Stuart Baxter signs on for the long haul; new contract extends to 2012 European Championships

Great prospects, but challenges aplenty

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Finland's national football team will continue to be in the hands of 55-year-old British coach Stuart Baxter until 2012.
      Baxter is currently overseeing the team's attempts to progress to the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa, a project that is unlikely to deliver the big prize, but after that he will grasp the next thorn - trying to qualify for Euro 2012.
     
In its own way, Baxter's contract extension was not a particularly unexpected piece of news.
      As soon as the names came out of the hat for the World Cup qualification groups, it was clear that a trip to South Africa would not necessarily be a given for the Finns.
      If Baxter had given up the reins now, he would not have left much behind him by way of memories.
      "I have a very strong belief in the long-term prospects we have here in Finland", said Baxter at the offices of the Finnish FA on Thursday. "At the same time, we have a very, very difficult job in front of us."
     
Baxter will be carrying on where his predecessor Roy Hodgson (another Briton, now managing Fulham in the English Premiership) left off.
      Finland are still trying to secure their first-ever place in the finals of a major international tournament. On Hodgson's watch, the effort ended tantalisingly close to the goal as the Finns just missed out on a place in Euro 2008.
      It will already be a major achievement if Baxter can pull the present national squad up to the point where they qualify second in their daunting World Cup group and progress to the play-offs for a place in South Africa. To do so would require unseating either Germany or Russia.
      "We have work to do on many levels", said Baxter. "But everyone with whom I have been speaking has given me the impression that we can face this challenge."
     
The Finnish FA made no secret of wanting continuity for the senior side, and so reatining Baxter's services was the number one alternative.
      "It is clear that when the same competent coach is running things, then it improves our prospects of qualifying for a major tournament", said FA President Pekka Hämäläinen.
      Rumours had begun to spread about new offers being made to Baxter in recent months. The coach admitted that there had been some whispers, but since he had a contract he had not paid them much mind.
     
"In this business there are always going to be those who say you are going here or there. I'm grateful that I can continue in my present position, and when these gents next to me are of the same mind, then it is very heart-warming", said Baxter, with a reference to Hämäläinen and the FA Secretary-General Kimmo J. Lipponen.
      The Finnish FA could not persuade Roy Hodgson to stay on after the Euro 2008 campaign, but negotiations with Baxter, which were started in mid-December, went more smoothly, and a document was ready to be signed on Wednesday.
     
Baxter is not promising anything, but he would like to see a long-term approach that could put Finland into the top ten national sides in Europe by 2020.
      "The project to bring through our talented younger players is a massive one by any standards. If we can pull it off, then we could have ten fat years. If we fail in the attempt, then things could get very black indeed", added Baxter.
     
Two names pencilled in for the future include Lauri Dalla Valle (now with Liverpool) and Sevilla's Teemu Pukki, and it is significant that Baxter has added these very promising teenagers (Pukki is 18 and Dalla Valle just 17) to the senior squad to travel to Japan later this month for a training camp and a friendly against Japan.
      Finland's national side is currently undergoing a period of transition - it is unlikely in the extreme that old warhorses such as Jari Litmanen (who would be 41 years old by 2012) or even Liverpool's Sami Hyypiä will be around by the time the next European Championships qualifiers get under way.
      That the coach and the FA are so clearly willing to look to the long haul can only be good for the game in this country, however much the fans might want instant success.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Russia 3 Finland 0: On their knees in Moscow (16.10.2008)
  Finland 3 Germany 3 (2-2): A bitter-sweet draw against the Euro 2008 finalists (11.9.2008)

See also:
  Finnish FA appoints Stuart Baxter as new coach for national team (28.1.2008)

Links:
  Stuart Baxter (Wikipedia)

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