Anthony Stokes (F free agent b.1988)

[ArdeeBhoy]

Put like that, fair enough.

Except they'd never even get 2 million for Stokes, though Hooper would go for more (think S'ton offered c.£4 million) but currently Celtic don't need to sell.


Though of course, the financial implications of R*ngers meltdown could spread further...

[tetsujin1979]

Put like that, fair enough.

Except they'd never even get 2 million for Stokes, though Hooper would go for more (think S'ton offered c.£4 million) but currently Celtic don't need to sell.


Though of course, the financial implications of R*ngers meltdown could spread further...
Why not? Jelavic just moved for £7m, McGeady went for £9.5m. Going on that, Stokes could easily move for something in the range of £5m

[ArdeeBhoy]

Who to?

He's not been up to much previously in the EPL.

Surely no-one would spend £5 million...

[geysir]

Stokes' value dropped 100k after missing that sitter last night.

There are rumours about Hooper being in the shop window now for some Russian team.
Is Lennon under pressure to sell players seeing as the finances are okay? Maybe he just has a strong desire to recall Daryl Murphy.

[tetsujin1979]

Who to?

He's not been up to much previously in the EPL.

Surely no-one would spend £5 million...I was thinking someone like Birmingham from the Championship, they play good football, and if they get promoted they'll be looking for extra firepower up front

[kennedmc]

........ they'll be looking for extra firepower up front

So why would they sign Stokes then?!!! Even if there were in the chmpionship. He has a fair few games as an attacking wide player / striker at both championship level and EPL and failed to impress consistently.

Maybe SPL is his level - the idea of somebody paying 5 mill for him is laughable in the current market.

[ArdeeBhoy]

I was thinking someone like Birmingham from the Championship, they play good football, and if they get promoted they'll be looking for extra firepower up front

Please to any higher power helping that happen.
No chance, sadly and no point. Celtic would bite the hand for anything £2 million plus.
But even that's fanciful.

[gastric]

I reckon Lennon is doing a good job here in showing faith in his players. Confidence is everything in football and tbh Lennon is not going to lose sleep if Trap fails to pick him.

[Olé Olé]

So why would they sign Stokes then?!!! Even if there were in the chmpionship. He has a fair few games as an attacking wide player / striker at both championship level and EPL and failed to impress consistently.

Maybe SPL is his level - the idea of somebody paying 5 mill for him is laughable in the current market.

Are you saying that because he didn't perform as well as he could when he was at (and on loan from) Sunderland when he was 19 and 20 that teams won't want to sign him? That is laughable. I think both his managers (Lennon and Hughes) have stated Stokes personal and footballing development since that spell at Sunderland has impressed them.

Nikica Jelavic had only one good goalscoring season prior to his move to Rangers. By your logic, Everton should have taken into account his mediocrity prior to that, at an even lower than Premiership level.

I think Stokes looks sharp and is worth a punt for any championship team, especially at the £2m mark anyway. He has the attributes for Premiership level so hopefully he'll step up. He won't be 24 till the summer.

[Dunners]

I think you will find that he was used as a wide player in EPL / Championship. It was only when he joined the SPL that he was played in his natural position and the goals started to flow

[kennedmc]

I think you will find that he was used as a wide player in EPL / Championship. It was only when he joined the SPL that he was played in his natural position and the goals started to flow

Yes I did mention that. Of course wide players don't score goals!!

[kennedmc]

Are you saying that because he didn't perform as well as he could when he was at (and on loan from) Sunderland when he was 19 and 20 that teams won't want to sign him? That is laughable. I think both his managers (Lennon and Hughes) have stated Stokes personal and footballing development since that spell at Sunderland has impressed them.

Nikica Jelavic had only one good goalscoring season prior to his move to Rangers. By your logic, Everton should have taken into account his mediocrity prior to that, at an even lower than Premiership level.

I think Stokes looks sharp and is worth a punt for any championship team, especially at the £2m mark anyway. He has the attributes for Premiership level so hopefully he'll step up. He won't be 24 till the summer.

I am basing my opinion on Stokes I don't see what Jelavic has go to do with it. T What exactly are Stokes attributes for the Premiership? His space is mediocre, his anticipation is average etc. His touch / technique is decent but not spectacular. He'll doesn't have the workrate of a Kevin Doyle or Shane Long and doesn't have the ability of a Robbie Keane.

Wenger said around '05 s that his best position is midfield. Its a shame Stokes didn't listen to him as he could have been a decent attacking midfielder.

[Olé Olé]

I am basing my opinion on Stokes I don't see what Jelavic has go to do with it. T What exactly are Stokes attributes for the Premiership? His space is mediocre, his anticipation is average etc. His touch / technique is decent but not spectacular. He'll doesn't have the workrate of a Kevin Doyle or Shane Long and doesn't have the ability of a Robbie Keane.

Wenger said around '05 s that his best position is midfield. Its a shame Stokes didn't listen to him as he could have been a decent attacking midfielder.

I'm saying Jelavic was worth a punt, even though the SPL is where he seemed to find form (one good season with Rapid Vienna aside). I said this in reaction to your assertion that championship teams wouldn't want to sign Stokes because he wasn't scoring goals at that level, which was 3 years ago.

How do you mean his space? His touch is decent, he's an excellent striker of the ball, is strong at setpieces (both penalties and free kicks) and I think his anticipation is quite good. Is it the complete player your after? I'm sure he's young enough and brave enough to make the move to the Championship/Prem and someone will take a punt on him.

[tetsujin1979]

Stokes has two goals in the goal of the season award on Celtic's site: http://www.celticfc.tv/poy_goals
although I'd say it'll go to Dylan McGeouch

[Junior]

Stretchered off today on 35mins in Celtics friendly with Inter.

[Junior]

Stretchered off today on 35mins in Celtics friendly with Inter.

Anthony Stokes is confident of being fit to face HJK Helsinki on Wednesday.

The striker looked badly injured when he was stretchered off 36 minutes into the 1-1 draw with Inter Milan but left the ground pushing the buggy of his toddler Bobbie.

Celtic finished the match with 10 men after Kris Commons also picked up an ankle injury but Stokes is hopeful that he’ll be fit to face the Finns.

At home after the match he tweeted: “Ankle is not broken, bruised and swollen but hopefully it’s not too bad! Will be on the ice machine for the rest of the day… Shud b fun!”

[Irish_Praha]

So what's the story with him now? Is he injured?

[SkStu]

He has a long standing brain injury.

But yes, he is injured... Hell be back in December/January.

[Junior]

He's still out injured until the New Year but a bit of press coverage of young Anthony to keep us going..........



Tom English: Anthony Stokes has disgraced Celtic
Celtic striker Anthony Stokes. Picture: SNS

By TOM ENGLISH
Published on Sunday 2 December 2012 00:00


ALL of his life, Anthony Stokes has been mixing in the sort of company that would stun you into silence. In his circle of friends in Dublin the Celtic striker has some of the city’s most notorious criminals, some of whom are, or were, members of the Real IRA, the terrorism splinter group that oppose the peace process in Northern Ireland and who see anybody who has turned away from violence as some kind of sell-out or “Judas”, as one of Stokes’ most hardcore mates put it a while back.


That mate was Alan Ryan, who is now dead. As he walked through the streets of north Dublin on 3 September, Ryan was shot in the body, the legs and the head by a masked gunman. Ryan was the Real IRA’s leader in Dublin, a person who had done four years in prison for his association with terrorism. He was one of the most feared crime overlords in the Irish capital, believed to be responsible for ordering the death of three of his enemies in an ongoing drugs war. Earlier this year he personally used a hacksaw to cut off the fingers of a criminal who had refused to pay him protection money. Five months before he met his end, somebody had tried to kill Ryan while he sat in the pub owned by Stokes’ father, John.
On the day of his funeral, Stokes tweeted about his mate. “Thinking of you Alan,” he said. The funeral became a circus with men in balaclavas and full paramilitary regalia complete with a volley of gunshots as his coffin left his home on the north of the city. Police officers had the place surrounded. The media were there in big numbers. Ryan was a high-profile gangster and his death was national news in Ireland.
A few weeks back, Stokes went to Dublin to attend a fundraiser for Ryan, an event that police had under surveillance given some of the people that went through the door that night. Last weekend, a female reporter in Ireland, who has bravely covered the Ryan story for some time, wrote about the fundraiser and the fact that Stokes attended it. During the week she received two death threats after some of Ryan’s sympathisers put her mobile phone number and other personal details on a website set up as a memorial to Ryan.The threat was not idle. In 1996, the fearless Sunday Independent crime reporter Veronica Guerin was shot dead in her car by a crime gang, an event that scandalised the nation and made it aware, too late, that the gangland figures in Dublin were lawless beyond anything anybody ever dared to imagine. So, when those death threats were issued last week, a Garda patrol car with armed detectives was immediately placed outside the journalist’s home.

On Friday, Celtic said they take a very dim view of Stokes’ attendance at the fundraiser and that they will deal with it internally.
Officially, they would say no more about it but we can take it as fact that the striker’s activities have gone down badly at Celtic Park. By rights, they should sack him. He has disgraced his club.
Some might say that is harsh, given that one glance at Stokes’ twitter feed shows an exchange with a bloke who says he hopes the UVF put a bullet in the footballer’s head sometime soon. But this is the world Stokes lives in and this is the treatment – utterly abhorrent and demanding of police intervention – that he has opened himself up to. Stokes’ abuser should be found and put away but what the hell was the player doing at the fundraiser in the first place?
His supporters would, no doubt, argue that he was just honouring the memory of somebody he has known since he was a kid, that it doesn’t follow that he supported Ryan in his vermin deeds and that a friend is a friend.
It’s true that Stokes was born into this, that connections to people in the underworld were part of his natural life since before he even knew how to spell the word and that it must be hard to extricate yourself from that life.
But has he even tried?
There is no evidence in anything that he has ever said that points to an awareness of a need to move on from these people.
There is a feeling that Lennon would like to say a whole lot more about this but feels, for various reasons, that he cannot. At least not yet.
There is no question but that the Celtic manager will be horrified to hear about the death threats issued to the journalist given that Lennon himself has, sadly, suffered in a similar way.
The club’s reluctance to speak out publicly should not be taken as an endorsement of Stokes but, to the watching public, it might well look that way and nobody could be criticised for thinking that Celtic have not reacted as they should have.
Again, we say: Not yet. There is a hope that they will have plenty to say in time.
You can contextualise it all you like, you can look into Stokes’ family upbringing and say: ‘Look, he never stood a chance.’
But the fact remains that a Celtic player was fraternising with crime bosses suspected of multiple murders who also had well-known links to terrorism and that the journalist who wrote about it first has been targeted by these people and last week was being protected by armed detectives camped outside her house. That’s the beginning, the end and the in-between of this saga.
Stokes has been injured all season but the damage to his ankle is as nothing compared to the damage to his reputation.

http://www.scotsman.com/sport/footba...ltic-1-2671302


Celtic star Stokes in sue threat over links to RIRA boss Ryan

Anthony Stokes


By Cormac Murphy

Monday December 03 2012


CELTIC striker Anthony Stokes has indicated he will sue following an article about his links to murdered Real IRA leader Alan Ryan.
Journalist Tom English wrote in Scotland on Sunday it was not good for Celtic that one of its players would have such close links to Ryan.
Stokes knew Ryan (32) for years through the RIRA man's association with the Players' Lounge Bar in Fairview, which is owned by the footballer's family.
The 24-year-old striker was at a memorial in Crumlin for Ryan, who was shot dead near his home on September 3 last in Donaghmede.
Stokes took to Twitter, saying: "Nice article this morning, so many lies."
Witnesses
The journalist hit back, telling the footballer: "I did my homework just fine, Anthony. If I got facts wrong then feel free to sue me."
Stokes told him he has "already arranged for that".
But Mr English responded: "Good for you. You might be surprised to see who some of my witnesses are going to be."
The spat erupted in the wake of the article which was heavily critical of Stokes' links to Ryan. Stokes, who is currently out through injury, told the journalist he knew Alan through the pub and he was not a childhood friend.
Mr English reported that Celtic said they take a very dim view of Stokes' attendance at the benefit night in Crumlin and that they will deal with it internally.
Hundreds of people attended the November 2 memorial for Ryan at the Submarine Bar which was closely watched by armed gardai.
Photographs later emerged of Stokes enjoying himself at the event.
The footballer said he was "attending a fundraiser for a family to pay funeral costs".
During the night, friends of the murdered criminal joined together to sing The Ballad Of Alan Ryan -- which vows to avenge his killers.
Gardai believe Ryan was responsible for a number of murders, including the shooting dead of criminal Sean Winters in Portmarnock in September 2010 and the gunning down of gangland figure Michael 'Mica' Kelly in north Dublin in September last year.
As Ryan was laid to rest, a volley of shots was fired over Ryan's coffin as he was given a full republican military funeral.
comurphy@herald.ie
- Cormac Murphy

http://www.herald.ie/news/celtic-sta...n-3314491.html

[Junior]

Stokes came on for Celtic in a winter break bounce game versus Steaua Bucharest in Marbella. Got 20 minutes, did nothing of note but good to see him back. Obviously not expecting to see him in an Ireland shirt any time soon.

Celtic have a few striking options with Samaras, Hooper, Lassad, Bangura, Tony Watt, Miku so not sure how he'll be fixed for getting back in to the team, seems such a long time ago that he was partnering with Hooper so well.

[Charlie Darwin]

Angry Ant back on the bench tonight against Dundee United. He was also on the bench for the weekend win over Hearts but wasn't used.

[Junior]

Got 10 minutes or so tonight. Game was already won at 4:0.

Big talk about Hooper leaving in the January transfer window. Though Norwich are the only ones to make a firm offer, just north of £5m. Celtic looking for £8m.

If he goes, there is a slot to fill, can Stokesy do it? What odds on him starting against Juve in 3 weeks time?............nah ill keep my £1 in my pocket.........

[Colbert Report]

Celtic have a huge chance to get into the last eight of the semi-finals. They should hold on to Hooper and sell him in the summer instead.

Does anyone know how much money they'd get, including tv money, prize money from UEFA, and a home match gate receipt from the tie at Juventus? I mean, if they were to progress?

[Charlie Darwin]

I thought it was about £2 million, but Wikipedia is telling me it's €3.9 million extra, plus presumably £1 million or so for a full house in the quarters. Prize money and TV money are one and the same, unless I'm mistaken. You'd then have to subtract bonuses from that, although for Celtic I'm not sure many players would have those written in.

Unless they're offered silly money, it would make no sense to sell Hooper now.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UEFA_Champions_League#Prize_money

[geysir]

It's not always up to the club to decide when to sell. Celtic want to keep him.
Hooper wants to go and has refused new contract terms.
If he does stay, his transfer value could drop in the summer as he only has a year left then.

But the reported £5m transfer fee is an insult, not worth considering as Celtic could get that in the summer for him.

[Junior]

Exactly.

I think something around the £8m and he will be off, otherwise he has 18months left on his contract so will be going nowhere.

It wouldnt hurt him to sign a one year extension and go in the summer. Celtic's current price tag is safeguarded and it wouldnt have a material impact on him going in the summer as he wont be going unless they offer that sort of money now anyway. In the meantime, he'll get 6 months on better terms than he currently has. Everyone is a winner!!

To be honest, if he goes to Norwich or somewhere similar he could be waiting a long time to feature in the last 16 of the CL or win a few medals . I know its only two more CL games (minimum :eek:) but still, that coupled with an SPL Championship and possibly a cup medal or two. I think he should stick around until the summer and then go.

Meanwhile Stokesy should step it up now he has regained fitness and look to pile on some pressure and get in the starting line up.....

[BonnieShels]

To be honest, if he goes to Norwich or somewhere similar he could be waiting a long time to feature in the last 16 of the CL or win a few medals . I know its only two more CL games (minimum :eek:) but still, that coupled with an SPL Championship and possibly a cup medal or two. I think he should stick around until the summer and then go.

When I see players and managers doing things mis-season that I find off I always think of these scenarios. It reminds me of the time Owen Coyle went to Bolton. He was pratically unsackable at Burnley and even if they got relegated he could have had a decent job in the summer come his way. The mind boggles sometimes.

In saying that I was the main man at PEC Zwolle and won the Dutch Cup almost singlehandedly as a 17yo midfield maestro and led them to second in the table with my goals in my second season. But jumpd to PSV in the January transfer window when it became an option. I'm now no longer playing regularly and my team mates don't trust me but I still bang them in given the opportunity.

So yeah based on my Become-a-Legend status, Hooper should stay at Celtic 'til the summer.

[EAFC_rdfl]

When I see players and managers doing things mis-season that I find off I always think of these scenarios. It reminds me of the time Owen Coyle went to Bolton. He was pratically unsackable at Burnley and even if they got relegated he could have had a decent job in the summer come his way. The mind boggles sometimes.

In saying that I was the main man at PEC Zwolle and won the Dutch Cup almost singlehandedly as a 17yo midfield maestro and led them to second in the table with my goals in my second season. But jumpd to PSV in the January transfer window when it became an option. I'm now no longer playing regularly and my team mates don't trust me but I still bang them in given the opportunity.

So yeah based on my Become-a-Legend status, Hooper should stay at Celtic 'til the summer.

that's in fifa, right? ;)

[liamoo11]

hoprfully hooper goes stokes is a class act it would be great chance for him to show his undoubted talents

[BonnieShels]

that's in fifa, right? ;)

Gawd no. Eugh.

PES2013.

[Junior]

hoprfully hooper goes stokes is a class act it would be great chance for him to show his undoubted talents

Stokes shouldnt be relying on Hooper leaving so that he can show his skills. I would say most of Stokes ' best performances for Celtic have come when he partnered Hooper up front.

He should be able to knuckle down and prove his worth, not rely on people stepping aside.

[liamoo11]

Stokes shouldnt be relying on Hooper leaving so that he can show his skills. I would say most of Stokes ' best performances for Celtic have come when he partnered Hooper up front.

He should be able to knuckle down and prove his worth, not rely on people stepping aside.

To be fair he has been injured all season and is just back

[Junior]

Yeah, Im aware of that, not sure of the relevance though. He still needs to knuckle down, train hard and prove to the manager he is worth his place in the team now that he is back from injury.

If Hooper does go, I'd say its a safe bet Lennon would try and replace him.

[liamoo11]

Yeah, Im aware of that, not sure of the relevance though. He still needs to knuckle down, train hard and prove to the manager he is worth his place in the team now that he is back from injury.

If Hooper does go, I'd say its a safe bet Lennon would try and replace him.

The relevence clearly is without Hooper stokes has a better chance to get game time regain match fitness score goals which he has done consistently in scotland and more importantly add creativity to celtic like he did last season when alot of celtic fans felt Hooper wasnt putting it in and did not contribute enough to the team.

[geysir]

The relevence clearly is without Hooper stokes has a better chance to get game time regain match fitness score goals which he has done consistently in scotland and more importantly add creativity to celtic like he did last season when alot of celtic fans felt Hooper wasnt putting it in and did not contribute enough to the team.
In the Fans Player of the Month poll, Hooper picked up 1.755 points over the course of last season. Stokes who played a similar amount of games, picked up 433 points.
So whatever Hooper did contribute last season, the quality of it was appreciated by the fans much more than Anthony's efforts.

[Junior]

Just on a couple of minutes against Killie, Celtic were winning 2:1. Renewing his partnership with Hooper and after no more than 3 or 4 minutes on the field he's slotted one away after rounding the keeping and drilling it home from a wide angle making it 3:1

[liamoo11]

2 today 1 cracker won peno and nice work for another.was celtics best player last week as well in his first start since injury.

[geysir]

Stokes had an excellent game against Dundee U. He looked fit and raring to go.

[ArdeeBhoy]

Great to see him back on song, but unless he can do it for any sustained period I'd forget about him doing it for Ireland...

[squareball]

Stokes lack of pace is the reason he cannot make the breakthrough for Ireland. It's a pity but he won't do much for Ireland unless we start to get the ball down on the carpet and pass it around. I wish him all the best with Celtic it is nice to see him doing well and scoring goals again.

[Junior]

I really dont think lack of 'pace' has been the reason for him failing to make the breakthough at Ireland. Im not sure Walters, Doyle, Sammon are blessed with electric pace either. I think you need to look at self discpline attitude and application for the reason.

He's still young (we'll have to be able to stop saying that soon surely:o) so he has time, a new management team will likely be in place after this campaign as he has more than likely burned his bridges with the current setup and an opportunity will arise Im sure.

Good to see him back from injury and getting in to the playing squad at Celtic and having an impact. Wonder does he have a chance for the game in Turin to be part of the Miracle of all Miracles?? Lennon hasnt trusted him in the past for such big games, suppose it also depends on Samaras and Hoopers availability.

[Sleepingpartner]

He's a good player but never fufilled his early potential and just can't ever see him being an EPL player or regular international.

[Royal rover]

stokes now finds himself in a bad situation in terms of his long term future at Celtic, i heard certain stories to why he wasn't back in the first team earlier than last week, granted that these rumors are generally unfounded , however i have always been a big fan of young Anthony and i hope for the remainder of the season he scores goals , when you look at what Norwich were willing to pay in order to get hooper, i do believe that stokes isn't that far behind, the recent bad press associated with the current republican movement will mean that if Celtic want rid of him at the end of the season , it's unlikely he'll get a move back to England so who knows , i would love to see him playing upfront with shane long at some stage in the future, i think he compliments alot of players around and this was certainly evident from the Dundee game , however he is unlikely to get a run in the second leg ahead of Tony Watt, who bar the Barcelona game has had very average season but he's still very young. i have said before he has more talent than anything else i have seen in years , and hopefully i will be proven right eventually but time is starting to run out so he needs to play well for the reminder of the season

[squareball]

I really dont think lack of 'pace' has been the reason for him failing to make the breakthough at Ireland. Im not sure Walters, Doyle, Sammon are blessed with electric pace either. I think you need to look at self discpline attitude and application for the reason.

Walters Doyle and Sammon are all big and strong. Physically they don't need to be very quick to hold up the ball and bring others into play. Stokes needs to be able to use speed to get in behind defenders and to get past them because he is not strong enough to be a target man. His job would be to score goals. He will be prolific if he stays at Celtic and may become a useful squad player under the next management I doubt he will be given a chance by Trap.

[SkStu]

Got the winner for Celtic in today's semi against St. Mirren...


GOAL- ST MIRREN 1-2 CELTIC (STOKES)
Celtic retake the lead and again the hapless St Mirren defence is posted missing. James Forrest plays a short corner to Gary Hooper before collecting the return and sending in a cross for the unmarked Anthony Stokes to head home.

[Junior]

Got the winner for Celtic in today's semi against St. Mirren...

Well that wasnt actually the winner against St. Mirren (who went on to win the League Cup) but it must have been foresight as he came off the bench yesterday to score the winner for Celtic in ET beating Dundee United 4:3 to go in to the Scottish Cup final versus Hibs.

Jon Daly scored a brace for Dundee United too. If Conor Sammon can get the nod, then Jon Daly is more than worthy of a squad place for the Irish setup. He has bags of experience, captains his side and scores his fair share (I havent checked his stats but he's done well over the last number of years). He's 29 now, 3 years Sammons senior.

Okay Im playing devils advocate but I would have liked to see Daly getting a shout a few years ago when the likes of Cillian Sheridan were getting a run out........

Stokes on the other hand........not a great season due to injury....Its grounddog day.....but here goes... Lets hope he can kick on again in the remaining dead rubber league games and perhaps get a shot in the cup final and on to next season.

EDIT: Willo Flood had a decent enough game for DU as well - he has a good engine on him!

[liamoo11]

fair play to flood he got over his spell with celtic well. When he was the youngest of the quartet of elliott, mccarthy and whelan at city he was defo the most highly rated dont think you wood have got much odds on it been whelan who ended up with 60 caps which is a credit to glenn

[IsMiseSean]

I wonder will Stokes get a look in for the end of season games? Will he show up if he does....

[Stuttgart88]

I hope he does on both counts.

[Junior]

www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/22220470

Celtic are to offer Anthony Stokes a new contract, with the Irish striker nearing the end of his current terms.
Manager Neil Lennon revealed the news but did not go into any details on the length of the proposed deal.
Stokes, who joined the club from Scottish Premier League rivals Hibernian in August 2010, missed five months of the season through injury.
The 24-year-old headed in the winning goal in Sunday's Scottish Cup semi-final against Dundee United.
He came off the bench at Hampden to settle a 4-3 thriller in extra time.
It was a fifth goal of the season for the Republic of Ireland international, who found the net on 40 occasions during the previous two campaigns with Celtic.
Capped four times, Stokes has not been selected for his country since he withdrew from the 2011 Nations Cup, citing tiredness.