Sander Puri, that kind of player which makes you go. Remember him!
He is this week’s Airtricity/Eircom man.
An Estonian International capped 92 times arrived in the league to Sligo Rovers in the 2015 season after a successful trial and a very impressive pre-season. A Lot of buzz was generated at the time.
The manager Owen Heary was looking to rebuild Sligo Rovers back to the summit after the 2014 season which saw The Bit O’Red finish outside of Europe.
Being an international does not necessarily mean you have a player on your hands, back then however there was a lack of international players in the league I’m sure the Sligo supporters were googling him and watching him on youtube.
I’m sure Watching Sander playing in an international friendly vs Brazil would have raised a few eyebrows. Skimming Maicon and Felipe Melo.. yes I can’t believe it either.
The left foot looked decent, a physical wide man which could spark into action at any time.
But as the season wore on Sander could get to grips with the speed and physicality of the League. A player not known for tracking back and was quite wasteful in possession at times, but was guaranteed to do something in a game, whether that something was good or bad was the question. The promise shown in his early career was hampered with injuries.
League and Cup combined Sander played 30 times for Sligo with 5 goals to his name. He then departed the Bit O’Red at the end of the season to play in the Czech league with MFK Karviná.
All good stories have a redemption arch, Sanders come in 2017 with then First Division side Waterford, he played some role in the promotion laid campaign and a rotation role in the premier division.
Players like Sander bring something to our league, maybe not goal or assist but curiosity, I found when watching Sanders games there was a sprinkle of you never know what was coming next.
Best of Luck in your retirement Sander .