LAST CHANCE
Bartley warns Stokes that attitude must be right at Livvy... or his career will be over
THE welcome is warm and sincere yet qualified and grounded in reality. When it comes to Anthony Stokes these days, it simply has to be like that.
Marvin Bartley’s appreciation of the striker’s unquestionable talent stems from seeing his two goals elevate Hibernian to Scottish Cup glory against Rangers in 2016.
If the 32-year-old Dubliner demonstrates such focus and professionalism throughout this campaign at Almondvale, Gary Holt’s side will not be bottom of the Premiership for long.
Livvy skipper Bartley is not alone in tempering his optimism with a note of caution, though.
He was, after all, still at Easter Road when Stokes returned for a third time, making no appreciable impact. The same can be said of subsequent spells with Greek side Apollon Smyrnis, six games with Turks Adana Demirspor and time spent with Iranian sides Tractor and Persepolis.
Bluntly, it’s hard to escape the notion that the last two years of the Irishman’s career have been spent in decline. The consensus of many is that Livingston will just be another staging post on that road towards retirement.
Willing to give Stokes the benefit of the doubt as a result of an open dialogue over the past week, Bartley appreciates why many an eyebrow has been raised over the signing of a player who could hardly be less of a natural fit for Livingston’s ethos.
‘He’s 32 years of age and this is his last chance, let’s be honest,’ said Bartley.
‘He’s signed a year’s contract and, if he doesn’t hit the ground running, or doesn’t apply himself the way we need him to, that’s probably it for him in football.
‘It is as severe as that for him. When you get over 30 years of age, your chances run out very quickly. So at 32, this could be it if he doesn’t come here and perform.
‘I don’t think he needs to prove anything to anybody other than himself.
‘We know what he can do. He knows what he can do. So just go out there and play.
‘He doesn’t need to go out to prove points and all that stuff. Go and play, train like an athlete, eat like an athlete, be like an athlete away from the football club and everything will come for him on the pitch.
‘His ability is unquestionable. Without the troubles he’s had off the pitch, Livingston wouldn’t be signing Anthony Stokes. Hibs wouldn’t have got him and they got him.
‘Ability-wise, there are not many better players than him.’
Livingston can only hope that the Stokes who has returned to Scotland is a wiser character than the one who departed.
Because, as Bartley attests, if the application is there, the talent is beyond question.
However sceptical many observers are about him effectively replacing Lyndon Dykes, if it does work out, it could yield spectacular results.
‘Anthony Stokes is a fantastic player,’ added Bartley. ‘I don’t think anyone questions that about him. We’re hoping that he’s hungry to play football, which he seems to be.
‘I spoke to him before he signed and I’ve spoken to him since and he seemed hungry to be back in Scotland and looking to do well.
‘If he is like that and plays to his levels, with the ability he has, I don’t think you’ll find a better striker outwith the top two.
‘I genuinely mean that. He has so much ability. People have been messaging me who played with him. They are like “wow”. If he decides that he wants to do it, then Livingston will have pulled off a coup.’
Not a man to suffer fools gladly, Bartley is prepared to take Stokes at his word.
‘I am convinced he’ll have that application,’ said the midfielder. ‘Don’t get me wrong, he’s not as fit as he wants it be as he’s been out of football for a little while in terms of the last time he trained and played.
‘But he’s saying all the right things. I think the penny has finally dropped for him.’
Although the addition of Stokes and German striker Lars Lokotsch may well remedy a lack of punch up front, that’s by no means the sum total of Livingston boss Holt’s concerns right now.
The better side in the first half at Pittodrie, the visitors went to sleep for 10 minutes and awoke to find themselves two goals down.
The infuriating thing, from the manager’s point of view, is it wasn’t the first time this has happened.
‘The first 10 minutes of the second half were not acceptable,’ Bartley stated. ‘What do I put that down to? Us as players.
‘Sometimes there are places to turn and people to blame but you also have to look at the boys who wear the shirt and that was totally unacceptable. It won’t be accepted from the management team and it won’t be accepted from us as players.
‘I’m the captain of this football club and I take responsibility. We’ve got to sort it out very quickly because we are conceding goals we shouldn’t be.
‘If you only play for 89 minutes, let alone 80, you are going to lose games.
‘It only takes a second to score a goal. We need to realise that it’s all well and good defending like we did against Rangers last week.
‘But that has to be the standard that we set. We lost two sloppy goals on Sunday.
‘At Motherwell, we conceded two sloppy goals and, against Hibs, there were two or three that we shouldn’t have conceded. It has to stop.’