Betting League | HJK’s head coach sat in Yle’s studio just hours before the big game – now Olli-Pekka Lyytikäinen comments

The betting league HJK, who started the season with a bang, will meet KuPS in the top match of the series on Wednesday night.

The people of Kuopio are at the top of the league and HJK are three points behind as third in the league, so the stakes of the match for the rest of the season are massively high.

Head coach of HJK Toni Korkeakunnas however, prepared for the match in a rather relaxed way. In fact, he was seen early in the evening at Yle’s newsroom as an expert commentator on the Croatia-Albania match of the European Championship.

The European Championship match ended after 6 p.m., and the HJK–KuPS match starts at 9 p.m. IS reached the chairman of HJK Olli-Pekka Lyytikainen to comment on a special and talked about case on social media.

Korkeakunnas was hired as HJK’s head coach at the end of May.

Why is the head coach in Yle’s studio just hours before HJK’s important battle for the top?

“Yle’s gig must have been arranged long before he signed a contract with us. Today, that commentary gig won’t cause any problems, because our match doesn’t start until 21:00. The team meets at 19:30. Before then, Toni has a short speaking gig at the stadium, and he has time for that too.”

Is the Yle gig the optimal way to prepare for your own match to be played the same evening?

“It doesn’t matter. All tactical nuances regarding our match have been discussed long before today.”

Have there been discussions within HJK about Korkeakunnas’ TV work?

“When we made the contract, we knew that he has these commitments. He must have considered with Yle that the games have been chosen in such a way that they do not affect his work. There has been no further discussion on the subject. As an experienced coach, he understands himself” when he can be absent.

What kind of message does Korkeakunnas’ solution send to the Finnish football field? The head coach of the biggest team handles television work on an important game day.

“I don’t see it as any kind of message. It fit our schedules this time. The preparation for the match has been done long before today, and he will arrive when everyone else does.”