The Roundup - 22nd July 2019


The roundup
15th to 21st July 2019

The big stories
Koskenkorva forfeit
The league amended the result between Kankaanpään Maila v Koskenkorvan Urheilijat on 14th July 2019 due to Koskenkorva fielding an ineligible player (Atte Brandt) on the basis that he did not pay the registration fee within the time limit (by 10th July). The reversal means that Koskenkorva lost the 3 points they gained and took last place in the table. Koskenkorva had lost the last 7 games coming into Sunday’s game and are truly stuck in the relegation fight with Alajärven and Siilinjärvi. A 3 point win on Sunday however has given Koskenkorva some relief and they will desperately hope the addition of new names at the close of the transfer window will help steer them away from relegation. Going into Sundays game, the default win was 1 of only 2 wins in the last 10 games for Kankaanpää and is not the form you would expect a playoff team to have. For Kankaanpää the default win helped put them at 8th in the table a point ahead of IPV and Kitee. A fuller story was posted on 18th July 2019.

Transfer deadlines
Sunday 21st July marked the end of the transfer window for the men’s Superpesis as teams scrambled to make last minute additions to their roster in the final stretch of the regular season.

Valtteri Hämäläinen joins Kankaanpää from KPL until the end of the season. 

Tuomas Lönnmark remains at Alajärvi until the end of the season. 

Jani Ahonen returns to Kiteen Pallo -90 from loan to Haminan Palloilijoiden for the rest of the season.

Valtteri Piirainen and Ville Veittikoski join Koskenkorva from Sotkamon Jymy A side (Ykköspesis) until the end of the season. Both players are tipped to be future superstars in Superpesis and this experience will be invaluable.

Joensuun Maila announce new manager for 2020-2021
The current champions have named their next manager for the 2020 and 2021 season: Mikko Korhonen. If you want to know how to win championships, you need someone who has sailed those waters time and time again, JoMa have found such a man in Mikko Korhonen. Mikko has an outstanding CV as a player, with over 300 Superpesis games, 10 championship series appearances and 2 series wins (2014 and 2015). If that was not enough, Mikko has also had a good deal of success at Sotkamon Jymy as manager of the Ykköspesis “A” side for the last 2 years. 

In interview Mikko Korhonen spoke of his managing style:
“My coaching and leadership style is very human. After all, this is true for myself while jumping into a new and unknown, but as long as this season gets to work and get to know the framework, as well as the players, you will definitely be able to pass on your professional skills. I can at least promise it at this point.” (Translated  via Google)

We at Superpesis Roundup wish Mikko all the best in his new role next season and look forward to seeing how JoMa perform under his leadership.

Under the spotlight
Photograph from Kempele Facebook (c) Kempeleen Kiri 2019
The team who really need to put in a performance this coming week is Kempeleen Kiri - they are the only team to have lost the last 5 games and really should have been aiming for a playoff spot given their performance in the first half of the season. Kempele will face 2 of the top 3 teams in the coming week (Vimpeli and KPL) and must turn in a performance to avoid taking two 0 point losses and straying into relegation territory.

The table

As another week ends in the men’s Superpesis, here is a rundown of the league table:

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