Hannu Tihinen

[NordicMonkey]

Hi mates!
wanted to share this story with you.

I live in Helsinki, Finland and suddenly met former Finland and once a Hammer defender Hannu Tihinen. I went to say hello and we talked about footy and of course his short period in West Ham. He really loves his time at Upton Park and remembered it with Di Canio when HJK Helsinki legends played against AC Milan legends at Helsinki this summer.

Hannu said that one of his greatest memories in football was that away win against Man Utd. Di Canio scored while Barthez waved his hand for offside. Over 9000 away fans went nuts.

Awful shame that the permanent transfer failed to happen. He's true professional and legend in Finland who bossed alongside Sami Hyypia in Finland's national team for over a decade, played in Champions League many years with Anderlecht and even scored with backheel(!!! ) at San Siro against AC Milan.

The real question for me is, how the hell Harry Redknapp couldn't see that potential...

The big man was happy

[happyhammer4eva]

Hannu was immense for us the short time he was here. I remember him being great in the air, read the game well, was a solid player.
I along with many fans were disappointed when we never signed him permanently, fu(k knows why...

[NordicMonkey]

Hannu was immense for us the short time he was here. I remember him being great in the air, read the game well, was a solid player.
I along with many fans were disappointed when we never signed him permanently, fu(k knows why...

I think you're absolutely spot on Happy Hammer

I somehow remember that Harry thought that asking price was too high. But is around 2-3M£ high anyway? I think that the Wheeler-Dealer was too in love with his bargain-buy-status that any price that was not decided by him was too high. What I mean is that Harry on the other hand paid crazy salaries for his free agents like Paolo Futre, Raducioiu, Dumitrescu and you can add the list as long as you want

Anyway, Hannu had a fantastic career, I'm just sad that the period in West Ham didn't last long. He's very much same kind of a character like Mark Noble. Reliable, good leader, always ready to shift and the most loyal player.

It's impossible to see

[FLAIRON]

He was a quality player.