Might Pukki and/or Baldé have a future here yet?

Problem is what you've described at the end there is Leigh Griffiths, who is younger and has hit something like 17 in his last 20 odd games.

 

They both should get one more game together in a friendly or something

 

Pukki wasn't happy at Celtic, but he's happy in Denmark. A big reason is his national team buddy, goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky. So perhaps Celtic should sign another Finn and Pukki would feel more at home! Plenty of Finnish free agents this summer, for example Alexei Eremenko or Mikael Forssell.

Thing with Pukki is that he only scores difficult, out of nowhere goals. He doesn't score those tap-ins from 2 meters, but very difficult shots from out of the box when no one's expecting it. If he could add in those "ugly" goals that other strikers score, he would be a 15+ goal striker. But my point here is that he DOES bring in some extra value to any club through this skill of creating sort of "extra goals", that are almost detached from normal play. The question is, is this extra value so valuable that it's worth dropping another player from the lineup. Bröndby thinks it is.

Another thing is that Pukki has been very efficient as a sole striker, and had he played the whole Danish season as a striker, he would probably be the league top scorer. Now he spent too many games on the wings (interestingly this happens in almost all his clubs, at some point he's moved to the wings even though it clearly doesn't fit him at all).

It's also been proven that Pukki is most dangerous when he plays next to another striker, a towering type. Some good stuff next to Berat Sadik in HJK or Huntelaar in Schalke. I even remember a few friendles at Celtic where Pukki did great next to Balde and made Balde look like a decent player.

After this big rant I still think he won't be coming back. He clearly didn't like it there and obviously was frustrated by the physical, brutal Scottish football (this side of the game is not something you should be proud of) where tactics equal leg-breaking. I also don't think Deila wants him there. Pukki was great in pre-season (hat trick against Linz, scored against Rapid Wien, two goals against KR in champions league qualifying), but it was clear from day #1 that Deila won't give him a real chance despite his very optimistic performances last summer.

I think Celtic will lower the asking price, and Bröndby (or perhaps some other club like Danish champion FC Midtjylland) will meet it and Pukki will stay in Denmark. He'll continue like this and still earn a move to a bigger club in France, Germany, Netherlands or something like this. Right now he needs another season playing those full 90 minutes and scoring goals.

 

Defend him all you want pal but he isn't cut out for Celtic, sadly. As has been said, he doesn't seem strong enough mentally to handle the pressure at a club like Celtic. That's why I very much doubt he'll ever be successful at a big club or a team playing regularly in Europe.

And you're talking * about Scottish football "tactics equal leg breaking". Aye there are some dirty * in the league here, but that is the case in pretty much every league. Don't get me wrong, football is pretty physical here but its really exaggerated by some people.

 

Nah. Not really Balde isn't a footballer and Pukki has a terrible mentality.

 

Just wanted to add that Pukki is mentally weak because nobody has mentioned it yet.

 

Sorry, I don't understand.

 

Pukki mentioned in an interview this year that thanks to the physical play in Scotland he's got some physical edge in his play.

I think the "terrible mentality" is a picture you are painting in your own head. I tell why. Not all Celtic fans judge him on the basis of appearance or think he's terrible. At Schalke 04 he was a big favourite of fans. They even made a Pukki fan song they uploaded on YouTube.

Schalke fans loved this man.

 

I don't think either do. Pukki is decent with no heart. Balde is just too clumsy. Just not good enough for Celtic.

 

Sums it up for me too.
These guys are both dead enders.

 

the fins are here in force

 

Thanks a lot! We are always a big force. We are fighting until the last man, as always. :icon_mrgreen:

Edit. At this time I'm waiting for Chicago Blackhawks - Anaheim Ducks ice hockey conference final to begin after one hour, at 3 o'clock local time.

 

Doubt it was a compliment, mate.. I read it as go away and take the curly kid with you

But the Pukki party shall go on no matter what!

Ps. Football is the king of sports, and the best thing about ice hockey is the pucki
Pps. I hope that's not the talkceltic Pukki emoji I just used in my first sentence..

 

Don't think either of them will still be here come next season.

Neither would get a game infront of Griff or score as many goals, and Ronny has already said he wants to bring in another striker, which I doubt he would if he wanted to keep both Pukki and Balde.

Side note, quite like that Brøndby away kit.

 

I love the fins

 

I'm afraid Celtic aren't all that big at the moment in the European perspective. The idea that playing for Celtic demands some extra mentality and pressure handling is a myth created by Celtic fans in order to make the club seem greater than it is. Sure there's pressure, but how do you figure the pressure is bigger at Celtic than at Schalke, Sevilla or even Brøndby, one of the top clubs of a league that is better than the Scottish league? Where does this extra pressure come from, please explain it to me? Don't say history, because once again that doesn't differentiate Celtic from dozens and dozens of other clubs.

Sure you demand a lot from your players, so much even that many Celtic fans apparently despise many of their own players (but again I could ask that how on earth is this a positive thing?).

But the extra pressure at Celtic is a myth. Celtic are expected to win their domestic league every time, but the same is expected from countless clubs in Europe. Celtic are also expected to do much better in Europe than what they have potential or resources for. This doesn't make the club any greater, it just proves that the fans are living in a bubble and detached from the reality of their club.

Haha. I actually regularly watch other European leagues. I spent last season watching lots of Celtic, but in the last two weeks I've seen games from at least these countries: Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Switzerland, Russia, Norway, Denmark, Italy and Germany. In the last month you can add at least Poland, Russia, Estonia and England to the list.

Ok, Estonian clubs might have poorer tactics than clubs in Scotland, but none of the other countries do. The football in there is absolutely senseless below the few top clubs. Of course there are dirty * everywhere, but that was not my point. I regularly watch games from 10 to 20 different leagues in Europe, and tactically Scotland is the worst.

You should accept and embrace this fact, because it's one major reason as to why Celtic aren't doing well in Europe. Fixing this and fixing your * league is the only way to restore Celtic to any of its former glory on European level. Buying a couple of new players won't do *.

 

Mate, top and bottom is, when Pukki was here, he couldn't cut it, it's that simple. He wasn't good enough, for one reason or another, so he got shipped out on loan, to a club where there is far less pressure than here, and is doing ok. I wish the guy all the best, but as a Celtic player, he will ultimately go down as a flop. Stop getting bitter about that fact, just accept it.

 

I'd not be surprised if Celtic moved both on. Some you win, some you lose. Celtic's recent record in signing strikers is not great, but is it a lot different for other clubs?

No one, except those truly on the inside of the club will know why neither of these two made it under Lennon. The fact that they are out on loan rather than being punted (contrast Tony Watt) suggests that Ronny might have taken the view - "I've enough players to get to know and work with at the moment, however don't get rid of these two just yet".

I'm quite sure that a player out on loan (Liam Henderson etc.) will be on the manager's radar as much as the ones he has at the ground, albeit he might depend on other people's reports on how they're faring. Personally I like Pukki. I think he is a good footballer and I don't go with this "mental weakness" argument. There seems to be a lot of psychologists on this board.

There is only one guy who will make the decision and that's Ronny Deila. Personally I'm happy to leave it in his hands.

 

I fully agree with you. I trust Ronny in that he knows what's the best decision for Celtic. But I do think he acted hastily to loan Pukki after his rather succesful preseason. Guidetti and Scepovic haven't been great successes. At least not yet.

Pukki himself prefers to stay at Brondby. The only problem is the sum of money Brondby are ready to pay to sign him permanently. Celtic and Brondby have already agreed on a purchase option of £1 million. Brondby have paid one third of the sum but sports director Per Rud thinks the rest of the purchase price is too high.
http://www.insidefutbol.com/2014/11...t-brondby-move-says-sporting-director/169468/

A few days ago Per Rud repeated what was said above. So we'll see what happens.