Finnish FA appoints Stuart Baxter as new coach for national team (UPDATED 14:45)

Replacement for Roy Hodgson has strong ties with Sweden

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In their search for a head coach to replace Roy Hodgson in charge of the Finnish national team, the Finnish Football Association have set their sights on the 54-year-old British coach Stuart Baxter.
      If there are no last-minute hitches, Baxter's appointment should be announced shortly.
      Baxter was most recently in charge of the Swedish league side Helsingborgs IF, until he resigned from that post in December just as the club had made it into the group stages of the UEFA Cup.
     
In this respect, Baxter's coaching pedigree resembles Hodgson's in many ways, with a strong Swedish and Norwegian component: he has also coached Halmstads BK, AIK, and Örebro SK in Sweden, as well as the Norwegian clubs Lyn and Skarp.
      In addition, Baxter coached the England Under-19 side from 2002-2004 and managed the South African national squad for the qualifiers for the 2006 World Cup, and has further handled club teams in Japan, Switzerland (Basel), and Portugal (Vitoria Setubal).
      During his active playing career in the 1970s and 1980s, Baxter played for Preston, Blackpool, and Stockport County in England, for Dundee Utd in Scotland, and he also had spells with clubs in Sweden, the United States, and Australia.
     
Baxter and his family came over to Finland on Sunday. Reportedly it is important that his family - a wife and two children - are also happy with the idea of living in Finland.
      The family went home the same day, but Baxter stayed behind for further talks with the FA under their President Pekka Hämäläinen.
      The Finnish FA will be able to offer an interesting position for the coach, in that Finland are shortly to embark on a World Cup bid, though with no guarantees of success in a tough group that also contains Germany and Russia.
     
The English-born coach is clearly at the top of what was a relatively long list of names that the FA scouted after Hodgson decided to go elsewhere in November, following Finland's narrow failure to reach the Euro 2008 finals.
      An apartment in Helsinki, used by Hodgson during his time here, will be made available to Baxter and his family, if he decides to take on the job.
      The visit on Sunday was a first for the coach and for his family members.
     
The choice of an English coach (though Baxter is of Scottish descent on his father's side) was fairly predictable in the light of Roy Hodgson's involvement as a consultant in the process to find his successor.
      Hodgson stepped down in late November, initially to take up a boardroom post with Inter Milan, but he subsequently took on the job of managing English Premeiership side Fulham.
     
     
UPDATED MONDAY, 14:45

     
Baxter appointed to two-year contract
     
     
As expected, the Finnish FA announced on Monday afternoon that Stuart Baxter has been appointed to lead the Finnish national team.
      Baxter will officially take up the reins as head coach from February 1st, and his contract is to run for two years, and will embrace the upcoming World Cup qualification campaign. If Finland manage to secure a place in the finals in South Africa 2010, then naturally he will also oversee the team's performances there.
      One feature of the appointment that may raise eyebrows is the fact that Baxter - unlike his predecessor Roy Hodgson - intends to carry out the job from a base in his present home of Helsingborg. This may have some implications for the chances of players in Finland's own league to find a place in the national squad.
     
It will also be interesting to hear how some of the older members of the squad - the names of Sami Hyypiä and Jari Litmanen spring to mind - respond to the announcement.
      Finland is likely to be undergoing a change of generation sooner rather than later, as some of the older warhorses contemplate giving up the international game, but the presence of some sage heads in the qualifying matches may still prove invaluable.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Hodgson steps down as Finland head coach - heads for Inter Milan (30.11.2007)

Links:
  Stuart Baxter (Wikipedia)

Helsingin Sanomat