Anthony Stokes (F free agent b.1988)

**Junior** · 31/01/2010, 12:18 PM

Fleck? Good to see you are not basing your opinion on tabloid sensationalism.

Whats he had about 10 - 20 appearances with a couple of goals over the last couple of seasons?

But obviously he can make it a higher level.

That made me laugh....

Obviously the lack of finances in the Scottish game is manifesting itself in the quality on the pitch.

**Acornvilla** · 31/01/2010, 12:53 PM

fleck has very good potential

**Jicked** · 31/01/2010, 12:55 PM

Originally Posted by Junior

Fleck? Good to see you are not basing your opinion on tabloid sensationalism.

Whats he had about 10 - 20 appearances with a couple of goals over the last couple of seasons?

But obviously he can make it a higher level.

That made me laugh....

The guy's pedigree is second to none. I remember Anto when he was 15 and was honestly one of the most sought after young players in Europe. One Christmas holidays he had Arsene Wenger and Alex Ferguson both come over to Dublin to have dinner in his house as they tried to get his signature. His quality is unquestionable, its just the fact he's an absolute pr*ck thats held him back and ruined his development as a player. Then again you can't completely blame a 16 year old kid for acting the maggot and growing up how he did, a lot of that must go down to how he was brought up by his father/agent. His return to form at Hibs suggests that he's beginning to grow up, and crucially is getting away from his father. I still think he'll go on to be a great Irish player and be Robbie's eventual successor.

EDIT - whoops, were you referring to Fleck in your OP?

**Junior** · 31/01/2010, 7:05 PM

Originally Posted by Jicked

EDIT - whoops, were you referring to Fleck in your OP?

Yeah I was. I pretty much agree with the rest of your post. Stokes has been the most exciting thing in the SPL this season for me, definitely expect to see much more of him in the Irish fold in the coming months.

Originally Posted by Acornvilla

fleck has very good potential

He may have, or he may just be another young Scot who the Sottish media pray becomes something. I just thought it was amusing that he was stuck in that post in the company of Larsson, Moravcik, Laudrup and Gascoigne, as one of the only current players in the SPL who could do something in a higher league? Based on what? a handful of good to mediocre performances and some lovely headlines.

**SilkCut** · 01/02/2010, 1:39 AM

Originally Posted by Junior

Yeah I was. I pretty much agree with the rest of your post. Stokes has been the most exciting thing in the SPL this season for me, definitely expect to see much more of him in the Irish fold in the coming months.

He may have, or he may just be another young Scot who the Sottish media pray becomes something. I just thought it was amusing that he was stuck in that post in the company of Larsson, Moravcik, Laudrup and Gascoigne, as one of the only current players in the SPL who could do something in a higher league? Based on what? a handful of good to mediocre performances and some lovely headlines.

You should probably re-read my post Junior, I made it quite clear "perhaps young Fleck" also the entire point of the post was to highlight the difference between the quality that was once in the SPL and what is there now. I take it that you believe McGeady and Stokes are both comparable to Brian Laudrup? If so you are posting on a subject you know nothing about.

Fleck has undoubted "potential" look the word up. He has been capped at every level up to u-21 and captained the u-16 and 17 sides and he is still only 18 so to answer your question, its based on what people more qualified than you and I think of him and how much faith they have in him and also the fact that he is a regular squad member at what is one of the biggest 2 clubs in the SPL.

As for Stokes, yes it is excellent to see him doing well as he also still has enormous potential, I just hope he does not follow McGeadys example and stay in Scotland too long.

Originally Posted by Acornvilla

dont post an almost identical point on both threads gets boaring

I apologise.

**Junior** · 01/02/2010, 11:23 AM

Originally Posted by SilkCut

You should probably re-read my post Junior, I made it quite clear "perhaps young Fleck" also the entire point of the post was to highlight the difference between the quality that was once in the SPL and what is there now. I take it that you believe McGeady and Stokes are both comparable to Brian Laudrup? If so you are posting on a subject you know nothing about.

Fleck has undoubted "potential" look the word up. He has been capped at every level up to u-21 and captained the u-16 and 17 sides and he is still only 18 so to answer your question, its based on what people more qualified than you and I think of him and how much faith they have in him and also the fact that he is a regular squad member at what is one of the biggest 2 clubs in the SPL.

As for Stokes, yes it is excellent to see him doing well as he also still has enormous potential, I just hope he does not follow McGeadys example and stay in Scotland too long.

OK, I apologise, Felck was obviously not the main part of your post. Of course I could see the point you are making with regards to the drop in standard of the SPL since the mid to late nineties. I could also understand why you would throw in Boruc, McGeady and Boyd as perhaps the benchmark of players who could still do better. Arguably these 3 players would fetch the best transfer fees in the SPL if sold.

I just thought it was amusing that Fleck was thrown in there. I have read more tabloid euphoria on this guy than Ive ever seen him deliver on the pitch. The league is littered with Scottish U16's, U18's, U21's - so what? Rangers have not spent money in the last 3 transfer windows, offloading anyone worth a few bob in the meantime, so it doesnt take a rocket scentist to see why one or 2 or maybe even 3 youngsters will be brought through to warm the bench or even get the odd cameo role.

Im well aware what the word 'potential' means. Perhaps in this instance it could mean 'currently not of the standard required'? and then we are back to the starting point and the drop in quality.

**SkStu** · 23/03/2010, 8:10 PM

gets another against Ross County in the Scottish Cup

Anthony Stokes grabs a headed goal from close range.

**Serb** · 27/03/2010, 5:07 PM

Scored one today to make it 16 goals in 29 league games. Not much of a description of the goal on BBC anyway:

"Anthony Stokes then shot home via a deflection"

**yapster** · 27/03/2010, 5:37 PM

Good to see Stokes score again, sadly Liam Miller hasn't the strength of character to make it the upper levels of football and this is as good as it gets for him.

**Razors left peg** · 27/03/2010, 5:56 PM

Originally Posted by yapster

Good to see Stokes score again, sadly Liam Miller hasn't the strength of character to make it the upper levels of football and this is as good as it gets for him.

I find it a bit strange that u continue to sing Stokes praises (rightfully) but yet u dont rate Robbie Keane, even though Robbie has gone to the same league as Stokes and has 11 goals in 11 games now

**yapster** · 27/03/2010, 6:34 PM

Originally Posted by Razors left peg

I find it a bit strange that u continue to sing Stokes praises (rightfully) but yet u dont rate Robbie Keane, even though Robbie has gone to the same league as Stokes and has 11 goals in 11 games now

Never said that I didn't rate Keane, I said that he doesn't produce at top clubs and will miss important sitters. Stokes has great potential and will do a job for Ireland I hope.

**Razors left peg** · 27/03/2010, 7:15 PM

Originally Posted by yapster

Never said that I didn't rate Keane, I said that he doesn't produce at top clubs and will miss important sitters. Stokes has great potential and will do a job for Ireland I hope.

hes got good potential but he will never be as good as Robbie or get near Robbies goal record

**tetsujin1979** · 27/03/2010, 8:17 PM

Stokes won't even get close to Robbie's record. Stokes is 21 now, by the time Keane was the same age, he had six goals for his country.

**yapster** · 27/03/2010, 8:29 PM

we don't know yet whether he will be as good as keane or not, maybe he won't beat keane record but as long as he doesn't miss the easy important chances he will be fine....

**Serb** · 27/03/2010, 11:34 PM

People speculating about someone like Stokes getting near Robbie's record are just being silly. His goal record is superb relative to many of the top players in the world, never mind top Irish players (for which he has almost double the next nearest goal tally). He has more goals than the record scorers for countries like Italy and Holland who routinely produce some of the best players in the world. His record will stand for a very, very long time and someone like Anthony Stokes sure as hell isn't going to be the man to break it.

**tetsujin1979** · 28/03/2010, 3:55 AM

Originally Posted by yapster

we don't know yet whether he will be as good as keane or not, maybe he won't beat keane record but as long as he doesn't miss the easy important chances he will be fine....

what does that even mean? "doesn't miss the easy important chances"? So if he doesn't miss the difficult important chances what will he be? Or if he misses the difficult insignificant chances then what?

**seanfhear** · 28/03/2010, 12:07 PM

We know Stokes can score goals at this level. The big question is can he carry that goal scoring form to higher levels.

Can Robbie return to scoring goals at a higher level than this.

I sincerely hope that both can.