Favourite Players

Mixu Paatelainen is my all time Hibernian hero for a variety of reasons. First of all, he was my favourite player when he was playing in England for Bolton Wanderers as I'm a Bolton supporter. He became one of my all time favourite "Wanderers" after he scored in extra time in the epic 4-3 victory over Reading in the 1995 First Division play off final at Wembley in London. He also scored the equalising goal away to local rivals Manchester City in a match which confirmed Bolton as 96/97 First Division champions. Despite him then signing for Bolton's rivals, Wolverhampton Wanderers, I still followed "Moose's" fortunes and was absolutely delighted when he rolled in to Easter Road. Moose never quite rediscovered his form which he showed during 94/95, partly due to a badly broken leg which kept him out for over 18 months up until March 1997, prior to him scoring against City in May of that year. However, he still put out some mighty fine performances for the Hibees, including his famous hat trick in the historic 6-2 victory over local rivals Hearts in the Edinburgh derby in the 2000/2001 season. Mixu departed Easter Road in the summer of 2001, looking for a new challenge and signing for French club Strasbourg. I still follow Mixu's fortunes as he nears to the end of his illustrious career for particularly Bolton, Finland and of course Hibs.