Sunderland will have watched post-2010 Celtic developments with frustration: View | OneFootball

Sunderland were a bit of a yo-yo team in the mid-2000s, bouncing around between the Premier League and the Championship.

The Black Cats were either promoted or relegated in four out of five seasons between the years 2002 and 2007, trying to become a regular team in the top flight.

So, naturally, during this time, there were plenty of signings that may have been slight risks that did not work out.

One of those signings that did not work out was Anthony Stokes. However, he showed later on in his career what he was capable of.

Stokes’ spell at Sunderland was very poor

Stoke made the move to the Stadium of Light in January 2007, signing for a fee of £2 million on a three-and-a-half-year deal.

The then 18-year-old had spent the first half of the 06/07 campaign on loan in Scotland with Falkirk, scoring 16 goals in 18 games across all competitions.

He had actually trained with the Black Cats in July 2006 ahead of a potential loan move to the club.

But the manager at the time, Niall Quinn, decided against the move, due to the club’s lack of a reserve team and large squad depth.

But in the end, they got their man. Roy Keane was in charge when he signed, and Stokes said himself that Keane was a big reason behind his signing.

Stokes would score two goals in 14 Championship appearances, as they won promotion back to the Premier League, winning the Championship.

The 07/08 season saw Stokes struggle, scoring once in 20 Premier League games. Having struggled, he spent the majority of the 08/09 campaign on loan with Sheffield United and Crystal Palace, which signified the end of his time on Wearside.

Stokes then left for Hibernian for £500,000 in August 2009, with Sunderland making a £1.5 million loss on a young striker who failed to live up to expectations.

Stokes showed at Celtic how good he could have been

Stokes would later join Scottish giants Celtic in his career, signing in the summer of 2010. It was his time at Celtic Park where Stokes would show how good he could be.

He would spend the next five and a half years with Celtic, in what was a highly successful time for the player and club.

In 192 games for the club, he would score 77 goals. He would also help them win four consecutive Scottish Premierships from 2012 to 2015, two Scottish FA Cups and a Scottish League Cup.

He would go on to play in Europe with Celtic, including scoring two goals against Stade Rennais in the group stage of the Europa League, proving himself on some of the biggest stages.

Stokes would come up on top in big games, showing that he had a strong mentality. In the 2013 Scottish Cup final, he assisted fellow striker Gary Hooper twice, as they went on to win 3-0 against his former side Hibernian. Despite Hooper scoring two of the goals, Stokes was given the Man of the Match award.

After leaving Celtic, though, Stokes became a bit of a journeyman. He would end up returning to Hibernian on loan, before then returning to England with Blackburn Rovers.

He returned to Hibernian again on a permanent deal, before playing in Greece, Iran and Turkey. He retired in 2021 after a short spell with Livingston.

Stokes would end up showing Sunderland what they missed out on when at Celtic though, showing himself to be a lethal striker across multiple competitions, and one that could have helped them in the Premier League in arguably some of their darkest years in the mid-2010s.