SCOTLAND manager George Burley today praised the impact that Hibs boss Mixu Paatelainen has had at the club since being appointed at the turn of the year.
The Finn took charge at Easter Road in January and has transformed the fortunes of a team that were struggling towards the bottom end of the SPL table yet now find themselves vying for European qualification. Paatelainen, a firm favourite among the
Hibs support from his playing days, has injected some much-needed confidence in his playing staff that appeared lacking in the final months of previous boss John Collins' reign.
With six games of the campaign remaining it looks like being a straight fight between Hibs, Dundee United and Motherwell for the remaining UEFA Cup berth despite Paatelainen's insistence that his side are simply taking one game at a time and trying to finish as high up the table as possible.
And Burley, speaking at the launch of the Royal Mail PFA Manager of the Year award at Hampden Park – the votes for which are cast by managers of all 40 senior clubs in the SPL and SFL – revealed he has been impressed with the way Paatelainen has gone about his business.
"Mixu Paatelainen has come in at Hibs and done great," said Burley, who saw his Scotland side draw 1-1 with Croatia in his first game in charge of the national side last week.
"He has Hibs knocking on the door for third position at the moment yet when he came in they were down the league a fair bit so he deserves credit.
"He has them playing well and getting results and should be pleased with how things have gone. I think he's done exceptionally well."
As always it will be the Old Firm bosses who are favourites to scoop the manager's accolade in Scotland although Burley was quick to point out that just because Rangers and Celtic are battling it out for the championship doesn't mean that Gordon Strachan – last season's winner – and Walter Smith should necessarily top the polls this time.
Burley picked up the English equivalent of the prize in 2000/2001 after guiding unfancied Ipswich Town to fifth place in the Premiership and an unlikely place in Europe in their first season back in the top flight.
And the former Hearts manager stressed that the financial constraints and limitations that bosses have to work within has to be taken into account when voting for who has fared best over the campaign. "I won this award in England in 2000/2001 and looking back it's probably the biggest personal accolade I could have got as a club manager," said the former Hearts boss.
"It was a fantastic achievement for myself and one that I will always remember.
"I think when I won it, the resources I had to work with and the squad I had were taken into consideration and I think you have to do that.
"A good manager is able to get the best out the players he has. You have to get the right staff around you and every club has their own resources and their own expectations.
"Some clubs expect to win every game while others are simply looking to survive with the resources that they have. It should be judged on how you fare compared to how you were expected to do.
In Scotland if you look at Craig Levein with Dundee United, they were a little bit unfortunate to lose against Rangers in the CIS Cup final. They could have had a cup and are in third position just now so have had a terrific season so far and have probably done better than anybody would have thought.
"At Motherwell Mark McGhee really started like a house on fire and they've played some great football.
"The cancellations of so many of their games hasn't helped them recently but they got a good result at the weekend and have had a good season.
"At Aberdeen, Jimmy Calderwood has had some fantastic results in Europe and probably got further than would have been expected at the start of the season so it's certainly not cut and dried who is going to win it.
"There are a lot of good managers in Scotland and when (all the] managers are casting their votes they certainly face a difficult decision."
The full article contains 732 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
