Nordic Football News

In: Jussi Aalto, Tero Koskela, Jani Lyyski, Henrik Moisander, Jussi Äijälä, Rikhard Lindroos, Pekka Kainu, Lawrence Smith, Petteri Forssell, Juho Alasuutari, Jan Berg

Out: Ville Koskimaa, Jani Uotinen, Ville Ylinen, Miika Ekström, Jussi Ekström, Maciej Trszczynski, Raphael Edereho, Joonas Ikäläinen, Janne Ahola

Coach: Tomi Kärkkäinen

Claimed playing budget: € 598,285

Egan says: It’s been a steady close season for Vepsu, with good solid acquisitions like Pekka Kainu and Jani Lyyski adding experience and grit to the squad, and Ostrobothnian lower-league clubs providing some youthful reinforcement. Pre-season results have been patchy, and they look every inch the mid-table plodders at the moment. Barring last minute signings or major cock-ups, expect them to finish clear of excitement at both ends of the table.

Juha says: Good acquisitions in Koskela, Lyyski and Moisander especially. All the better when Ansi Agolli re-joins the team following his loan spell at SK Tirana. However, the squad has no real Veikkausliiga stars except goalkeeper Henri Sillanpää. While the squad should be good enough to avoid the relegation battle with a clear margin, there is no success on the cards either. The 6th position is probably the highest they can get, but there should be improvement from last year’s 11th spot.

Fan’s View: Vesa Virtanen has the view from Hietalahti.

1. Realistically, how will your team do?

VPS is much stronger this year and if our key players avoid injuries, we have a good chance to achieve top-6 position. If we get into injury problems and have no luck at all, we are still way above the relegation zone (9th to 11th). VPS will play a lot more entertaining football this year. We have plenty of new faces in our team (Aalto, Koskela, Kainu, Lyyski) and all of them are much more skillful than the ones they replaced. And we will also get Ansi Agolli back in our team. He’s definitely one of the best Veikkausliiga players in his position (left back/winger).

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

The local Ostrobothnian rival FF Jaro is always the team to like and dislike. Jaro is a team that just have to be beaten every time or the season is not a success. Last year we beat them in Vaasa and the Pietarsaari game ended in a draw, but they were better than us in the competition. It will change this year! All the other teams are just opponents and raise no special feelings, but Honka, Inter and TPS are always hard to beat and therefore easy to dislike.

3. What was the best moment of last season?

Jaro matches of course, especially the home win. But also the short visit of Tim Sparv in our team was a wonderful moment. He played many good games and lifted our team to another level.

4. What was the worst moment of last season?

The worst moment was probably when both star players Tim Sparv and Ansi Agolli left our team. Probably all VPS fans thought that their departure will start a steep downturn in form for the club. Thankfully, the downturn wasn’t that severe and we easily stayed out of the relegation zone.

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

VPS has played in a bandy league for 18 seasons in the past and also played ice-hockey, so I would say that VPS would be involved in either bandy or the ice-hockey business.

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

HJK has the best team, but because of “Mursu”, they will not win. Let’s say that Honka will win the title and either RoPS or KuPS will go down.