This is how the new SCB coach Jussi Tapola taps: “He lets you know when you are lazy”

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The SCB has made its choice. Sports director Andrew Ebbett (40) was not deterred by the failed commitments of Johan Lundskog (Sd, 38) and Toni Söderholm (Fi, 45) to bring another coach from Scandinavia. Jussi Tapola (48), who has signed for two years, has much more experience as a head coach than his two predecessors.

In recent years he has been followed by success. With Tappara Tampere, he not only won his fourth Finnish national title this season after 2016, 2017 and 2022, but also the Champions League.

Only interrupted by a trip to Chinese KHL club Kunlun in 2018/19, he spent ten years in various positions at Tappara. The flagship club had only two head coaches at the time and was extremely attractive to young players as they paid good wages by Finnish standards and prospects for success and development are excellent.

Tapola’s motto at Tappara was “defense first”

Not only SCB sports director Ebbett says that Tapola is a “demanding personality”. You can also hear that from his homeland. “He lets you know when you’re lazy,” says Timo Kunnari, hockey journalist at Iltalethi.

You can also describe Tapola as a younger version of Kari Jalonen (63), the last SCB master coach. No spectacular hockey is to be expected from Tapola either. Tappara played under him under the motto “defense first”. This may also have been a reason why the number of spectators decreased at the beginning of the season despite the state-of-the-art World Cup arena and it was decided to split up at the end of the season.

At SCB, however, the times are probably over when coaches like Larry Huras were fired in 2011 because the fans weren’t entertained enough. After four years of horror, Bern thirsts for success. And the great Bernese teams were always built on a solid defensive foundation.

“I hope fans, media and club officials are patient”

Some observers point out that Tapola needed time with Tappara to implement his ideas. “I hope that fans, media and club officials will be patient,” said Kunnari. However, patience has not been one of SCB’s distinguishing features in recent years. Tapola is the sixth manager since Jalonen’s sacking in 2020.

Ever since Tapola was on the market, it was always heard that he spoke too little English for a job at a major Swiss club and was not a good communicator. But in conversations with Ebbett, the Finn surprised in this regard. However, SCB’s press release states that the 48-year-old is not a “fan of big words”. “I prefer to let performance and results speak for themselves. The team must earn the support of the best fans in Europe.”

The question will be how he can hold his own in the sometimes toxic Bernese environment after wielding a lot of power in Tampere. Everyone says he has the necessary strong personality. He’s also a bit stubborn, says Kunnari, adding with a smile, “Like all Finnish men of that age.”

Source : Blick