Deila slams Stokes following Twitter outburst

Celtic manager Ronny Deila slammed striker Anthony Stokes after the Irishman took to social media to complain about being left out of the matchday squad to face Inverness Caledonian Thistle on Sunday.

Stokes has made just two appearances for Celtic this term and was on the bench for the Europa League defeat to Ajax on Thursday.

And though he travelled to Inverness’ Tulloch Caledonian Stadium with the rest of the squad, Stokes failed to make the matchday 18 and immediately aired his thoughts on Twitter, a move which Deila – whose side won 3-1 – described as “disrespectful” to his team-mates.

“Buzzing to be brought all the way up to Inverness with the team to sit in the stands today, lovely weather for it too,” Stokes tweeter, later adding: “Who gives a **** about wages when your [sic] not playing games! It’s all about playing and contributing not picking up a wage.”

“It is disrespectful for the boys,” said Deila when asked about the comments. “We travel every week with 20 players and the manager puts out 11 and seven on the bench and there are always two left out.

“If that is harder for him than somebody else, then for me he is not a team player. What is important with Stokesy is that he has to show the work first before he speaks and if you do that then you always have a future. But so far he has been more about [talking] than performances.”