Nordic Football News

VPS went down 2-1 to Jaro in Wednesday’s Ostrobothnian derby, and VPS head coach Tomi Kärkkäinen felt he had had enough. He decided to hit the road a few hours later, and was honest enough to compose a press release in which he stated that he thought he does not have the resources to bring about a change to the club’s recent form. VPS have only collected a point from their first five games.

In the club’s own press release, VPS Oy’s chairman Asko Kamppinen reveals that Kärkkäinen’s position was never questioned, despite the team’s poor performances. Furthermore, CEO Eero Karhumäki says that Kärkkäinen’s resignation is not a step forward with regards to the club’s long-term plans. The impression is given that Kärkkäinen was an appreciated figure inside the club.

However, VPS have only scored three goals this season, and in their 26 Veikkausliiga fixtures last year they could only produce 18 goals – only KooTeePee, whose prescence in the league was an insult to Finnish football, scored less goals (14). You don’t need to be much of a mathematician to realise that games cannot be won without scoring, and chances are slim even if you score once. Although the VPS board and CEO were kind enough not to express signs of disappointment in Kärkkäinen, they had no reason to be particularly happy with the situation either. VPS were not really inefficient as they could never really create chances, and their football was generally very unattractive.

Kärkkäinen’s assistant Petri Vuorinen will take over. He, in turn, will be assisted by sporting director and former national team regular Juha Reini.