NEIL LENNON has used one of his former Celtic players to prove a point that some can be too quick to judge after both Christopher Jullien and Boli Bolingoli have come in for some harsh criticism.
The Irishman has cited Teemu Pukki’s rise in England as a reason for not being too quick to judge.
Pukki was signed under Neil Lennon in his first run as manager of the club and only scored nine goals in the full season the Finnish star was at Parkhead. However, after a move back to Brondby and then a free transfer to Norwich and the player suddenly came alive like never before.
Helping Norwich to the Premier League and in his first two games in the top flight, he’s banged in four goals.
Speaking about his former player, Neil was happy for the striker and gave some insight into what went on behind the scenes to get him to the club in the first place.
“We went to Finland to watch Pukki and it was quite a funny story.” Lennon told SunSport.
“He was playing for his international team and myself and Johan Mjallby flew over to Helsinki.
“We went to the Olympic Stadium and there was nobody there. Turned out we’d gone to the wrong city!
“We had to go back to the airport and hop on another flight. We ended up catching Pukki for the last half hour of the game.
“But he showed more than enough in that 30 minutes to convince us to take a punt on him.
“He did OK, he was only a young lad back then. But he’s matured into a top striker now.
“Pukki had a spell at Brondby and when I was at Hibs, he played against us and did OK. But he’s become explosive since then and has really kicked on at Norwich in the last two seasons.
“Pukki’s an exciting Premier League player now and I doubt very much few people would have seen that coming.
“Pukki had a year or so at Celtic and only scored nine goals.
“Now he’s one of the most sought after players in England. It’s a great story and fantastic for him.
