Anthony Stokes’ Celtic suspension ‘not only about Twitter incident’

Anthony Stokes was suspended by Celtic for a number of incidents and not only his Twitter outburst, the manager, Ronny Deila, has revealed.

The striker was given a two-week ban by the club after venting his frustration at being omitted from the squad for the game at Inverness last Sunday after travelling to the Highlands. “Buzzing to be brought all the way up to Inverness with the team to sit in the stands today, lovely weather for it too,” tweeted Stokes. He then followed up by saying: “Who gives a fuck about wages when your [sic] not playing games! It’s all about playing and contributing not picking up a wage.”

Stokes later apologised but it proved a tipping point for Deila, who disciplined the player last season when he returned late from a trip to Ireland.

“I think everybody understands it’s not about that single incident,” the Norwegian said at his press conference for Saturday afternoon’s Premiership visit of Hamilton. “There have been some issues in the past and now we felt we had to put down a marker. I think that’s going to be good in the end for us and Anthony as well. After 14 days he will come back and hopefully we can keep him working. I wouldn’t go into the different issues – that’s between me and him and the club.”

Stokes also faces trial next year for an alleged assault on an Elvis impersonator in Dublin, an incident that predates Deila’s reign. Stokes has denied he was the aggressor in the argument.

Deila rejected the suggestion the Irishman had been treated more harshly than Kris Commons, who was not banned for a dugout rant after his substitution in Molde in October, stressing that Stokes had been given warnings in the past. “I would never suspend a player because of that comment but it was too much,” he said.

Stokes, who has 18 months left on his contract, has made only two appearances this season but Deila insisted the 27-year-old can still be part of the first team. “He has a future,” Deila said. “Of course there are things that need to improve. If he makes the improvement that we want, everything is possible.

“If he didn’t have any ability, he wouldn’t be here. He’s a goalscorer and a great player. Everybody at this club gets a lot of chances but we need to see improvement in different aspects and if they don’t do that individually then we need to use different things to get through to them.”

Asked whether he would look to sell the player in January, Deila said: “That’s a question that is stupid to answer. Every player in this club is in the same situation. He has a contract and he has talent and we want to get the best out of that talent.”

Deila has issued social media guidelines to his players to make sure they are not negative towards the team, club or others, but he accepts players will become frustrated at not playing. “It’s obviously something you want to avoid but there are a lot of good football players who want to play and things will happen when you have ambitious people,” he said.

“So it’s nothing new. But we have to sometimes put a mark on what is accepted and what’s not accepted. I feel I have complete respect from all the players. If there aren’t any issues then it’s a group that doesn’t care and that’s the worst thing. These players care, they want to achieve things.”

One player who is pleasing Deila with his attitude is the 24-year-old midfielder Scott Allan, who could make his first start on Saturday since his move from Hibernian in mid-August– if the pitch passes an inspection. “I think he is ready,” said Deila, who also revealed Charlie Mulgrew faces another six to eight weeks out with his recurring thigh injury. “He [Allan] has been very, very good from day one. It’s always tough to come from a Championship club to the best team in Scotland. It takes time to adapt.

“He has been unbelievably patient and works hard every day. He tries to learn and understand things. In the last few games he has come on and made a difference.”