"They asked me about him and I gave my thoughts," said Niemi.
"It is not difficult to guess that they were very positive. I know he is a wonderful manager with great experience so personally I am pleased he is with us now.
"When I was with the Finland team, it was always the defence first and, for me, that is absolutely brilliant.
"He is very good at organising teams.
"Obviously when you are in the relegation zone, as a goalkeeper you think you are probably leaking too many goals.
"That is what he is really good at - organising the defence. That is what I am really looking forward to!
"There is nothing wrong with us playing football - we can pass the ball pretty well at times - we just need that bit of steel back in the team, a bit of backbone. It looks a bit shaky at times so that is probably the first thing he will try and fix."