Anthony Stokes (F free agent b.1988)

[tetsujin1979]

parents kept him grounded? his dad is a ****e head. is only working in football because of his son. his dad thinks he is the be all and end all of irish football. hes banned from cherry orchard's grounds for stealing the entire u-18 team a couple years ago and also was touting stokes to both man united and arsenal when he was a kid. had a deal ligned up with man united then called arsenal's reps looking for a better deal. roy needs to give him a good kick up the arse, have him play with the reserves for a few weeks

His dad works with the same agency that represents Chelsea's Ashley Cole, he's been involved in a few transfers of promising Irish talent to England in recent years, and helping them get settled, digs, etc. Most recently he was involved in the deal for Conor Clifford to move to Chelsea in the summer.

[Calcio Jack]

parents kept him grounded? his dad is a ****e head. is only working in football because of his son. his dad thinks he is the be all and end all of irish football. hes banned from cherry orchard's grounds for stealing the entire u-18 team a couple years ago and also was touting stokes to both man united and arsenal when he was a kid. had a deal ligned up with man united then called arsenal's reps looking for a better deal. roy needs to give him a good kick up the arse, have him play with the reserves for a few weeks

well and accurately put... suspect in not too distant future Stokes will be either changing agent or changing club... he needs to realise that his main responsibility is to himself and to ensure that he makes the best of his talent... suspect that he mayfollow the money rather than utilise his talent fully... its all all about attitude and not sure if even Keane can instill what's needed.As the Jesuits say "give me the boy and I'll give you the man" and having observed Stokes and Stokes senior from the sideline over many years not sure if the effect of his early influence can be easily overcome.... hope so because the guy has a great talent and would hate to see it wasted.

[shakermaker1982]

well done Keano. Stokes will learn his lesson I'm sure but it's good to see these new kids on the block brought down a peg or two when they step out of line.

[Paddy Garcia]

"The trio are set to return against Stoke City tomorrow but will not get a second chance, with Stokes, in particular, facing an uncertain future after rumours of another confrontation with Keane last month. “The players have been told on numerous occasions the importance of being on time,” Keane said. “We finished training on Friday at 12.30 and we left at 4.15 — if you can’t get home, get your bag organised and get in your nice car and be on time, there’s something drastically wrong.

“I’ve worked and played with players 13 years and they were never late once. I’ve been at Sunderland six months and it has happened numerous times. Late for training, late for team meetings. If there is a genuine reason, I haven’t got a problem. But if it happens more than once or twice, something’s seriously wrong.” " From The Times

Not sure how many chances Keane will give Stokes.

Also not like the second hand old bangers Roy had to drive when he was playing.

[drummerboy]

Didn't Keane originally fall out with McCarthy on a trip to USA, when McCarthy and the rest of the team were left on the coach waiting for Keane to get aboard. McCarthy wasn't impressed and had a go at Keano.

[shakermaker1982]

Didn't Keane originally fall out with McCarthy on a trip to USA, when McCarthy and the rest of the team were left on the coach waiting for Keane to get aboard. McCarthy wasn't impressed and had a go at Keano.

yeah Keane countered back about Mick's first touch if I recall correctly. All water under the bridge now!!

[as_i_say]

stokes should respond by slagging keane off about saipan

[Donal81]

Sorry to hear about this Stokes nonsense. Then again, he's only a kid. But if his attitude is wrong, than he's not good enough. Arguments about Keaneo the player aside, I really, really rate his style of management. Far too many gobsh!tes in football who have been told they're God's gift since they were 14. It's good to get it knocked out of you at a young age, I reckon.

[as_i_say]

Totally agree with you on that one-keane was quoted in the daily mail (50 cents cant go wrong) as saying “if they cant be on time in their nice cars……..”.

Its indicative of the culture of football and why I and I’m sure other fans have become quite disillusioned with the international scene. It seems its all about money and that’s it. Playing for one’s country should be a priviledge not a right and after san marino its pretty obvious some of them just don’t care.

Hopefully keane will be managing Ireland within the next 5 years as on paper we have a good standard team/squad with zero motivation and an awful attitude.

[The Legend]

stokes should respond by slagging keane off about saipan

Yeah, that will work out really well for him! :rolleyes:

[The Legend]

Hopefully keane will be managing Ireland within the next 5 years

Not a chance in hell.... maybe in 30 years.

[as_i_say]

why not? stan will be gone at the end of this campaign surely and if it doesnt work out with the next person you could be looking at 4-5 years time. depends on how he does with sunderland. if he promotes them this year and does well with them his profile will be terrific, then again it could go pearshaped a la mick.

i'd say unless he gets a top top premiership job i would see keane at the helm in that time frame.

[FarBeag]

Keane is good enough to be the manager of Ireland now. In any job you can either manage people or you can’t. Keane can and Staunton obviously can’t. Look at the attitude of some of the Irish players under Stan, keane would not allow this.

There was a big attitude problem at Sunderland before he arrived; they were bottom of the league and struggling. If Staunton took over then they would be in the same position. Roy keane was an exceptional player and imo he will be an even better manager. He may not have the same success as Ferguson or Clough but he will be as good a manager.

[woodie]

Keane just did what any decent manager in the LSL would do.

Stokes & Co. may have had good reasons but a situation has to evolve where players turn up 30 minutes early to ensure that they are not late.

It is basic discipline proceedures which ensures that no else will make the mistake.

[Paddy Garcia]

why not?



...coe he will be at Man U

[JimmyP]

Still no Stokes in the squad tonight. The other 2 players are back.
Apparently they missed the bus by 3 minutes!

[macdermesser]

tonights team

TEAM: Ward; Simpson, Nosworthy, Evans, Collins; Leadbitter, Whitehead, Hysen, Yorke; John, Connolly.
Subs: Fulop, Murphy, T Miller, Wallace, L Miller.

not looking good for Stokes .. miss the bus again?:(

[Paddy Garcia]

Still no Stokes in the squad tonight. The other 2 players are back.
Apparently they missed the bus by 3 minutes!

You gotta be joking ?

[JimmyP]

That's what it said on BBC Five Live

[eirebhoy]

You gotta be joking ?
I presume he's talking about the bus for the weekends match.

[zinedineontour]

You gotta be joking ?

no they were half hour late and its the third time stokes has had an indiscretion at the club. He will be back in squad for sat.

[geysir]

Persistant outbreaks of indiscipline? next I suppose someone will be saying that a Roy Keane team were celebrating a poxy draw.

[paul_oshea]

he didnt miss the bus again, they were playing at home. he was left out because he was the worst...

[zinedineontour]

he didnt miss the bus again, they were playing at home. he was left out because he was the worst...

yes the was left out cause it was his third indiscretion at the club whereas the other lads it was their first.

[dodgycanadian]

as i said he should do, roy keane made him play with the reserves last night as he scored a goal against darlington's reserves. maybe i should manage ireland after a call like that

http://www.sunderlandtoday.co.uk/ViewArticle.aspx?ArticleID=2120724&SectionID=1108

[passinginterest]

I see a rumour on the Cork City section of this site that suggests Stokes will move to Cork on loan as part of a transfer deal for Roy O'Donovan.

Now I know this is unlikely, but, if it did happen what would people think?

If O'Donovan goes to Sunderland and breaks straight into first team, while Stokes goes to Cork and does well without breaking any records. Would this make people think a) the League of Ireland is way better than we though, or, b) Stokes is over rated and will never amount to anything?

[Billsthoughts]

the usual suspects will have the usual prejudices regardless of what happens...

[eirebhoy]

It'll say a lot about how Keane rates the LOI if he wants to send one of our best young players there on loan. I certainly can't see it happening.

[kingeric]

the usual suspects will have the usual prejudices regardless of what happens...

never a truer word spoken.

some people seem driven on bringing the boy down, whether it is to make the average EL players in competition with him look better, or begrudge him because he stole the limelight all the way through his career to date- thus taking it away from someone they would like to see do well. one way or another, there seems to be people who jus have it in for the boy and he can do no right in some people's eyes.

[lionelhutz]

I see a rumour on the Cork City section of this site that suggests Stokes will move to Cork on loan as part of a transfer deal for Roy O'Donovan.

Now I know this is unlikely, but, if it did happen what would people think?

If O'Donovan goes to Sunderland and breaks straight into first team, while Stokes goes to Cork and does well without breaking any records. Would this make people think a) the League of Ireland is way better than we though, or, b) Stokes is over rated and will never amount to anything?

Ya this scenario is very realistic - Keane is going to loan out a player he spent £2m on a few months ago for a LOI player. Come off it lads, do ye really think O'Donovan is worth that??

I'm a LOI supporter by the way so I'm not puttin it down, just being realistic. Too much sh**e spoken here at times

[passinginterest]

Ya this scenario is very realistic - Keane is going to loan out a player he spent £2m on a few months ago for a LOI player. Come off it lads, do ye really think O'Donovan is worth that??

I'm a LOI supporter by the way so I'm not puttin it down, just being realistic. Too much sh**e spoken here at times

I did say it was a rumour and highly unlikely.

Just thought it was an interesting concept.

[youngirish]

I heard a rumour Lionel Messi is being loaned out by Barcelona to Cobh Ramblers. If this is true and he failed to light up the league would this prove to people:

a) He's not up to the standard required.
b) His performance is suffering because he doesn't understand his manager's thick Cork accent.
c) The world's gone insane and makes no sense anymore.

[passinginterest]

I'd go with c. Although I'd say it's unlikely :)

[Bungle]

Being the man who started this thread, I'm going to stick my arse on the fence and say that Stokes will be a top player. The night I saw him playing for Arsenal reserves, I was convinced of it. He completely ran the show and looked the best player on the park by a distance.

Since then, he has done incredibly at Falkirk(you can say its not a great league but sometimes class shines which is the case I believe with Stokes), and become a 2 million pound player signed by Roy Keane (who regardless of what your personal views on him are was a great player and on evidence thus far a great manager).

I get the impression Stokes isn't the most likeable of characters but ****** neither are alot of professional footballers. Don't let this cloud your judgement on him. He may be a little bit flash on the pitch (trying to chip the Bolivian keeper when he should have tried to slot it by him) but he's only 18. I'd rather him try to be the entertainer in a meaningless game against Bolivia than a crucial game in Bratislava or Prague. Lets all be fair, if that chip had come off, we'd all be saying how talented he is.

There aren't many better 18 year old in British football than Stokes at the moment, so lets just be grateful he's Irish and stop treating him like you might Duff or Robbie Keane.

[Risteard]

I heard a rumour Lionel Messi is being loaned out by Barcelona to Cobh Ramblers. If this is true and he failed to light up the league would this prove to people:

a) He's not up to the standard required.
b) His performance is suffering because he doesn't understand his manager's thick Cork accent.
c) The world's gone insane and makes no sense anymore.

Got to be Hendersens accent . . . definitely.:ball::confused:

[youngirish]

Got to be Hendersens accent . . . definitely.:ball::confused:

Didin't know where he was from and it felt like too much work for too little reward to look it up.

[eirebhoy]

Being the man who started this thread, I'm going to stick my arse on the fence and say that Stokes will be a top player. The night I saw him playing for Arsenal reserves, I was convinced of it. He completely ran the show and looked the best player on the park by a distance.

Since then, he has done incredibly at Falkirk(you can say its not a great league but sometimes class shines which is the case I believe with Stokes), and become a 2 million pound player signed by Roy Keane (who regardless of what your personal views on him are was a great player and on evidence thus far a great manager).

I get the impression Stokes isn't the most likeable of characters but ****** neither are alot of professional footballers. Don't let this cloud your judgement on him. He may be a little bit flash on the pitch (trying to chip the Bolivian keeper when he should have tried to slot it by him) but he's only 18. I'd rather him try to be the entertainer in a meaningless game against Bolivia than a crucial game in Bratislava or Prague. Lets all be fair, if that chip had come off, we'd all be saying how talented he is.

There aren't many better 18 year old in British football than Stokes at the moment, so lets just be grateful he's Irish and stop treating him like you might Duff or Robbie Keane.
I said it in another thread but I think he's going to be a victim of his own ability. What I mean by that is because he's so good on the ball managers will want to get him involved more and play him deeper. His best attributes would be similar to Ruud van Nistellrooy's best attributes. Finishing with either foot, positional sense and ability to beat the offside trap. He's a natural finisher.

One thing I noticed is that people who have never seen Stokes before and never listened to the hype from the likes of me thought Stokes looked very good against Bolivia. Others who think we're getting a bit ahead of ourselves based on a few goals in a crap league tend to try and pick the faults in his game. It can't be forgotten that he was the youngest player in the squad.

[youngirish]

One thing I noticed is that people who have never seen Stokes before and never listened to the hype from the likes of me thought Stokes looked very good against Bolivia. It can't be forgotten that he was the youngest player in the squad.
There is no person that matches both those criteria that exists on the face of this earth eirebhoy.

[eirebhoy]

There is no person that matches both those criteria that exists on the face of this earth eirebhoy.
:D

Well here's the view of a Cork City fan on boards.ie:
"I was really impressed by Stokes. I can't believe he's only 18."
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=53322331&postcount=18

I could have predicted Pete wouldn't be impressed with Stokes against Bolivia. :)

[NeilMcD]

[QUOTE=Bungle;695049]Being the man who started this thread, I'm going to stick my arse on the fence and say that Stokes will be a top player.


This does make sense. Surely if you are on the fence, it means that you do not have a strong view as to wheter Stokes will be a top player or not.

[Risteard]

Not a strong view but I think that he'll be a decent player.
Don't know what you mean by top player.

Leaving myself well open to be caught out here but i think generally Arsenal don't let players go and regret it.

Remember Brady saying he's a decent player who'll make a good living from the game.
Sounds about right.

Why the 39 pages?

[kingdom hoop]

Why the 39 pages?

You want 760 posts on one page? Crazy.

[Risteard]

Ba dum tsch.
Well done.
I don't think it's gone off-topic either which is very strange.

[tetsujin1979]

Anyone catch his interview on OB Sport last night?

[kingeric]

Not a strong view but I think that he'll be a decent player.

Leaving myself well open to be caught out here but i think generally Arsenal don't let players go and regret it.



Sidwell, Andy Cole, Upson, Pennant, Bentley Wright spring to mind..

Not only could I have predicted that Pete was disappointed by Stokes, but also that he thought possibly the worst player on the pitch that night, Shane Long- was fabulous as always:)

[eirebhoy]

I don't think Arsenal let Stokes go because they didn't think he was good enough. I'd say his father played a big part in it.

[Bungle]

I think Eirebhoy is right about Stokes position at Arsenal.He wasn't let go, he left of his own accord. Arsenal are blessed with outstanding young forwards....why be one of five or six potential young first teamers when you can go to a big club like Sunderland who were at the time in a strong position to go up and be good enough to play week in week out.

By top class, I mean being a top international player and playing in a highly competitive team.....I would say playing for a top club but there's lots of players I admire at clubs like Reading, Blackburn Everton and Portsmouth, while I wouldn't hold Darren Fletcher in particularly high esteem.

[livehead1]

I wouldn't hold Darren Fletcher in particularly high esteem.


slightly off thread, but i really rate fletcher, think hes come on leaps and bounds in the second half of the epl season.

i don't think there is any doubt that stokes is going to become a very good footballer indeed IF he looks after himself and is dedicated.

[Risteard]

Leaving myself well open to be caught out here but i think generally Arsenal don't let players go and regret it.



Sidwell, Andy Cole, Upson, Pennant, Bentley Wright spring to mind..
Just Andy Cole then.
Upsons best days were at Highbury and the rest aren't too great.
Pennant was trouble.
Which Wright would that be?

[Bungle]

Fletcher is a decent young player, but he's not top class. Squad player at a club like Man U perhaps at best. Players like Arteta, Doyle, Shorey and Sidwell are in my opinion top class.