The late, great David Potter started a feature of writing about a Player of the Day from Celtic’s illustrious history. In order to do continue that legacy and pay a small tribute to David, we will continue profiling a Celtic Player of the Day…
Evander Sno
was signed by Gordon Strachan in June 2006 from Feyenoord for a sum of £250,000 at the age of 19. It was thought that the Celtic manager had identified Sno as being a potential replacement for Neil Lennon in the heart of the Celtic midfield.
It would take Broony to do that though, it was tough act trying to replace Lenny.
In his first season, the big Dutchman imposed himself on the Celtic team beginning life in green and white with a impressive display in the League Cup 3rd round tie against St Mirren.
The support saw hints of a real star in the making with his touch, vision and strength.
Predominately substitute appearances allowed Sno to progress in the Scottish game and the level of his performances throughout the season earned him a place in the side that narrowly lost to AC Milan 1-0 AET in the last 16 of the Champions League.
The second year at Celtic for Sno saw an unfortunate dip in form that resulted in some negative press and reaction from some in the Celtic support. The lapses of concentration resulting in mistakes were magnified by the media and unfortunately, Sno was unable to recover.
One memory of Sno remains a haunting one in the form of the 2006/07 CIS Insurance Cup quarter final at home to Falkirk. With the side’s locked at 1-1 after 90 minutes and extra time, penalty kicks were needed to determine who’d progress to the next round.
The penalty shoot-out went to sudden death and future Hibs and Dundee Utd manager Jack Ross buried his penalty beyond Artur Boruc and up stepped Sno. His youth and inexperience overawed him and he missed sending the Bairns into the Semi-Finals.
In two seasons, Sno made 50 appearances for Celtic and scored just one goal against Hibs in his debut season. He left Celtic with two SPL titles and a Scottish Cup to his name. Unfortunately for Sno, Celtic weren’t the club to see him progress any further as a player and he sought a return to his homeland in the form of Ajax.
