Jari Welling
It is no longer the case that Jarkko Wiss will be allowed to go, but it is now certain, writes Jari Welling from Bialystok.
(updated )
Jarkko Wiss has been brilliantly successful at KuPS, but there are no plans to continue.
Ari Lahti, the club boss of KuPS and the chairman of the Football Association, who was present in Bialystok, exclusively confirmed to Iltalehti before the start of the Bialystok match that Jarkko Wiss will not continue as head coach of KuPS next year.
According to Lahti, the decision was difficult, and Lahti does not want to open the matter any further at this stage.
At the same time, however, Lahti wanted to thank Wiss for a super good job, which clearly exceeded even the club’s rather ambitious goals.
Lahti said that Wiss’ screens could not have been much better in practice. On the other hand, Sixten Boström continues in his duties with Lahti’s confirmation, so perhaps we can conclude something about the background situation of KuPS.
As a farewell for Wiss at the helm of KuPS, December’s Crystal Palace match in London remains.
Of course, KuPS will announce the new head coach at some point, but Lahti could not or did not want to say the exact schedule. According to Lahti, there are still several options, apparently both foreign and domestic options. Lahti did not yet take any detailed position on the nationality of the new head coach.
When KuPS came to the Chorten Arena, which bears the name of a local chain of stores, to warm up before the match, the approximately 50 KuPS supporters who were there started rhythmic chants of “Kuopijo” in the still almost deserted stadium. Wiss did not receive special attention from the supporters, even though he was in the center circle during the warm-up, alone like Jesus on the cross, if such a comparison is allowed without Päivi Räsänen’s permission.
Jagiellonian Afimico Pululu (center) and KuPS’s Petteri Pennanen (left) fight for the ball. PDO
Analyst Viki Savonen is also among those who left KuPS, who confirmed to Iltalehti an open secret during the match that “Welcome to Turku” was a place for him to smile and thank. Eli Savonen directly admitted that the work at KuPS will not continue, but his new address is Inter Turku.
On the player front, KuPS boss Lahti had no news to share, but the focus is now fully on the Conference League, according to him. However, Lahti thought it was clear that there will be some leavers in the squad.
KuPS traveled to Bialystok and back to Kuopio by charter via Lithuania’s Kaunas airport, so perhaps Wiss’s fate has been in KuPS because of resentment, even though Ari Lahti spoke really nice words about the Tampere.
In any case, KuPS’ performance in Bialystok was quite good despite the 1–0 loss. As KuPS analyst Savonen commented, Bialystok’s winning goal came from unlucky bounces. Petteri Pennanen being sidelined at that moment also had an effect, but perhaps not decisively. According to Savonen, factors with a small margin only decide games.
However, Savonen pointed out that the match was a good and even match. Of course, KuPS didn’t have many chances to score, but Bialystok didn’t celebrate with large numbers of chances either.
Savonen especially praised the performances of Ibfrahim Cisse and Jaakko Oksanen. Both showed that they can play international games with good intensity. Of course, it cannot be said that KuPS has failed anyone.
Jagiellonia Bialystok also has one sure departure on a quick schedule, as the 17-year-old winger Oskar Pietuszewski is the current super talent of his country’s football, who, for example, the long-line reporter of the Polish state radio channel Tomasz Kowalczyk promoted to Iltalehti as the new Robert Lewandowski.
Pietuszewski has only had time to play in the Polish under-21 national team for only six games, in which he has already scored four goals. It’s only a matter of time, because Jan Urban, the head coach of the Polish A national team, invites the junior Pietuszewski to his crew.
In Bialystok, 12,369 spectators warmed up in sub-zero temperatures for both the home win and the fact that they still have the chance to watch Pietuszewski for a while before he is in bigger arenas.