Teemu Pukki is a happy wee soul. He is loving life at his new club, and has set his stall for the coming season;<\/p>\n
“I hope to score a lot of goals.” .<\/p>\n
In particular, the man described by the Evening Times Ronnie Cully imaginatively as the ” Flying Finn ” ( at least the Irish Examiner had a bit of creativity with ” Lucky Pukki ” ) wants to make his mark in Europe, but also hinted he may have to settle for a place on the bench initially, as he is still getting his feet in the door;<\/p>\n
“I’ve only been here a few days, so I don’t know everyone.<\/p>\n
“But I think we have a very good squad and a good chance.<\/p>\n
“It’s not an easy group, but, of course, we believe in ourselves and we’re looking to go through.<\/p>\n
“Last year, I played with Schalke in the Champions League, but not as a starting player. So I’m hoping to play a lot of games in the competition.”<\/p>\n
Thats obviously why he joined Celtic, the Champions League, and with Virgil van Dijk and Derk Boerrigter also settling in very well, perhaps Celtic are stronger than last year, although some will say that Victor Wanyama will be missed at the top level.<\/p>\n
I think we will cope.<\/p>\n
Neil Lennon seems to be fairly happy going into Wednesdays game, having watched the Italians draw 2-2 at Torino, which was as good a way to spend Saturday night as any. Certainly better than the programme I had to watch, where a bloke told a judge about his father repeatedly abusing and torturing him over a nine year period.<\/p>\n
The Judge told him that it was all three of his colleagues \u00a0agreed with him that their decision was a “yes “, and now he’s through to the next round.<\/p>\n
Anyway, Lennon gave us his thoughts on Milan;<\/p>\n
\u201cMilan played with a diamond in midfield against Torino. They are strong and teams will find it hard to break them down.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey did seem a bit vulnerable on the counter attack at times but they are strong opposition and I\u2019m sure they\u2019ll be a different proposition on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe experience of last season will stand our players in good stead. I think my players are experienced enough now just to play the game and not the occasion.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve had a lot of experience of European football in the last couple of years and you learn from that so I don\u2019t think we\u2019ll be fazed at all by playing in the San Siro against Milan.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe did okay last year away, although it\u2019s still a record I\u2019d like to improve upon.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur home record isn\u2019t going to last forever. Eventually if we keep playing in the group stages of this tournament, we will lose at home so it\u2019s important that we learn to play better away from Celtic Park and pick up more points.\u201d<\/p>\n
He went on to highlight Kaka, who scored a tremendous goal all those years ago to put Celtic out in the last 16 of the competition;<\/p>\n
\u201cKaka\u2019s a class player. I don\u2019t think he\u2019d be the Kaka of four or five years ago but he\u2019s a player who just needs games.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s home. This is where he made his name. He became World Player of the Year at Milan.<\/p>\n
\u201cBalotelli is strong with his back to goal and you have to watch him in full flow.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s very powerful and a lot of good things come through him. He\u2019s the pivotal point of their attack.\u201d<\/p>\n
More importantly, Lennon is aware of the “streetwise ” tactics that Milan may well resort to employing, similar to Juventus last year, who got the football rules mixed up with those of the World Wrestling Federation .<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think our players did a lot wrong against Juventus.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey flagged the incidents up when they could but we just didn\u2019t have a strong enough referee.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think Milan will be as blatant as that but they will be competitive.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a game away from home so we\u2019ll have to be mindful of that.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Milan will be without eight of their squad, but will still be fielding eleven players, and although they will be without four regular starters, we should remember that this is Milan, and their squad players are likely to be better than the first team players at most clubs.<\/p>\n
Although they did sign Luther Blisset and Mark Hateley in the past, the guy who spotted them has long since been replaced.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Their coach, Massimiliano Allegri, isn’t quite panicking yet, but then I’ll believe him when i see these guys are not playing, and not just because he has told us they won’t<\/p>\n
In Italy , telling fibbers \u00a0is a national pastime. As is reflected in their patron saint.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
They will be without\u00a0Ignazio Abate, Mattia De Sciglio, Mat\u00edas Silvestre, Daniele Bonera and Giampaolo Pazzini, who were already set to be absent for the Rossoneri, before they were joined by captain\u00a0\u00a0Riccardo Montolivo with Andrea Poli also in doubt.<\/p>\n
Stephen el Shaaraway, pictured below<\/p>\n
![\"El](\"http:\/\/www.uefa.com\/MultimediaFiles\/Photo\/competitions\/DomesticLeague\/01\/92\/59\/18\/1925918_w2.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
who spoke of his sides strength in attack will also miss the game when he walked under one of these<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
There were also rumours that Kaka won’t make the game either, but again, lets wait and see. It could all be just mind games, and anyway, with Mario Balotelli on the pitch, they are always likely to score.<\/p>\n
Allegri elaborated on his fears;<\/p>\n
\u201cThe team needs to be tweaked.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to find the balance we have lost as we\u2019ve changed the way we play.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe performance against Torino didn\u2019t shock me as the team needs to be altered. We were poor and not good defensively.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need time because the players have to learn how each other plays and also to find the balance between defending and attack.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to play more as a team and defend better but it will come and we knew it would be tough to change the way we play.<\/p>\n
\u201cMontolivo, Mattia De Sciglio, Ignazio Abate and Stephan El Shaarawy will not play on Wednesday. We\u2019ll make do with who we have.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are light in defence for the Celtic match and can\u2019t afford to make any mistakes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Personally , I can’t wait.<\/p>\n
My first heart attack will undoubtedly occur during a champions league game, though to be honest, now that the central defence seems to be sorted, that likelihood is diminishing.<\/p>\n
And if we could persuade Izzaguerre to get back a bit quicker, I might just make it to full time.<\/p>\n
Heard a wee joke at the weekend that made me chuckle;<\/p>\n
Q: \u00a0How many huns does it take to change a light bulb ?<\/p>\n
A: \u00a0all of them, one to change it and the rest to claim its still the same bulb.<\/p>\n
Well, it made me laugh.<\/p>\n
Davie Provan, as correctly explained by San Miguel was the player in yesterdays quiz , and here is todays little teaser;<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Sorry, google got all confused again. Its this one.<\/p>\n
\u00a0
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
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