Where does Pukki stand in out top strikers list?

[Big O 225]

Sadly it now appears Pukki is calling time on his Norwich journey but to provoke debate where does he sit in our top striker list?

I’ve only really got memories from c85/86 onwards and in that time I’ve seen great players/servants like  drinkell, fleck, robins, Sutton, Roberts, Ashton, Bellamy, huckerby, holt and Jerome. Where would you have Pukki in that list? For me based solely on their Norwich spell I think it would have to be:

1. Sutton;

2. Fleck

3. Pukki 

 

 

[TheBaldOne66 700]

Behind Holt and a few others for me 

[Ulfotto 644]

The  big thing about Pukki he isn’t a target man ( Sutton, Ashton, Roberts and Holt) nor has he needed one to score all these goals. 

Just such a clever player in terms of movement, a brilliant finisher, fantastic temperament and it appears zero ego. 
 

Hopefully there are a few goals left in the tank.

Edited April 5, 2023 by Ulfotto

[Robert N. LiM 4,501]

41 minutes ago, Big O said:

Sadly it now appears Pukki is calling time on his Norwich journey but to provoke debate where does he sit in our top striker list?

I’ve only really got memories from c85/86 onwards and in that time I’ve seen great players/servants like  drinkell, fleck, robins, Sutton, Roberts, Ashton, Bellamy, huckerby, holt and Jerome. Where would you have Pukki in that list? For me based solely on their Norwich spell I think it would have to be:

1. Sutton;

2. Fleck

3. Pukki 

 

 

We are exactly the same vintage, @Big O. I think I'd be tempted to put Pukki top, though I'm aware that might be recency bias. Perhaps Ashton was superior, but he was here for such a short time. I guess objectively you'd have to put Sutton first: is he our record top-flight goalscorer? But I think Teemu shades Flecky, love them both though I do. Guess it's close between Teemu and Grant Holt as our only recent striking successes in the PL, though their skills are almost exactly opposite, so really hard to compare. Pukki's unquestionably better than Robins, Roberts and Jerome in my view, and I don't think I'd see Bellamy or Hucks as centre-forwards. I was so young when watching Drinkell I'm not sure I can really compare them - in terms of top-flight goals Drinks needs to be in the conversation.

Would be very interested in the views of those whose memories go back before the 80s for their view on this.

[PurpleCanary 5,585]

A modern combination of two players. MacDougall the best pure finisher I've seen for Norwich City, and Pukki not quite there as far as that goes, but he also has Phil Boyer's intelligence and ability to hold the ball up, commit defenders, and bring others into the game. I suspect opposition defenders hated playing against him at his peak, which sadly has passed. A lot of football miles, for club and country, on the clock in the last few years.

Edited April 5, 2023 by PurpleCanary

[shefcanary 2,465]

11 minutes ago, PurpleCanary said:

A modern combination of two players. MacDougall the best pure finisher I've see for Norwich City, and Pukki not quite there as far as that goes, but he also has Phil Boyer's intelligence and ability to hold the ball up, commit defenders, and bring others into the game. I suspect opposition defenders hated playing against him at his peak, which sadly has passed. A lot of football miles, for club and country, on the clock in the last few years.

Agree with that Purp's, given we were only playing one up top with Pukki, you couldn't have asked for any better than a combination of the skill sets of MacDougal and Boyer, which I think is what Pukki possessed.

I loved seeing Boyer scampering after a ball into the channels, he invariably won the contest and set something up for SuperMac, who was the best finisher of any player to wear the yellow and green. 

[Big O 225]

Disappointed not to have seen Boyer and MacDougall the way purple and sheff describe them. 

I think the conversation gives me some hope though that we’re now just waiting for the next quality striker / partnership to emerge. 
 

[lake district canary 4,546]

Best footballer out of all our past and present strikers. Some may have scored more, but for sheer footballing nous, he is top imo.

[Robert N. LiM 4,501]

18 minutes ago, lake district canary said:

Best footballer out of all our past and present strikers. Some may have scored more, but for sheer footballing nous, he is top imo.

Yes, I agree with that. Perhaps the closest to him in that regard was Flecky, who was a very clever player as well as a goalscorer.

[CDMullins 446]

Holt, Pukki, Sutton.

 

[CDMullins 446]

54 minutes ago, Robert N. LiM said:

Yes, I agree with that. Perhaps the closest to him in that regard was Flecky, who was a very clever player as well as a goalscorer.

Same as to apply to Holt.

Unbelievable football brain and use of his body.

To go from League One to the Top Scoring English Premier League player barring Rooney, is some achievement 

[mr footy 36]

Best footballer let alone striker.stats back me up on that ,big loss 

[CDMullins 446]

2 minutes ago, mr footy said:

Best footballer let alone striker.stats back me up on that ,big loss 

He's not a better 'Footballer' than Buendia or Madison

[Wacky Waving Inflatable Arm Flailing Tube Man 3,862]

I'm only old enough to really give an opinion on this century, and I'd say that Ashton was the best striker during his time at the club, and Holt was the best for us in terms what he did when he was here. 

Pukki is probably runner-up in both categories.

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

Obviously younger posters have less to choose from. So I wouldn't say who was the best as I have a greater choice.

However, of the names mentioned, Sutton has to be considered the best. Not only for his contribution for us but also for Blackburn and Celtic.

[mrdi 373]

18-19 and the start of 19-20 seasons, Pukki was as good a striker as I’ve ever seen at Norwich. The hat trick vs Newcastle really sticks in my mind - composure, movement, strength, finishing, work rate. 

Flecky was a favourite of mine but that was as much his character as ability. Sutton had that purple patch (also in the 22 shirt) but I always thought him to be a tad ungainly;  and Holty surpassed all expectations as he progressed upwards with us. 

But Teemu at his peak (arguably facilitated/enabled by having the right players with him) just seemed to have a different, extra edge. I don’t think there’s any doubt he had his best years with us and I’m grateful for that. 

[Conrad 178]

MacDougall

Ashton

Holt

Top three. Pukki possibly fourth. 

[JuanVelasco 27]

2 hours ago, lake district canary said:

Best footballer out of all our past and present strikers. Some may have scored more, but for sheer footballing nous, he is top imo.

There is no coincidence that two World Class strikers played their best football with Chris Sutton as their foil, and he played top flight football at centre back, centre midfield and centre forward.

Sutton was the most intelligent of them all. 

[JuanVelasco 27]

46 minutes ago, CDMullins said:

He's not a better 'Footballer' than Buendia or Madison

And Wes was a better footballer than both of them.

[keelansgrandad 6,679]

2 minutes ago, JuanVelasco said:

There is no coincidence that two World Class strikers played their best football with Chris Sutton as their foil, and he played top flight football at centre back, centre midfield and centre forward.

Sutton was the most intelligent of them all. 

Larsen said he was the best he had played with.

[norfolkngood 1,091]

3 hours ago, PurpleCanary said:

A modern combination of two players. MacDougall the best pure finisher I've see for Norwich City, and Pukki not quite there as far as that goes, but he also has Phil Boyer's intelligence and ability to hold the ball up, commit defenders, and bring others into the game. I suspect opposition defenders hated playing against him at his peak, which sadly has passed. A lot of football miles, for club and country, on the clock in the last few years.

i am to young for Macdougall and never seen him play

but he sounds a great player for you to say he was that good of finisher 

[norfolkngood 1,091]

For me 

Sutton 

Ashton 

Holt

Hucks for me was more a winger than a out and out striker but was different class 

[yellowrider120 790]

2 hours ago, lake district canary said:

Best footballer out of all our past and present strikers. Some may have scored more, but for sheer footballing nous, he is top imo.

I'll throw a completely different name in the hat who had precisely those qualities - John Deehan. For bizarre reasons his name is rarely mentioned in such exalted company but his 62 goals speak for themselves. Watch any video clip and you will see how he 'played with his head up' and thus had great vision. Great in the air whereas Pukki is a total nondescript at such skill. Could also score left foot, right foot. 

As a complete centre forward Deehan was better than Pukki in my most humblest of opinions.

For sure Pukki has been wonderful for us and deservedly competes with the likes of McDougall, Sutton and Holt. Add in Deehan and its' a difficult task to name the 'top dog'

 

[CDMullins 446]

52 minutes ago, JuanVelasco said:

And Wes was a better footballer than both of them.

LOL,

 

Appreciate you enjoy Wes for what he was but come on.

[Faded Jaded Semi Plastic SOB 1,041]

4 hours ago, PurpleCanary said:

A modern combination of two players. MacDougall the best pure finisher I've see for Norwich City, and Pukki not quite there as far as that goes, but he also has Phil Boyer's intelligence and ability to hold the ball up, commit defenders, and bring others into the game. I suspect opposition defenders hated playing against him at his peak, which sadly has passed. A lot of football miles, for club and country, on the clock in the last few years.

I remember MacDougall celebrating a goal as the ball was crossed into him before duly obliging and planting his header past the keeper. No has come close to him in terms of pure finishing ability..........

 

[Worthy Nigelton 1,066]

1 hour ago, JuanVelasco said:

There is no coincidence that two World Class strikers played their best football with Chris Sutton as their foil, and he played top flight football at centre back, centre midfield and centre forward.

Sutton was the most intelligent of them all. 

Who?

[chicken 2,647]

This is going to sound like a diss to some, but part of me wonders if Pukki is more of an interesting case.

If we are talking about purely for us, he has obviously been nothing short of class - absolutely no question.

That being said. It could also be said that like Holt, the rest of his career prior to arriving at Norwich was pretty unspectacular until Brondby. In fact, Brondby and a season for HJK in Finland are his best goal scoring spells prior to us. Even his Finland record isn't as great.

I've seen a few people floating the concept online again that he hasn't played the same since Buendia left and that Buendia assisted him a lot. Last time I looked it up, Buendia didn't assist Pukki as much as these ideas suggest. In fact, Pukki scored more goals in the premier league last season than he did the one with Buendia in the team.

I think what we had for 3-4 seasons was a set up that worked perfectly to Pukki's strengths, to the degree that the team started to fit around him. As we started to lose pieces of that team - Stiepermann, Vrancic, Buendia, Tettey, Skipp etc, I think we have seen him start to fade and even struggle in games.

The bigger picture of that is that the football we played in that way, the importance and focus of providing chances for Pukki, plays a large part in why we struggled in the premier league.

Reflecting on more recent players we like to look at in a similar way, you have to say that Holt and Hoolahan were better. Not necessarily in ability, but certainly in success. And that's probably a hard take. The players in those Lambert sides were much more rough and ready - Holt is no exception to that. Pukki, as a player, is better than Holt. Scored more goals, has better movement and has greater technical ability. Yet what made Holt better, IMHO, is that the way he played was as effective in the premier league as the championship. To the degree that there was a legitimate shout for him to be called up to the England squad.

So for me, Pukki whilst rightly seen as a legend in this era of Norwich City Football Club, he doesn't hit the heights of Sutton, Holt, Deehan, Fleck etc two of which had successful careers outside of Norwich.

I do think we sometimes have sometimes see this situations where we happen to get all of the right pieces in the same place at the right time. Farke, Pukki, Zimmermann, Stiepermann, Vrancic, Buendia, Cantwell, Skipp, Tettey, Hanley and Krul etc.

And lets not forget, the buzz that summer, when Pukki was signed, was around Jordan Rhodes who ploughed the loan furrow up front in that first game, with Pukki in behind. The shock was that within a handful of games, it was clear that Pukki was thriving and Rhodes was often consigned to a role off the bench.

I'm not shocked to see him leaving. I think his decision was made last summer and that he and the club have played it in such a way due to him agreeing to play on for this season rather than be an **** and try and force through a sale.

That leaves two points for me:
Who will fill his boots when he is gone? Sargent? Idah? Someone new? I'm actually less concerned about that than I was last season. Despite misfiring this season, Pukki hasn't always been at his best, and persisting with him, despite his obvious class, could prevent another player from developing into the next Pukki. Equally, a bit like Farke, we get to see Pukki go knowing that we won't see a decline that takes the shine off his accomplishments with us.

The next point is more one of hindsight. Will we come to regret not trying for a reset last summer? I know some will argue Smith should have gone after relegation... but ignoring that, we have perhaps attempted to persist with a squad that could have done with refreshing in some key areas. Pukki not only could have raised funds through his sale but also saved on the wages we paid to keep him for a season. Aarons would have had more than a season left on his contract, Sinani may have had 'some' value, same with Cantwell.

[Faded Jaded Semi Plastic SOB 1,041]

37 minutes ago, yellowrider120 said:

I'll throw a completely different name in the hat who had precisely those qualities - John Deehan. For bizarre reasons his name is rarely mentioned in such exalted company but his 62 goals speak for themselves. Watch any video clip and you will see how he 'played with his head up' and thus had great vision. Great in the air whereas Pukki is a total nondescript at such skill. Could also score left foot, right foot. 

As a complete centre forward Deehan was better than Pukki in my most humblest of opinions.

For sure Pukki has been wonderful for us and deservedly competes with the likes of McDougall, Sutton and Holt. Add in Deehan and its' a difficult task to name the 'top dog'

 

I would agree regarding Deehan. I also think Drinkell should also be in the mix, if for no other reason than scoring the winner against Liverpool at Carrow Rd and making it the first time that Liverpool had lost a league game when Ian Rush had scored for them.........

[Barham Blitz 664]

It is virtually impossible to compare strikers with different attributes in different teams from different eras.  I'm only old enough to remember as far back as the Channon / Deehan sort of time but since then we've had a few great strikers who have all built their own little bit of Norwich history and all for different reasons.

Deehan was my first footballing hero.  Ashton probably the highest quality all round player but only here for a short time.  I've long argued with non-City fans that Sutton was a criminally underrated player who could play practically anywhere and still shine.  Cult heroes like Fleck and Iwan.  Big Grant who was nothing short of talismanic during his time here.

But Pukki stands out in his own in one sense.  In my time as a supporter (too young for MacDougal)  I've never seen a City striker with his level of movement and intelligence.  He wasn't the biggest or the quickest but his ability to find that yard and then to finish was a different class.  He was the finishing touch to the rarified air that was the peak Farke era and for me will always be synonymous with probably the best football I've ever seen us play.  He was different because we as a club were different - a free transfer reject shooting us to two promotions in a team that were for a time a beautiful anomaly in an increasingly uniform footballing universe.

So you could argue that he wasn't the greatest striker we've had.  In the cold light of day I may even objectively agree.  But for me he just embodied that brief period where it genuinely looked like we could achieve something really special by doing things differently.  And for that - for me at least - he will always remain a City legend.

 

[JuanVelasco 27]

3 hours ago, Worthy Nigelton said:

Who?

Eh? You don't know who Chris Sutton is?

If you mean the two world class strikers, then Shearer and Larsson of course.