THE jacket wrapped around Anthony Stokes on Sunday to protect him from the chill whipping up off the Moray Firth may as well have been stitched to the striker’s Celtic kit back in the summer given the amount of time he has spent out in the cold.
The tweets that accompanied his visit to the Highlands, no doubt furiously punched into a phone keypad through a set of thermal gloves, at least provided some heat for him as well as a reminder to the club’s supporters – and even his manager – that he even exists.
Stokes’ exile from the Parkhead first-team is a curious one on varying levels. Firstly, he is a player who over the past five years has racked up 192 appearances in green and white. Furthermore, he has banged in nearly 100 goals to further add to his worth. The majority of these efforts of course came under the stewardship of Neil Lennon, Ronny Deila’s predecessor, the manager who enjoyed three SPL title wins and two Scottish Cups with the Republic of Ireland internationalist.
Buzzing to be brought all the way up to inverness with the team to sit in the stands today, lovely weather for it too...🙈😳
— Anthony Stokes (@stoksey10) November 29, 2015
Secondly, the 27-year-old from Dublin is a forward who was used extensively last season. On 39 occasions he was placed on a football park by Deila, often being played out of position on the flanks while a mixture of Leigh Griffiths, Teemu Pukki, Stefan Scepovic and John Guidetti were thrust through the middle of the Celtic attack. Still Stokes managed to chip in nine goals.
He has featured just twice this time round, the last occasion coming in a 3-1 win over Dundee United back on August 22. We are also just two weeks shy of the anniversary of the last time he found the back of the net.
Arguably Stokes' biggest shortcoming while at Celtic has been his inability to score in Europe. It is a troublesome weight which he has struggled to cope with, the two goals he netted against Rennes back in 2011 in the Europa League doing little to alleviate the strain.
However, the Parkhead club are hardly blessed with a wide range of alternatives. Just looking at this season’s disastrous Europa League campaign, the Scottish champions have scored seven times while letting in 11. Against Ajax at Parkhead last Thursday when a goal was needed to keep their dream alive, Deila sought to bring on a full-back in Emilio Izaguirre, a midfielder in Charlie Mulgrew who turned out not to be fully fit, and Scott Allan who, while impressive in flashes, has hardly featured and dithered on the ball to provide Ajax the break they needed to net their own winner. As this was going on Stokes was left sitting on the bench, no doubt pondering his next tweet.
His manager has spoken this season about the need for his striker to work harder and basically fight for his future at the club. Stokes’ colourful outbursts online prior to Celtic’s 3-1 win over Inverness told the story of a man who surely is at the end of his tether and, very soon, at the end of his Celtic career.
The fact he has dropped off the face of the planet and quite often doesn’t even get a place on the Parkhead club’s bench would suggest that there are issues between him and his manager that are simply too big to overcome. Whether it is application in training, diet, conditioning, attitude, a clash of personalities or something else is anyone’s guess. Whatever it is, though, there has been little to suggest that the man who came through the youth ranks at Arsenal is any closer to getting a game now than he was three months ago.
Is it any wonder that his frustration eventualy got the better of him, whether it was appropriate or not to do so publicly? The biggest surprise is the fact it perhaps took this long.
Stokes’ love for Celtic is no secret, and he is a player who has enjoyed many highs with the Glasgow club. However, Sunday provided a new low for him, and one that surely suggests a move away from the club in January would be the healthiest outcome for all concerned, especially if he has designs on spending next summer in France.
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