He came, he saw, he left ... because he didn’t like Livvy’s plastic pitch
IN the end, it was enough to make Kenny Miller’s famously brief spell at Livingston seem worthy of a gold watch for long service.
When Anthony Stokes’ departure from the Tony Macaroni Arena was confirmed yesterday, it was just 25 days after he had signed for the club. He did not make a single appearance.
Miller, by contrast, stuck it out for 50 whole days as playermanager, appearing in seven matches for the West Lothian outfit.
Farcically, the parting of ways between Stokes and the Lions was blamed on the 32-year-old former Republic of Ireland international not being comfortable with Livvy’s much-publicised plastic pitch.
‘Stokesy has been in training for approximately four weeks now and it’s fair to say that we both knew there was going to be a lot of work to be done to get Anthony into top shape to play Premiership football,’ explained Livingston’s head of football operations David Martindale as the club announced the ‘mutually agreed termination’ of the forward’s contract.
‘In all honesty, it’s not quite worked out in terms of the on-field ball work and intense training schedule we had put in place.
‘He is struggling to adapt to training two to three hours per day on the AstroTurf surface. We all know it doesn’t, and won’t, suit everyone.
‘Of course, Anthony knew the surface we had in place but each player adapts to that differently and you can’t know how your body will feel adapting to it until you’ve been out there and played or trained on it frequently.
‘Whilst trying to get the player in shape, it’s been extremely frustrating for all of us, staff and player alike, that we can’t seem to get the intense training needed into the player.
‘To be fair to Anthony, he has noticed this himself and he approached us with the option to terminate. This allows both the player and the club to explore other opportunities.
‘It’s a real shame that the Livingston FC fans didn’t get to see Anthony wear the No9 shirt for Livingston on the field.’
A company-issue timepiece for Stokes would certainly come in handy to measure the increasingly regular incidents in a controversial career that has headed downhill fast since leaving Hibs.
His departure from Easter Road in January 2018 came after he had gone AWOL in the Algarve with team-mates Danny Swanson and Martin Boyle.
Dropped for a trip to Hamilton two months earlier after a bust-up with Neil Lennon, that incident in Portugal proved the final straw for the Hibs boss.
A nomadic existence has since ensued. Stokes headed to Greece to play for Apollon Smyrni, who cancelled his contract when he went AWOL from training. He was reported to FIFA by Iranian side Tractor after walking out on them.
A two-year deal with Adana Demirspor in Turkey was terminated after just six appearances, while he left Iranian side Persepolis under a cloud after the outbreak of Covid-19. He has also been in and out of court due to issues in his personal life.
‘At Tractor, I left because they didn’t pay me,’ explained Stokes last month. ‘It was the same situation at Adana. I made the decision to go back to
Dublin (from Iran) to be with my kids. People say I’ve gone off the rails — and I know I’ve had my issues off the pitch — but in the last two or three years abroad there’s been no issues on my part.’ Yet, for all that, trouble has an unfortunate habit of following him around. He was banned by the Glass Onion venue in Sunderland after his manager Roy Keane said the-then 19-year-old could go far in the game if he stayed away from the local nightlife. Stokes later received a suspended sentence for headbutting an Elvis impersonator outside a nightclub and being pictured at a memorial party in Dublin for a murdered Real IRA boss. Seven trophies with Celtic and a starring role in Hibs’ 2016 Scottish Cup win is testament to his ability. He is a living legend at Easter Road courtesy of that two-goal tour de force against Rangers. But the suspicion lingers the final curtain is not far from falling on the career of a gifted player who first lit up Scottish football on loan at Falkirk from Arsenal 14 years ago. Regrets? Like recent broken contracts, Stokes is bound to have a few.