Nordic Football News

In: Pyry Kärkkäinen, Cheyne Fowler, Valeri Popovitch, Sebastian Sorsa, Juho Mäkelä

Out: Tuomas Aho, Miikka Multaharju, Sakari Mattila, Erfan Zeneli

Coach: Antti Muurinen

Claimed playing budget: €670,000

Egan says: Another spring, another deluge of signings for HJK. Their squad is so much costlier than anyone else’s, their signings so much more impressive, and their pre-season results so dominant that it is very hard to predict them to finish anywhere other than first place. The only question mark is the man-management skills of their coach, Antti Muurinen. With such an array of big names and talented young stars, he may find it difficult to keep everyone happy. Assuming he does, HJK should win the title at a canter – but that’s a very big assumption.

Juha says: The signings are impressive. How many Veikkausliiga clubs would emerge as title candidates after losing the likes of Aho, Multaharju, Mattila and Zeneli? The quality the squad easily ensures they should be in the top 2. However, I too am unsure if Muurinen is able to turn things round should everything not go as planned. Furthermore, some of HJK’s youngsters would make the starting 11 in most Veikkausliiga teams, but will Muurinen even have the courage to let the likes of Juhani Ojala regularly have a go at playing 20-30 minutes from the end even if the team is not up by three or more?

Fan’s View: HJK are so well-loved that we actually have two fans answering for them, Ville Sairanen and Ilari Kattilakoski.

1. Realistically, how will your team do?

Ilari: We should be able to make a decent challenge for the title, the squad has got the necessary depth and quality.

Ville: Of course we are waiting to win the league title. Anything else will be a disappointment. That always has to be the main expectation before the season for HJK.  On paper we have the best attacking material in Veikkausliiga and that of course makes us believe in our team. Hopefully Muurinen can get the team to play more beautiful than last year. Anyway, I am really sure that HJK will be at the top of the table in the end of the season. Even if some of our players get injured, we still have good back-ups. We havent won the title in 5 years and that is too long for the biggest and most succesfull team in Veikkausliiga so now it is time to bring the championship home.

2. Which teams did you like and dislike most last season?

Ilari: Inter Turku were a breath of fresh air for the league, they fully deserved to win the title. MyPa’s horrible attendance figures (for a team that’s always in the fight for a European spot) left a bad taste, so for purely that reason, I’ll nominate them as the disliked team.

Ville: I admired the way Inter played. They were great and they totally deserved to win the league. Dragtsma is doing a great job there. KooTeePee was obviously a big disappointment. I dont think I have to explain why.

3. What was the best moment of last season?

Ilari: Winning the Finnish Cup & beating TamU 5-1 in the league.

Ville: The return of the King. Litmanen showed his class once again. I hope he’ll stay with Lahti because it would certainly raise the level of the league and he gets people to come and watch their matches. What was good last season too was that Sakari Mattila made his breakthrough and showed that he has potential to be a very good player in the future. Good luck in Italy, Sakke!

4. What was the worst moment of last season?

Ilari: The erratic form in general. Whilst we were able to beat Inter, TamU and MyPa, we dropped points against teams like KuPS, RoPS and Jaro.

Ville: The last round defeat to Lahti. We lost our bronze medals and the atmosphere at the Finnair Stadium. Lahti fans took control of the stadium. A very disappointing day and it also made it sure that there was nothing to cheer about after the season.

5. If your club wasn’t in the football business what other business would it be in?

Ilari: HJK once had an ice hockey branch (it’s independent from the football body these days) so I guess that’s the answer.

Ville: Futsal.

6. Who will win Veikkausliiga and who will go down? (Just the names will do)

Ilari: I’d say Honka are the overwhelming favourites, they’ve made some very shrewd signings and have had time to gel the team together. HJK and Inter (if their new boys hit the ground running) will also probably be contenders. KuPS & RoPS aren’t looking very strong, I think they’ll find themselves in the bottom slots.

Ville: HJK will win the league and JJK will go down.