Mika-Matti Petteri Paatelainen was born on 3 February 1967 and is a Finnish former professional football player and the head coach of Veikkausliiga club HIFK.
36 Facts About Mixu Paatelainen
2.
Mixu Paatelainen scored 18 goals in 70 appearances for the Finnish national team, which makes him Finland's all time thirteenth most capped player and fifth top goalscorer.
3.
Mixu Paatelainen is the eldest of three brothers, all of whom have played professional football.
4.
Mixu Paatelainen had a 20-year playing career, playing for nine clubs in four countries.
5.
Mixu Paatelainen played for Valkeakosken Haka in Finland, Bolton Wanderers and Wolverhampton Wanderers in England and RC Strasbourg in France.
6.
Mixu Paatelainen left that position by mutual consent after 18 months.
7.
Mixu Paatelainen was Kilmarnock manager for less than one season, but enjoyed personal success during that time.
8.
Mixu Paatelainen was appointed manager of the Finland national team in March 2011, a position he held until June 2015.
9.
Mixu Paatelainen was appointed as Dundee United manager in October 2015, parting company with the club in May 2016 after their relegation to the Scottish Championship.
10.
Mixu Paatelainen has subsequently managed Ubon United in Thailand, and the national teams of Latvia and Hong Kong.
11.
Mixu Paatelainen played 48 league matches for Haka, scoring 18 goals.
12.
Mixu Paatelainen was the club's top scorer for the following two seasons, and in total scored 47 times in 173 matches for United.
13.
Mixu Paatelainen played in two cup finals during his time at Pittodrie, but lost to Rangers in October 1992 in the League Cup Final and in May 1993 lost to the same opposition in the Scottish Cup Final.
14.
Mixu Paatelainen failed to score for Wolves in the league but scored four times in their FA Cup run, with goals against Darlington, Charlton Athletic and Wimbledon.
15.
Mixu Paatelainen scored once in the League Cup, against Queens Park Rangers.
16.
Mixu Paatelainen left Hibs in 2001 to sign for French club Strasbourg.
17.
Mixu Paatelainen then returned to Hibs for one season, where he combined his playing duties with coaching the youths.
18.
Mixu Paatelainen then transferred to St Mirren, where he served as an assistant manager.
19.
Mixu Paatelainen played his first international match on 9 September 1986, against East Germany.
20.
Mixu Paatelainen signed his brothers Markus and Mikko for the club.
21.
On 21 October 2006, Mixu Paatelainen resigned as manager of Cowdenbeath to join Finnish club TPS.
22.
Mixu Paatelainen guided TPS to third place and UEFA Intertoto Cup qualification in what was to be his only season in charge.
23.
Mixu Paatelainen was linked with the managerial vacancy at former club Hibernian in December 2007, and he was appointed on 10 January 2008.
24.
Mixu Paatelainen commented upon taking the job that he wanted to make Hibs play a bit more direct, which he later claimed was misinterpreted as him wanting to play a long ball game.
25.
Mixu Paatelainen took the Hibs job at a time when they had only won one of their previous ten games and had slipped into the bottom half of the Scottish Premier League.
26.
Mixu Paatelainen was criticised by Abdessalam Benjelloun, who accused Paatelainen of favouring outdated long ball tactics.
27.
Mixu Paatelainen responded by saying that Benjelloun was "frustrated" at not being a regular pick for club or country.
28.
Mixu Paatelainen has earned plaudits from the Scottish media for his early work with Kilmarnock.
29.
Mixu Paatelainen won the manager of the month award for December 2010, as Kilmarnock continued their good start with two league wins, against Hibernian and Inverness CT, and a draw at Celtic Park.
30.
Mixu Paatelainen was appointed as the new Finland head coach on 31 March 2011.
31.
On 14 June 2015 Mixu Paatelainen was sacked following his fourth defeat in a row during the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying campaign.
32.
Mixu Paatelainen was announced as the new head coach of Dundee United in October 2015, having signed a contract until 2018.
33.
Mixu Paatelainen was unable to prevent the side from relegation, which was confirmed by a Dundee derby defeat on 2 May 2016, and he left United two days later.
34.
Mixu Paatelainen was appointed head coach of the Latvia national team in May 2018.
35.
Mixu Paatelainen was appointed as the head coach of the Hong Kong representative team in April 2019 on a two-year contract, succeeding Gary White.
36.
However after the club's relegation, Mixu Paatelainen was sacked having only obtained a single win during the season.