Markku Kanerva takes over coaching of national football squad for spring friendlies

Markku Kanerva

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Finland's underperforming national football team got its third head coach in the space of a couple of months on Wednesday, with the announcement by the Finnish FA that Markku Kanerva will be at the helm until the end of March.
      Kanerva, 46, joined the squad as an assistant coach in November last year, and this latest appointment is seen as a stop-gap measure while the FA look for a permanent replacement for Briton Stuart Baxter, who stepped down from the position following a string of poor results.
     
Back in December, the FA hinted that Kanerva would be in charge of the first team's sporting operations until a permanent head coach had been named and had taken up duties.
      Stuart Baxter aroused the wrath of the fans and press alike and took on a "consultative role" in early November after Finland had made a distastrous start to their Euro 2012 campaign, with defeats to Moldova (2-0 away), The Netherlands (2-1 away), and Hungary (2-1 at home), and the team was then coached by his assistant Olli Huttunen for the last of the autumn's qualifiers, a somewhat meaningless 8-0 thrashing of minnows San Marino.
     
The FA have said they would like to reach a final decision on the subject by the end of March, so that the new man can have some time to bed in before the next qualifiers in the summer and autumn of 2011, even though Finland's chances of qualification for the European Championships in Poland and Ukraine are now mathematical at best.
     
The Football Association's options have been somewhat narrowed by the fact that the poor results have also made a sizeable dent in their finances - attendances for the Hungary and San Marino games fell short of what had been hoped for as casual fans read the earlier dismal scorelines and chose to stay at home. Equally, next autumn's "big ticket" fixtures against the Netherlands (6.9.)and Sweden (7.10.) no longer look quite so certain to be sell-outs in the 36,000-seat Olympic Stadium.
      As the FA is likely to be seriously in the red for 2010, it is not thought likely they will be splashing out on an expensive foreign coach any time soon.
      Whoever takes over the long-term coaching role will in any event have to oversee the change-of-generation as a number of veteran players retire, while trying to ensure at least a modicum of success on the field during the transition period that ensues.
      It will be a difficult juggling act.
     
Kanerva's caretaker stint between now and the end of March will include three friendly internationals.
      Finland will face Belgium away in early February, and towards the end of March matches have been lined up against Bolivia (in Turkey) and away to Portugal.
     
"The Portugal game will serve as a kind of dress rehearsal for the summer campaign. In particular against Belgium there are likely to be some experiments in the line-up in prospect", said Kanerva on Wednesday.
      Before taking up the coaching job with the A-team, Kanerva led the Finnish Under-21s from 2004.
      The youth side made it through qualifying to reach the European Championships finals in Sweden in 2009, though they were knocked out in the group stages there.
      Kanerva was chosen as Finnish Coach of the Year in 2009 for his efforts with the Under-21 national team.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Finland 8 San Marino 0: Goals galore and a Litmanen cameo after an unconvincing start (18.11.2010)
  Baxter steps aside; Olli Huttunen to serve as head coach for San Marino game next week (10.11.2010)

Links:
  Finland National Football Team (Wikipedia)
  Markku Kanerva (Wikipedia)

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