Simo Valakari still holds the ambition to one day manage Motherwell – and says his heart remains in the North Lanarkshire town.
The 48-year-old Finn – whose son Onni is Motherwell-born and made the Finland squad at Euro 2020 last month – put his hat in the ring to take over as boss when Mark McGhee was sacked in 2017, but lost out to Stephen Robinson.
Ex-midfielder Valakari says he doesn’t know how close he came to the Fir Park hot seat, but hopes one day to return to Motherwell in that capacity, having played for them from 1996-2000.
“I miss Motherwell,” he said, “I had a beautiful four years there playing and the experience of Scottish football, playing those big matches against Rangers, Celtic, and teams like that, so it was good.
“I don’t know if I was close [to getting the job] but my ambition is one day to coach abroad.
“I’ve done that already in Norway for three years [at Tromso], but to be able to coach in the UK or in Scotland would be my dream, because I really loved the football and the culture.
“Motherwell always has a special place in my heart, because that was the first professional team I played for, and I had a very good connection with the fans and things like that.
“Someday to manage them would be a dream.
“I would love the opportunity, but I need to be successful at what I do and maybe one day I will get the chance.”
Valakari says coaching wasn’t on his radar at all, and he fell into it almost by accident – but was instantly hooked.
“It’s a funny story because I was playing at Abo IFK and I was always thinking there’s no way I’m going to coach, because I always saw the managers being the first in and last to leave, so when I’m done with the football I’m going to do something else.
“But then in 2010 I got a knee injury and couldn’t play any more, I had to stop. They were looking for a coach for their reserve team, and the owner of the club said ‘you have one more year of your contract with us, would you like to try and coach’.
“After the first training session I thought ‘man, I can teach these players something’ and then I fell in love with it.
“I have a chance to be a better coach than I was a player, and at the same time through coaching I understand how little I knew about football, so that makes it even more rewarding.
“It’s so complicated and you work with people with different personalities, get all those things to work together, and then you have opponents that you have to think about as well.
“Not one day is the same, and now I’m falling in love with coaching.
“I love to be with the players on the field, that’s where I get the most satisfaction.”
One of Simo’s three sons, Onni, was with Finland’s squad at the Euros, when they qualified for a major tournament for the first time ever.
Finland didn’t get out of the group stages and Onni didn’t play, but Valakari said: “Onni forced his way into the team in the last year, because it had been postponed by one year, so at least he got the chance to be in the squad.
“It was very good for him, but first he was happy to get into the team, then he wasn’t playing so he was not happy.
“He would like to have got some minutes, but that’s how it is, he knows you need to be good enough to play.
“It was a big experience for him, but especially for Finnish football, because it was the first time ever we were in a championship.”
Onni is Motherwell-born, but only stayed for a year before Simo moved to Derby County. However, Simo wants to bring his family back over for at least a holiday one day soon.
He said: “We all plan to come back to Scotland for a holiday once things get back to normal. I keep contact there, so I want to see how much it has changed, but also have that same lovely feeling when you walk into Fir Park.”
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