Cultured, composed and tough in the tackle, Tainio is oddly injury prone for a player so keen to put himself about
The versatile midfielder was brought in by Sunderland boss Roy Keane joining the club from Tottenham for an undisclosed fee in July 2008.
Tainio began his career at TP-47, moving on to rival Finnish club FC Haka before being snapped up by French club Auxerre in 1997.
Tainio stayed at the club for eight years, helping the side to reach the Champions League in 2002 as well as winning the French Cup a year later. Tainio spent three seasons at Spurs, establishing himself as a first team regular under Martin Jol making 83 appearances for Spurs in three years in London.
However when the Dutchman was sacked, the Finn found himself down the pecking order under the newly installed boss, Juande Ramos.
Despite this he played 25 minutes of the Carling Cup final win over Chelsea as an extra-time substitute.