30-04-2025
Mixu Paatelainen makes shock return to Scottish football as cult hero lands new role at SPFL club
The iconic ex-striker is dropping down the divisions to take on an exciting new role
BACK IN THE MIXU Mixu Paatelainen makes shock return to Scottish football as cult hero lands new role at SPFL club
MIXU PAATELAINEN has seen it all in football.
As a player, a coach, a manager, educator, and a student of the game.
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Mixu Paatelainen starred for several Scottish clubs
Credit: Kenny Ramsay - The Sun Glasgow
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He played for and managed Dundee United
Credit: Keith Campbell - The Sun Glasgow
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He recently managed the Hong Kong national team
Credit: Getty
Now he hopes to utilise all that experience as The Spartans' newly-appointed Sporting Director.
Lured in by the League Two side's ambition and convinced by the solid foundations, the man who has busied himself over the past year with his role as a technical observer for Uefa, taking in Champions League and Europa League matches.
He has also helped the SFA deliver coaching courses and studying for a postgraduate diploma in sporting directorship, has now added to his remit.
Having met the men's and women's first team coaches and players this week, the former Dundee United and Hibs striker and manager, is already looking ahead to the new season.
The men's side, in only their second season in the SPFL, narrowly missed out on a second successive stab at the promotion play-offs, while the women's team were unable to secure a berth in the top half of the Premier table ahead of the split.
But Paatelainen says he sees real potential throughout the club and, crucially, after the chaotic end to his previous management role, at HIFK, in Finland last year, he believes the Ainslie Park club have the right people in place to deliver stability and success.
'My last [management] job actually was in Finland, where the club went bankrupt. It wasn't a nice experience at all. The owner pulled his money out because his business was not doing well or it was shambles.
'But these things happen. It's an unfortunate thing. But it's quite nerve-wracking when you put your 100% in and you want to develop and you want to do everything professionally and then there's no chance to do that.
'So it eats you. So that's why I've had a wee break now and done other stuff.
'But that stability is 100% the main thing I wanted to make sure of the next time I got involved with a club.
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'Spartans are a part time club, which helps with studying and the Uefa work and the SFA work but, also, the people in charge are people who you can trust and your efforts and your hard work doesn't go for nothing at the end of the day because the club doesn't exist.'
That stability includes backing the club's coaches, rather than casting a shadow. Making it clear he wants to help others develop and thrive rather than encroach on their territory, he insists he will be as much a dedicated team player off the park as he was on it.
'I'm hoping that all my experience will help but time will tell.
'As a player I was lucky to play in Scotland, in Finland, in England, in France and international football, obviously, in my country. So, there's plenty of experience there.
'I've been coaching over 20 years - different cultures, different types of football, different management because people are different.'
But while the level of performance differs from taking in Champions League fixtures to watching development games or League Two matches, Paatelainen's enthusiasm is the same.
'Football is football. It's not about me going there as Sporting Director and saying 'this is how we do it'.
'It's just another person to hopefully give another idea and discuss things with the coaches, like how can we do better in terms of training sessions, the content of the training session, preparation for matches, tactics, player recruitment what type of players the head coaches would like for certain positions, can we identify those players and bring them in? I will do the negotiations, the contracts and stuff like that.
'Obviously, this is my first job as a sporting director so this is the start but I've been very impressed. Everybody knows that Spartans is a community club, which is fabulous, they have fantastic facilities and what struck me straight away is that people are very ambitious, they don't want to be a League 2 club all the way, they want to go forward. It's a wonderful club, wonderful people so I want to be part of that.'
And, he says he would welcome the mooted league reconstruction, if it reduces the number of times teams have to play eachother.
'Playing four times in the league and then cup games on top of that, sometimes you play a team seven times, I don't think anybody enjoys that. If there's a chance to have more clubs in the division I welcome that and, hopefully, bringing more clubs in the division will increase the standard of football in that division.
'There is more ambition now. Spartans want to do better and there are many other clubs who've got the same aspirations and they want to go forward. It's up to us to rise to that challenge. It's not going to be easy but hopefully all of us who work for Spartans can put our heads together and give the club owners and the board what they are looking for.'
'We are delighted to welcome Mixu Paatelainen as our new Sporting Director,' said Spartans chairman Craig Graham.
"Mixu brings us so much expertise. He will support me, my fellow directors and all our coaches as we continue to grow and develop our club.
'He is so passionate about football and about helping others develop, so it's such an exciting move for us.'
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