Love at first fight
Fiery characters Lennon and Stokes are a match made in heaven for Hibs
WHEN it comes to Neil Lennon and Anthony Stokes, perhaps it is fitting that their often tempestuous relationship was forged from stormy beginnings.
The Hibs striker’s very first recollection of his Easter Road manager is of accusing the then Celtic captain of diving to win a penalty in a 1-0 win over Falkirk back in December 2006.
Lennon was sent off that day after clashing with the young Irish firebrand. It was the start of a feisty friendship that saw Lennon simultaneously become Stokes’ biggest fan and harshest critic.
As Celtic boss, Lennon almost offloaded the Republic of Ireland forward due to ill discipline. And, earlier this season, he banished Stokes from the Hibs training ground after what he called a ‘disagreement in training’.
In typically bullish fashion, Stokes yesterday brushed aside that row with Lennon as being ‘nothing’. But the one constant in the often-spicy dynamic between the duo is an underlying, unwavering respect from the striker towards a manager that has shaped his trophy-laden career.
‘I remember the first time I met the gaffer,’ smiled Stokes, speaking at Hibs’ mid-winter training camp in the Algarve. ‘He got sent off playing against me when I was with Falkirk.
‘Obviously, I’d watched the gaffer when I was a kid growing up but that was the first time I’d actually come up against him. I think the sending-off that day was a bit harsh on him, to be honest.
‘But he has been a big influence on my career and he was a massive part of my decision to come back to Hibs in the summer.
‘I’ve been in and out of teams pretty much since Ronny Deila came in at Celtic and I just wanted to get back to enjoying my football again.
‘I know how the gaffer works and I know the way he’s going to react sometimes if he’s not happy. You just have to take it on the chin. But he has always been very reasonable with me.
‘That’s one of things that sets him apart. He knows how to man-manage individual players to get the best out of them. He’s the type of person who will have it out with you and then it’s done, and people respect that. I’m a bit like that myself.
‘I can have an argument with someone but then you move on. There’s no point in dwelling on things. He’s the manager so you have to respect every decision he makes.’
So what exactly went on behind the scenes earlier in the season when the 29-year-old was dropped from the squad for a match against Hamilton?
‘To be honest, that was nothing, in my opinion,’ countered Stokes. ‘The gaffer spoke about it and I’m not going to go into detail about it. But as far as I was concerned I didn’t do anything wrong. It was just a misunderstanding.’
Hibs return to domestic action when they face rivals Hearts at Tynecastle in the Scottish Cup on January 21.
And 29-year-old Stokes, whose twogoal heroics in the classic 3-2 final win over Rangers in 2016 helped Hibs lift the Scottish Cup for the first time in 114 years, is keen for another taste of Hampden glory after what he described as his career highlight.
‘Winning the cup with Hibs probably surpassed everything I achieved with Celtic,’ he said. ‘Just because of the background to it all with the club having waited so long since 1902. And the scenes afterwards when you saw what it meant to the Hibs fans.
‘The open-top bus parade was unbelievable. It’s something I will never forget, and it was definitely the highlight of my career.’