Anthony Stokes (F free agent b.1988)

[youngirish]

he is unbelievably talented . . . check out his personal website . . . www.anthonystokes.net
Whoever did that site must have got the photographs mixed up. They posted one of Theo Walcott instead.

[tricky_colour]

Stokes is English anyway.
http://football-rumours.com/player.php?p=42483


Or Chineese
http://arsenal.china.com/zh_cn/players/anthonystokes.html

[Paddy Garcia]

So how does this Stokes fella qualify for us then? Anyone know anything about him? Not sure I agree with English lads declaring for us. :D

I am not aware of any "English lads" ever declaring for us. Unless you happen to be unaware of the Irish diaspora, and believe no Irish live outside our borders.

As for Stokes, do you consider Dublin too West British to qualify also?

[Peadar]

I am not aware of any "English lads" ever declaring for us. Unless you happen to be unaware of the Irish diaspora, and believe no Irish live outside our borders.

We get some fairly idiotic comments on here but saying that to a guy who lives in Oxford, takes some beating! :D

[Paddy Garcia]

We get some fairly idiotic comments on here but saying that to a guy who lives in Oxford, takes some beating! :D

Why? Do you think that everyone who lives in Oxford is imbued with the brains of the good & the great ?

Meanwhile I am struggling a little with the problem of "English lads" declaring for us - a) given Stokes is a Dubliner and b) defining 2g as English.

Frankly, don't think excuses can be made for those living in Oxford, or indeed in Dublin. :rolleyes:

[eirebhoy]

Why? Do you think that everyone who lives in Oxford is imbued with the brains of the good & the great ?

Meanwhile I am struggling a little with the problem of "English lads" declaring for us - a) given Stokes is a Dubliner and b) defining 2g as English.

Frankly, don't think excuses can be made for those living in Oxford, or indeed in Dublin. :rolleyes:
Tuff Paddy was being sarcastic in replying to tricky_colour's post. ;)

[Paddy Garcia]

Tuff Paddy was being sarcastic in replying to tricky_colour's post. ;)

Yeah, got it :D

[republicofwhite]

I wouldn't want Celtic to pay a couple of million for him now anyway. Football is littered with players who signed for clubs on the basis of a short good spell and then did feck all.

I have high hopes for Stokes but I'd want to see how he did for at least a season before he went anywhere. He's played less than 10 senior games remember.

Spot on. Celtic wouldn't be a good move. Look at David Fernandez and Derek Riordan, Careers just stall there if your not getting your game. Also dont think he should hang around Scotland. He looks like he has way too much ability and potential to stay there long term. He's doing well because he's playing in a weak enough team and still managing to be clinical etc. Heard there's four or five Premiership teams lining up bids. Personally think somewhere like Villa would be a great move. They need strikers, Baros should be on his way out, Sutton is hardly in his prime and being managed by Martin O'Neill will get the best out of him. Keano is well up for bringing him to Sunderland apparently...Could be interesting maybe?

[kingeric]

http://www.falkirkfc.co.uk/falkirk-news/stokes-donates-to-bairns-academy.html

nice gesture from stokes.

was at the B international match the other night and noticed only himself and Stephen Hunt had the decency to stop and sign autographs for the young kids at the match. stokes was there 10 mins on his own and even had to be asked to taken away by the chief of security for the fai...

[tetsujin1979]

http://www.falkirkfc.co.uk/falkirk-news/stokes-donates-to-bairns-academy.html

nice gesture from stokes.

was at the B international match the other night and noticed only himself and Stephen Hunt had the decency to stop and sign autographs for the young kids at the match. stokes was there 10 mins on his own and even had to be asked to taken away by the chief of security for the fai...

Didn't one of the players give his jersey to a young lad?

[youngirish]

I'd like to see Stokes get a move to a decent Championship club preferrably not Sunderland though as he would be in competition with other Irish strikers for places.

It would be very interesting to see how many goals he'd score compared to his main competition for places in the Ireland squad (I'd list Elliot, Clarke, Lee and maybe Murphy in this bracket).

We have an abundance of goalscoring talent coming through the ranks at the moment moreso than I can ever remember before. I can see the likes of Keane, Doyle, Clarke, Dixon, Long, Stokes, Rooney, Keogh and Elliot (if he can get himself back to being fit and back in form) fighting for the 2 available forward positions in Ireland teams in the not too distant future.

[The Legend]

Formation for 2008 .... 4-1-5

[Qwerty]

Er . . . that was a complete joke of a post by me, fishing for a bite and fair play to Paddy Garcia he swallowed it whole. Good man!
And as for "English lads" declaring for us . . . remind me how Paul Butler qualified for us again? Oh yeah, he MARRIED an Irish girl and was subsequently one of the biggest disgraces to ever get a green jersey.
I am all for Irish people of all birthplaces playing for Ireland but we really do need to realise that we have been used on numerous occasions by footballers wanting to further their careers.
There's one guy currently playing for us who couldn't actually tell me where his Irish grandparent was from and had never even been to Ireland before declaring for us. In fact, he would probably struggle to find Dublin on a map. (And people on here love the guy).
Rant over. And for the record, I've been aware of Stokes for more than three years now and know he's a Dub.

I think your disgust is aimed at the wrong target.

[eirebhoy]

It's getting boring now. ;) You see that Falkirk are winning and anyone other than Stokes scoring and it's a suprise. :)

[Soper]

Looking at the scorers charts in Scotland, it doesn't exactly look as though it's hard to score up there

[Closed Account]

Richie Foran - pen 45, pen 49
Surely people must be sitting up and taking notice at this stage?:)

[eirebhoy]

Looking at the scorers charts in Scotland, it doesn't exactly look as though it's hard to score up there
Well if you look at the amount of players that have hit 20 SPL goals over the years then you'll probably find it must be tough as they're all top players.

Stokes missed the first 5 games of the season yet is top scorer in the SPL and is still only 18.


Surely people must be sitting up and taking notice at this stage?
His 3rd goal of the season and 2 of them penos. :D

[cheifo]

Would they be happier if he had gone on loan to somewhere like Finn Harps


Give the kid a chance, maybe with a lot of hard work one day in the future he
just may turn out for the mighty blues:)

[Fergie's Son]

He's doing everything he can at Falkirk. He has really seized his chance there. Strachan put it best when he said that Stokes had really gone there with something to prove. He won't be there next year. He'll move as I doubt he will go back to Arsenal either.

[kingeric]

You have to hand it to him and he's banging in the goals no matter what league!

I have been reading the match reports and it sounds like another good goal for stoksey. It seems the sending of was very harsh aswell, second booking after been taking down in the box, booked for diving. Have to watch the Spl on setanta tomorrow.

Its great to see young irish talent doing well.

[passinginterest]

Arsenal are crying out for a natural goal scorer to play alongside Henry. I wouldn't rule out a return too soon. As far as I can make out Wenger rates him highly and there's a real chance he'll get a run at Arsenal.

[endabob1]

Arsenal are crying out for a natural goal scorer to play alongside Henry. I wouldn't rule out a return too soon. As far as I can make out Wenger rates him highly and there's a real chance he'll get a run at Arsenal.


But he's not French ;)

[tetsujin1979]

But he's not French ;)
Neither are Van Persie or Adebayor

[Peadar]

Well I met the Arsenal chairman the other week and he didn't even know who Stokes was.


If an offer of £2.5m came in from Celtic, you can be sure he'd know who he was then...

[FootballsKing]

Well I met the Arsenal chairman the other week and he didn't even know who Stokes was.

this shocks me. also i read in some irish paper the other day that wenger had never seen stokes play which shocked me so much that i decided not to believe it. Surely wenger has the final say in wheather players go out on loan or not and bases this decision on their performances for the reserves etc. if it were true i would lose a lot of respect for Wenger. If not him then who is the talented scout who actually has the final say in initially signing these genius youngsters, fabregas, bendtner, stokes, lupoli, eboue, gilbert etc? had wenger even seen Walcott play?

[cheifo]

It was Wenger who decided that it would be of benefit to Stokes to play him on the wing for a while.He has commented on him several times.I presume
Stokes is suspended for nexts weeks game against Rangers?
BTW Tuff Paddy where did you meet Peter Hill Wood(chairman?)...cmon dont be coy spill the beans I,m sure it was'nt in some Soho club:)

[dodgycanadian]

With the amount of strikers waiting their turn at arsenal im not even surprised he didnt know who stokes was. Surely with Van Persie, Adebayor, Lupoli, Bendtner, Aliadière (who wenger still rates highly regardless of injuries), and dont forget about Carlos Vela (won the U17 worlds with mexico and received player of the tournament), it looks like Stokes is in a log jam and should move to a lower end of the table premiership team at the end of the season or even by January.

[Fergie's Son]

I'd like to see him extend his loan period with Falkirk until the end of the season. I think it would be good for him to bang in 20+ goals before he decides to move on.

[passinginterest]

I think the common factor with most of the strikers on that list is that they've nearly all been given some first team opportunities. If Stokes goes back to Arsenal in January bang in form I still feel he might get a chance.

[Fergie's Son]

I met him on the day they officially opened the stadium. He was alright, though I was genuinely surprised at him not knowing anything about Stokes. Maybe we're just a bit obsessed and he isn't, I don't know.

Surprising. Perhaps Stokes just hasn't made it as far as we think.

[republicofwhite]

I think the common factor with most of the strikers on that list is that they've nearly all been given some first team opportunities. If Stokes goes back to Arsenal in January bang in form I still feel he might get a chance.

Not a chance... There is just no way he'll be given a shot at the first team. Unfortunately thats just the way it is at Arsenal. Its an embarrassment of riches with all the talented youth that they have there and they just dont seem to appreciate it! Wqay too much of a logjam with strikers. I'd still love to see him go to someone like Villa, become a regular and bang in a goal or two agaisnt Arsenal themselves. That would be the only way they'd sit up and take notice!

[mr.brightside]

They must know whos stokes is....was he not in the arsenal squad when berkamp had his testimonial???? and he got on for 10mins in a carling cup game last year!!!!!..... was talking to him the day after the B international game and he said he will move on in the summer but could be back at arsenal after christmas if his loan deal isnt extended.....

[eirebhoy]

Well I'd be worried if my boss didn't know who I was!
I'm sure the chairman of Tesco can't name all his staff. ;)

[Dublin12]

I'm sure the chairman of Tesco can't name all his staff. ;)

Im sure he could if he was paying them big money;)

[mr.brightside]

im sure jose mourinho hasnt a clue who conor clifford......

or most of you's on this forum

[bmozza]

Chairmen notoriously no absolutley nothing about football anyway, unless of course you own Hearts!
9 times out of 10 it's just another business to them...however much they try to gloss over that fact by insisting they're a ''real fan''.

[eirebhoy]

or most of you's on this forum
I found out about him on Football Manager. :D

http://foot.ie/showthread.php?t=41499

[republicofwhite]

They must know whos stokes is....was he not in the arsenal squad when berkamp had his testimonial???? and he got on for 10mins in a carling cup game last year!!!!!..... was talking to him the day after the B international game and he said he will move on in the summer but could be back at arsenal after christmas if his loan deal isnt extended.....

The loan should, and probably will be extended. Its in everybody's best interests... If things keep going as they are hopefully he'll finish as top scorer in the SPL and move onto a qulaity Premiership team in the summer... He actually came on in the 89th minute in that Carling Cup game...Unfortunately! As an aside, Conor Clifford is supposed to be ridiculously talented.

[Peadar]

Well I'd be worried if my boss didn't know who I was!

I'd say Murdoch knows who you are alright! :D

[dodgycanadian]

connor clifford, out of crumlin united??
only heard of him because me cousin plays over in crumin with the under 10s lol

[dodgycanadian]

Chelsea sign Ireland U-16 player

from stellargroup.co.uk:

Ireland Under 16 international Connor Clifford signs for Chelsea.

Chelsea have beaten a host of clubs to the signing of one of the most talented young players in Ireland, fourteen year-old Connor Clifford.

Connor will sign a contract with the Premiership champions on his sixteenth birthday following an agreement reached earlier this week. The Crumlin United central midfielder became the youngest ever player to represent the Ireland Under 16 side when he made his debut against Switzerland last year aged just thirteen.

His performances for both Crumlin and the various Irish international youth sides attracted interest from a number of English Premiership clubs, but it is Jose Mourinho's Chelsea who have won the race to sign Connor, to the delight of the player and those around him.

Stellar's John Stokes, who was in Ireland on Thursday along with representatives from Chelsea to meet with Connor and his family and complete the formalities of the agreement, hoped that the move would see the player go on and fulfil the excellent potential he has shown up until this point:

"Everyone is delighted for Connor. He has worked very hard and is an exceptional young footballer as well as a nice lad.

"There was a lot of interest in him from English clubs but we took our time deciding what was the best option for Connor to take in order to go on and fulfill his ambitions and he and his family all agreed that Chelsea was the club he would progress best at.

"I would like to wish Connor the very best of luck, he knows that the hard work begins now, but I have every confidence in him to go on and prove that Chelsea were right to make such an enormous effort to sign him."

[Peadar]

Stellar's John Stokes, who was in Ireland on Thursday along with representatives from Chelsea...

Father of Anthony Stokes, if I'm not mistaken.
Based in Dublin, he works for the Stellar Group in London.

[tetsujin1979]

Father of Anthony Stokes, if I'm not mistaken.
Based in Dublin, he works for the Stellar Group in London.


Yeah, that's him. He's working as a scout for Irish talent, getting them moves to England, and helping them settle over there when they do move

[Soper]

Is he what you would call a 'pimp'?

[Reddladd]

Personally I think that's wrong.
Here's a kid, obviously with talent, who at 14 knows he will be joining Chelsea in two years time.
At that age would you be bothered with school knowing that you have a move to a big premiership club and dreams of millions.
Now I don't know his circumstances, maybe he's a grounded young lad who realises his education is important but I think it stinks. What next, signing a pre contract when you're still in primary school? To me this is a typical example of all that is rotten in professional football.

[Calcio Jack]

Is he what you would call a 'pimp'?

No he isn't .. you see a pimp at least doesn't pretend to be anything except that...

[republicofwhite]

Personally I think that's wrong.
Here's a kid, obviously with talent, who at 14 knows he will be joining Chelsea in two years time.
At that age would you be bothered with school knowing that you have a move to a big premiership club and dreams of millions.
Now I don't know his circumstances, maybe he's a grounded young lad who realises his education is important but I think it stinks. What next, signing a pre contract when you're still in primary school? To me this is a typical example of all that is rotten in professional football.

True... Its nothing more than a ridiculous distraction. If only they couldn't be so distracted by the bright lights(probably a ot easier said than done) and think logically abut their career down the line. Somewhere like Ipswich would be perfect. A burgeoning youth academy, emphasis on education and if Clifford is as good as they say he is, he'd probably break into the first team at 17, and make his mark.

[Soper]

Or Bohs with all their money.

[tricky_colour]

I saw a report on Newnight about the date of births of top sportmen it was making the point that those who are old for their school year tend to do well, the theory being that they were noticed by spotters/scouts as being better than other in their year, however you would expect this because they were older.
It said that most of the players in academies where born Sept - Dec (about 75% I think, not sure exacly what they said) compared to only 2% for August
(which means you are the youngest in your year).
It seems Conner was born in October so he fits into that group. The point I am making is that some players may appear to be good simply because of their birth date and this will be negated as they get older, however they will obviously benefit from being in an academy.

Actually I found the report however it appears to have no sound :rolleyes:
I guess that is what I pay my license fee for!


http://news.bbc.co.uk/nolavconsole/ukfs_news/hi/bb_rm_fs.stm?news=1&bbram=1&bbwm=1&nbram=1&nbwm=1&nol_storyid=6194160

[Qwerty]

Personally I think that's wrong.
Here's a kid, obviously with talent, who at 14 knows he will be joining Chelsea in two years time.
At that age would you be bothered with school knowing that you have a move to a big premiership club and dreams of millions.
Now I don't know his circumstances, maybe he's a grounded young lad who realises his education is important but I think it stinks. What next, signing a pre contract when you're still in primary school? To me this is a typical example of all that is rotten in professional football.

It all depends on the kind of mammy he has doesn't it? :)