recovered well from it and have been able to live the life I wanted for the past year and a half, i.e. travel and play sports and live life to the fullest. I’ve had less work and more free time, but I’ve missed coaching all the time. It’s nice that my services are still valid and that they trust me.
A clear goal
Kuopio’s Palloseura has had a disappointing start to the season. At the end of last season, the team lost, among other things, those who were promoted to Helmari Nanne Ruuskanen and Emma Peuhkurinen, besides which the captain Gabriella Cuevas changed the scenery.
This season, the team has had problems, especially on the defensive end. It has also suffered some injuries.
With KuPS, Miettinen puts his hands in the clay right away and is already coaching the team in Friday’s match against Ilves.
– Of course there are good things, but there is also a lot to fix. Currently, individuals play and the team does not play as a team. It has to be synchronized. The group is good and high-quality, they just have to be made to play together.
Especially with the summer Champions League qualifying games in mind, Miettinen hopes that the team will be strengthened by a few players.
The previous two seasons have ended with the KuPS championship, so the pressure of success is also piling up for the new head coach.
– It has to be. Of course, I always want to win, that’s the number one thing, but the joy of the game must be restored to the team and the belief that they can do it. You have to have clear discipline and systems, but the process is more important. The result is what it is, but I believe that when these things start to slip, a result will be born.
– Cancer put a new perspective on life, that there is more to life than the pressures of sports. We do our best and try to make the club successful.
will show the National League next time on June 10, when HJK meets TPS. The broadcast on TV2 and Areena starts at 16:15.