Pukki, Teemu

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Fullname: Teemu Pukki
Born: 29 Mar 1990
Birthplace: Kotka, Finland
Signed: 31 Aug 2013 (from Schalke)
Left: 1 Sep 2014 (loan to Brondby); 19 Jun 2016 (perm to Brondby, est £500k)
Position: Centre-Forward
Debut: Hearts 1-3 Celtic, Scottish Premiership, 14 Sep 2013 (scored once)
Squad No.: 20
Internationals: Finland
International Caps: ? [complete at end of career]
International Goals: ? [complete at end of career]

Biog

When Teemu Pukki arrived at Celtic, he was the new great white hope for the club to help lead the front line.

Having lost the well regarded and talented Gary Hooper, it was hoped that Pukki could soon fit in and make the support move on from Gary Hooper. A lot resting on his shoulders, but with a set of settled Celtic players alongside him to support him (e.g. Samaras, Stokes, Commons etc) then it was expected he’d at least get off the ground easily enough. It wasn’t to be.

Things started so well as he came on as a sub v Hearts in the opening league match in September 2013 and he duly scored from a cross from Stokes. Good goal and it was a positive start. A further goal in his second league game showed potential and ability.

Then things took a drastic slump and he didn’t recover till late in the season by which time everyone had already made their minds up. Despite all the huffing and puffing, and opportunities he was given he wasn’t to score again until December. A better second half of the season saw him grab four further goals, but a total of 7 goals in 33 games was quite a gulf from the forecasts. Taking in that the whole strikeforce was underperforming and relying on Kris Commons in the 2013/14 until the arrival of Griffiths put the pressure on Pukki and his counterparts in the front line.

The truth is that he was actually a skilful player, with good footwork and controlled the ball well. Yet he wasn’t able to get more out of his game to translate into goals or assists. The more he persisted the more he failed and the more his confidence dipped. He was a hard working and dedicated player. You couldn’t fault him for effort. He didn’t hide in a game but at times he just seemed like he was making up the numbers.

As as player, he was not an out and out forward. He couldn’t lead the line or play on the shoulder of the last man. Clearly he was not a clinical finisher. His best position would likely be one of a main striker or in the hole behind a front two yet he was played there and in any case, Commons had the position wrapped up for himself. When Pukki came on for Commons on occasions it was Stokes who dropped a bit deeper with Pukki upfront.

Some players take time to settle and sometimes the player just doesn’t fit at a club. Ex-Celt Chris Sutton simply stated this point publicly comparing the situation to his own whilst at Chelsea, and few could disagree. So time to “cut our losses”, with Leigh Griffiths expected to jump ahead in the queue for the striker’s role.

Despite the inauspicious first season and mostly forgettable time at Celtic, he was awarded by his Finnish countrymen the award for the best sporting moment for Finland in 2013 for his goal v Spain, so some good news at least for him. Nothing good at Celtic.

Into 2014/15, it was thought that maybe with the new manager (Deila), who was also Scandinavian, things would be better for him. A double v Reykjavik in the European Cup early rounds seemed to bode well but the start of the season was a disaster for Celtic and a clear-out was needed, and he himself had little further convinced in his handful of matches. When you looked at Pukki’s scoring record at Celtic, and broke it down, he really had performed poorly.

He was loaned out to Brondby (Denmark) for the sake of his own career if nothing else. It wasn’t going to work out at Celtic for him. He had lost his confidence.

On his departure on loan, he made a silly & unnecessary remark castigating the weakness of the Scottish Premiership. Daft as firstly if it was so poor then it didn’t reflect well on him having not succeeded here, plus he was moving to the Danish league which was actually even poorer. It just gave critics the opportunity to get stuck into him, although in general he hadn’t done much wrong as a person during his time at the club and really there should be no bad blood with him. He had actually made notes prior to the move that he had expected the Scottish League to be easier than he experienced, the strength and speed surprising him.

He had just come from the German leagues which were beginning to enjoy a golden period, however he had failed at Schalke, but also in Spain with Seville. So his failure at Celtic shouldn’t have been a surprise, and if anything he likely should have come only on trial and not been given as long a contract as originally awarded.

If you had to be straight-forward on Pukki, then to summarise you would say that despite the potential talent, he was lacking what is required to be a great player at a major club: heart, confidence and the will to win. These are attributes that any player who wants to make it at Celtic needs to have. Maybe he was better suited to a less pressurised environment with fewer ambitions & lower expectations.

He signed permanently for Brondby for £500k in June 2015 as it was best to cut losses and for all to move on.

Post-Celtic

After a few good years at Brondby, in time he won a transfer to the English Championship to Norwich, and he had finally matured as a player and became a high scorer in that second tier. It was a tough league, and he had finally been able to handle pressure & expectations, something that he clearly couldn’t whilst at Celtic. He helped them to win the second tier title and promotion to the top tier, ending as the top scorer in that league.

He had come of age at Norwich, and finally managed to handle pressure and work out of his comfort zone, something he struggled to adapt to at Celtic when younger. However, with few goals to show for all his time in the top tier in England, it proved the point that really the lower tiers was his level.

Some were to question whether Celtic should have actually have kept him and persevered with him, but few were convinced that Celtic should have. Regardless, it was good to see he had finally made a name for himself and had finally made a success of his career, albeit late on.

Norwich got relegated, but he helped bounce them back up to the top tier again, and unsurprisingly back down again. After a failed attempt to bounce back up again, he left Norwich, and moved on to the burgeoning MLS, moving to Minnesota Utd (a state with a strong Scandanavian heritage).

On the international front, he helped Finland reach Euro 2020 (actually played in 2021), which Scotland also reached. It was Finland’s first time reaching an international championships, and he played his part in a surprise 1-0 win in their opening match v Denmark who were eventual semi-finalists.

[…]

“I’d bring back Pukki. He was quiet at Celtic. He always worked hard and put defenders under pressure.”
“But when he first came he didn’t look like a natural goalscorer. When I see him playing with Norwich, he’s obviously had that little bit more experience, he’s flying.”
“For a natural goalscorer, I would take Pukki because no matter what you always need one of them. We’ve got Griff [Leigh Griffiths] just now, and Odsonne [Edouard] who can produce that, but you can never have enough firepower.”
”He [Pukki] was quiet but a really nice man. Every morning he used to wear the same terrible Adidas trainers. They were about eight year old… his barnet was shocking as well!”
“When he played for us he didn’t get that much game time, he didn’t get many opportunities.
“He didn’t probably score the amount of goals that we hoped he would score.”
Scott Brown (2020)

Playing Career

Honours with Celtic

Scottish League

• 2013-14

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KDS

• Joins Celitc (Aug 2013)

Articles

Finnish forward Teemu Pukki joins Celtic in four-year deal from Schalke 04

STV 31 August 2013 10:31 BST

Teemu Pukki has penned a four-year contract with Neil Lennon’s side.bossfaneldorado

Teemu Pukki has completed his move to Celtic from German Bundesliga side Schalke 04, signing a four-year contract.

The Finland international forward is the second player recruited by Neil Lennon this week, joining Israeli midfielder Nir Biton, who signed on Friday.

Despite playing in the UEFA Champions League qualifying rounds for Schalke 04, Pukki is eligible to play for Celtic in the group stage of the competition.

Pukki started his career with FC KooTeePee before moving to Sevilla in 2008, making two appearances for the top team before returning to his native Finland with HJK Helsinki.

After 13 goals in 29 domestic appearances across two seasons, as well as five in six European matches, a move to Germany with Schalke 04 followed in 2011 in a £1.3m switch.

Pukki struggled for playing time in the Bundesliga, starting just seven of his 36 appearances for the club over two seasons, scoring on eight occasions.

He featured more regularly in the Champions League last season with Schalke, starting three of his five games without finding the net.

At international level, Pukki has scored six goals in 24 appearances and was on target in a World Cup qualifier with Spain in March.

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Teemu Pukki makes permanent switch to Brondby

http://www.celticfc.net/news/8461
STRIKER Teemu Pukki has joined Brondby IF on a permanent deal following a successful loan spell last season.The Finnish forward joined the Danish side last summer and scored nine goals for the Superliga team, helping the club finish third in the league.The 25-year-old has now signed a three-year contract at Brondby after finishing the season as their top scorer.Pukki joined Celtic in 2013 on a four-year deal following time at German giants Schalke 04.He scored on his debut as a substitute in an away match against Hearts and also found the net on his home debut against St Johnstone on September 21, 2013.Over the course of his first campaign Pukki bagged seven goals in total and clocked up 32 appearances, mostly from the bench.He enjoyed a fruitful pre-season with Celtic last year and went on to score a double against KR Reykjavik in the UEFA Champions League qualifiers but struggled to carry that form into the league before moving to Denmark for a season on loan.The striker made 37 appearances in total for the Hoops, scoring nine goals.Celtic Football Club would like to wish Teemu all the very best and every success at his new club.

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Neil Lennon: Ex-Celtic man Teemu Pukki won’t become Superman

http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/teams/hibernian/neil-lennon-ex-celtic-man-teemu-pukki-won-t-become-superman-1-4173620

By ALAN PATTULLO

Published:00:00 Sunday 10 July 2016

Neil Lennon admits the trouble with Teemu Pukki at Celtic was his withdrawn personality. However, the Hibs manager is far from willing to concede the £3 million Finnish striker’s time with Celtic was a write-off.

The pair will be reunited this week when Brondby, where Pukki is now, travel to face Hibs for a Europa League qualifying round tie. Lennon, appointed Hibs manager earlier this summer, is relishing an encounter in which he knows Hibs have little to lose.

Part of the appeal is catching up again with Pukki, who scored nine times in 38 appearances for Celtic when Lennon was manager.

Lennon knows Hibs will need to beware someone who, on his day, could be described as a quiet assassin. But the manager also stressed that Pukki’s struggles at Parkhead underlines how it is possible to contain him.

Garry Parker, Lennon’s assistant, watched Pukki, pictured, score twice in Brondby’s 6-0 win over Valur on Thursday night, when the Danish side secured a tie with Hibs. But Lennon will remind his defenders they have no reason to be scared of the striker, just as they have no reason to feel intimidated by Brondby.

“They are not Barcelona,” he said. Furthermore, Lennon implied, Pukki is no Henrik Larsson.

“Listen, he is not going to turn into Superman just because he has got a move to Brondby,” he said. “He still has the same attributes; good feet, okay with his back to goal and he will go in behind as well.

“He has never been the most physical of players, he was never that type. He will be a similar sort of player as what you saw at Celtic but maybe a bit more comfortable in the Scandinavian environment.

“He’s not the first person to come to Glasgow and not hit the ground running,” added Lennon. “He is a quiet boy. He had a few injury problems as well and at a club like Celtic, when you’re brought in for money, you have to score goals.

“And he wasn’t really an out-and-out goalscorer. He played within himself a little bit, I thought. He didn’t really show his capabilities.

“He’s very quiet. I don’t know if it was too big for him because he had been at Sevilla and at Schalke, so he had been at big clubs. He was never prolific but we felt he had the qualities we wanted but he would maybe say he never got the chance to show that on a consistent basis.”

Whether Pukki should be put in the same bracket as misfit Celtic strikers such as Stefan Scepovic, Mo Bangura and Morten Rasmussen, Lennon is not so sure.

“I think his time probably was harshly assessed,” he said. “He did okay but I wouldn’t say he was a complete disaster. But he may feel he didn’t get enough chances, which maybe is fair.”

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