NEIL LENNON famously brought Teemu Pukki to Celtic Park during his first stint at the club. The striker was brought in to ironically replace Gary Hooper who had signed for Norwich City at the time.
The Finnish star came in with little reputation but as a Celtic striker – the weight expectation is there from day one.
If you’re a striker at Celtic and you don’t score within your first two games you are already considered a questionable signing.
Teemu didn’t have that problem, scoring on his debut, the player probably got this in reverse. Many fans praising the player and hanging their hat on him scoring a barrell load of goals in the season to come.
Looking back on Teemu’s run there was a lot of starts and stops, the player rarely getting the chance for a prolonged run in the side. Neil Lennon trying to negotiate a league title has little room for perceived passengers. In the season Teemu was at the club, it would be attacking midfielder Kris Commons who would find his shooting boots and become Celtic’s top goalscorer.
Pukki was disregarded at this point and allowed to go out on loan. He never got another game for Celtic and made the permanent move away from the club not long after.
We didn’t hear much from the lad until he popped up at Norwich on a free transfer at the beginning of last season. Many Celtic fans curious about the player coming back to the UK but confident not much would happen for the player.
Well, Teemu made things happen.
The striker became a Norwich hero and was the catalyst behind the club getting back to the Premier League.
So far his Norwich career stats read – 50 appearances, 35 goals and 11 assists. That includes his fine personal start to the Premier League where the player has scored five goals already.
As our social media man says, timing can be everything in football and sometimes a player can click.
Teemu Pukki Has Just Been Named Premier League Player of the Month.
Fair play to the lad.
Some lessons in his situation for sure. Timing can be everything and never judge a player too early. pic.twitter.com/4TY02GFQlO
— CeltsAreHere (@HereCelts) September 13, 2019
Norwich will tell you it’s much more complex than that. David McNally claiming there was science behind capturing the player. Checking out Pukki’s stats – he was getting on the end of a lot of chances at Brondby that Norwich were similarly creating the season before.
The Canaries showing there are absolute bargains to be had if you do your homework. Grabbing Teemu on a free could be one of the best bits of business the club has ever done.
