Finland
Stuart took over as National Team Manager from his friend Roy Hodgson in 2008. Drawn in a Group with Germany and Russia, qualification for the 2010 World Cup was too much, although they did manage a credible draw against Germany in Stuart's first game in charge. Stuart's remit is to ensure qualification for the Euros in 2012.
Because of its proximity, I went in thinking Finland wouldn't be dissimilar to Sweden, Norway and Denmark - all places I had experience - but it's not like them at all. In terms of the society, yeh it's Scandic - it's democratic and the structure's the same - but in terms of the people and their behaviour, to me it's more like Asia. There's more in common with my experiences from Japan - the players, albeit not as outspoken as the Norwegians for example, have a quietly fiery temperament.
They're hugely ambitious at the moment too, which is fantastic for me as a coach - they're enthusiastic to break the mould and take the next step for Finnish Football. While the Swedes for example have had the World Cup and European Championships, the Finns haven't had that stimulus - I'm hoping it will happen now.
As a country, Finland's a very pretty place - although from a footballing point of view, geographically it's difficult to monitor - it's very big for the amount of Clubs and the players are well spread out. The question that needs answering now is can the country support a League of that many Clubs and still retain quality? There needs to be a balance.
I'm really enjoying working in Finland, the players are great to work with, especially the experienced players like Sami Hyypia and Jari Litmanen - they're fantastic ambassadors for Finnish Football and the Finnish temperament.
