Antti Pennanen, who took over as head coach of Ilves on a quick schedule, knows that the club management expects him to bring steady success.
Antti Pennanen coached Nuoret Leijonat to the World Cup silver in August. He led HPK to the Finnish championship in 2019. Jaakko Stenroos / AOP
- Antti Pennanen replaces Jouko Myrrä as the head coach of Ilves, the league leader, immediately.
- Iltalehti reached Pennanen by phone in the afternoon while he was driving towards Tampere.
– The morning has been spent organizing the calendar, Antti Pennanen tells.
– There were things for autumn and winter that had to be rearranged. The children’s affairs and care patterns also had to be reorganized.
Pennanen starts his work at Ilves today with the coaching team and tomorrow with the team and training.
What are your main thoughts about the hard decision Ilves published on Wednesday morning?
– Probably a bit contradictory, Pennanen answers.
– The starting point was that a two-year contract starting after this season was negotiated over the weekend. I was initially committed to that, but yesterday we started talking about this moment, where we are now.
Pennanen emphasizes that he had no conditions regarding his starting as head coach of Ilves right away.
– Ilves has certainly had a critical discussion about the matter, and I also wanted to have a critical discussion with Ilves about the need for change now. After those discussions – without going into more details – the washing starts already.
– Big decisions are not made lightly. There is a critical discussion in the background.
How do you look forward from here?
– Quite an expectant atmosphere. I know I am going to a well run organization. There is a good base on which to start building.
– You need to quickly get a picture of what has happened and how it has been done. You have to respect that history and after that, together with the coaching team and others, think about what to do next. It is essential to move forward and start making that future.
– It has to happen quite quickly. Future plans and expectations, what Ilves has set for me and certainly for the entire organization, is to be able to succeed regularly. Steady, serene and calm activity on the sports side is the long-term goal. When we succeed in that, we give ourselves a good chance to win the Finnish championship.
– But first execution and doing, that’s the focus now.
From the outside, this looks like Ilves raised the stakes to win the championship already this season. What do you say about that?
– I do know that Ilves has the desire to succeed, and it will certainly do everything it can to achieve it. The level of the league has risen wildly, and there are a lot of good teams. Ilves is one of them, and of course we also have a chance to win it. Yes, we believe in that.
– But how, in what way and at what level of requirements – we are now going to find out. Spring will show who is the best.
What new things do you bring to Ilves in terms of games or sports – that is, what needs to be fixed?
– I can’t say, the board is still so empty. As soon as we start talking, I’ll be wiser in the evening.
– Like I said, there’s a lot of good stuff there. Let’s respect it and find out what we could develop in it. In general, successful teams perform consistently. At least that’s what we’re aiming for.
Ilves is number one in the series, so there are not many directions in which the ranking can move. What kind of risk do you personally see this as?
– It’s a big challenge, I can say that. We are ready to accept that challenge. Now is a unique and new situation for everyone. However, I believe that when you do good work in the long term, the result will definitely be good at some point.
Have you been in contact with Jouko Myrrä?
– I haven’t been yet. Surely at some point I will be. Jokke has done a good job.