From a personal point of view, Hibs’ on-loan striker Anthony Stokes could have been forgiven for supporting Rangers in the William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final against his parent club Celtic, however such thought never entered his head.
Had the Hoops won, Stokes and fellow loanee Liam Henderson would not have been permitted to take part however after Rangers won on penalties, the door to the Hampden final opened for the pair.
When questioned about this in the aftermath of Hibs victory last night, Stokes responded: “I was supporting Celtic on Sunday. I’m a Celtic fan and that’s just the way it is. I have no control about not being able to play in the game whatsoever.
“Now I am able to play in the final and I’m absolutely delighted but I always want Celtic to do well as I am always going to be a Celtic fan. But Celtic is none of my business at the moment, I am talking purely as a Celtic fan’s point of view, as a professional I’m only focused on Hibs.”
Earlier in the day, news emanated from Parkhead concerning the future of manager Ronny Deila who announced that he is to leave at the end of the season.
Stokes fell out with Deila in November following a Tweet after he was left out of the squad for a trip to Inverness Caledonian Thistle but he took no delight to learn of the manager’s departure.
When asked whether the news surprised him he replied: “It was a surprise and it wasn’t
“For the club to come out and say he’s going to finish at the end of the season is a surprise as it’s normally a case of lose the derby and you lose your job.
“Listen, I’m not going to be joyful about anyone losing their job. I want Celtic to do well as they possibly can and that is other people’s decision.
“Of course this decision could change things for me but things in football can change overnight.
“My mindset has always been on coming here and get myself as fit as possible and try to get games and help Hibs in any way I can.
“I had no intentions other than coming here and then going back to Celtic in the summer. That’s always the way I thought it would.”
John graduated from Telford College in 2010 with an HNC in Practical Journalism and since then he worked for the North Edinburgh News, The Southern Reporter, the Irish News Review and The Edinburgh Reporter. In addition he has been published in the Edinburgh Evening News and the Hibernian FC Programme.
