1994 and bronze medal in 1996 Malinen stepped at TPS into the limelight as one of the most promising managers in Finnish Premier League. MyPa In 1998 Malinen moved from the former capital of Finland to the opposite side of Finland, to MyPa and small town of Anjalankoski. Backed by the strong local forest industry magnates, Malinen was given quite free hands at combining his team. This was the first time when he had some leverage - even the TPS, one of the biggest Finnish clubs, was cash-strapped. Malinen's time at MyPa was somewhat successful (4 medals but only limited UEFA Cup success). MyPa's current manager Ilkka Mäkelä came on board during those times as an assistant manager. KuPS In 2004, Malinen took over as manager of KuPS, one of Finland's most traditional and successful clubs, who had just been relegated to the Ykkönen. Malinen revamped the team, bringing in experienced players from MyPa, revamping the youth system and overseeing the construction of a new stadium. KuPS won the 2004 Ykkönen, returning to the Veikkausliiga at their first attempt. With emerging talents such as Berat Sadik, Pyry Kärkkäinen, Medo and Patrick Bantamoi, KuPS won their first Finnish League Cup in 2006, but ended the year with relegation, which saw the departure of Malinen. Shakhter Karagandy In February 2007, Malinen was appointed as manager of Kazakhstan Premier League side Shakhter Karagandy and the Kazakhstan U-21 Team. Malinen left Shakhter Karagandy after just 7 months, but remained as the Kazakhstan U-21 manager until the end of 2007. Racism controversy On taking over as coach of RoPS in April 2014, Malinen courted controversy with his comments about foreign players, especially coloured players, in the team. Malinen had told newspaper Iltalehti: "We have the league's most Finnish team. ... Just a few years back RoPS had 13 black men. We've managed to put that completely behind us. We've recruited players with names that get pronounced correctly and the Finns know them." Weighing up the negative press Malinen later replied: "I get along with all nationalities." Media work Besides his coaching career, Malinen has worked as a football commentator for Yle TV1 & Yle TV2 since 2000. Honours KuPS Ykkönen: 2004 Finnish League Cup: 2006 RoPS Finnish Cup: 2013 References 1958 births Living people Finnish football managers Sportspeople from Oulu Kuopion Palloseura managers Rauman Pallo football managers TPS Turku football managers Finnish expatriate football managers