Former Celtic man Darnell Fisher on unlikely rise

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Celtic fans were pretty stunned to see former flop Teemu Pukki helping to fire Norwich City to Premier League promotion last season.

The Finnish forward netted 29 goals in 43 league matches (Eurosport) as the Canaries won the second-tier by five points. Pukki’s rise was particularly surprising to see as he had struggled in his few years up in Scotland – netting just nine goals.

It was proof, if ever we needed it, that football can be a strange game. Some players are just suited to some clubs.

Now it appears that a similar story could be on the agenda this season.

Fisher has gone onto new heights since leaving Celtic

Former Celtic man Darnell Fisher currently sits second in the Championship with his side Preston North End. Alex Neil’s men have taken 31 points from their first 16 games and are behind only West Brom – by a couple of points.

What makes Fisher’s story even more surprising is that he’s virtually undroppable for the Deepdale side. Fisher has started ten of their last 11 matches, completing nine of those games. He is a regular for a team chasing promotion to the Premier League.

It’s not so long ago that he was struggling to get near the Celtic team. He only started 11 games for the club in three years, before leaving for an undisclosed fee to Rotherham in 2016. (BBC)

Of course, it will be difficult for Preston to stay in their lofty position. They have the likes of Leeds United and Swansea breathing down their necks and the Championship season still has 30 games to go.

But things are going well at Deepdale, judging by Fisher’s latest comments.

“The intensity we train at is high, there is a big demand on you from the manager,” he told the Lancashire Post.

“I think the demand here at Preston is more intense than I’ve experienced before. The demand at Celtic was there because of how big the club is but that wasn’t really driven by anyone – it was just the size of the place.

“Here, the manager drives the standards and the demand is there from him.”

It’s interesting to see Fisher still mentioning Celtic despite his current situation. If he’s looking for some extra motivation then he need only look at the squad he was part of – and think of Pukki’s story. Who knows, we may soon have another former Celt living it large in the English top-flight.