By Cathal Dervan

Roy Keane’s powers of persuasion have won the day -– Anthony Stokes, the hottest property in Irish football, is now a Sunderland player.

Keane spent Saturday night persuading Stokes to change his mind after the 18-year-old had accepted a $3 million move from Arsenal to Charlton.

Stokes was on his way to a Sunday medical with Charlton after snubbing Sunderland and Celtic when Keane worked his magic.

By Monday he had signed a 3 1/2 year deal with the Championship side and Stokes declared, “It’s brilliant to be here. It’s been a hectic few days, sorting things out, and now I’m looking forward to training and playing.

“I spoke to Roy Keane about everything, he told me his hopes for the club and it helped make up my mind. I’m excited about the move to Sunderland.”

Sunderland boss Keane said, “We’ve beaten off competition from a number of high-profile clubs for someone who is a good, young player who can hopefully help us in our push for promotion.”

Stokes wants to take his Scottish form into the championship with the Irish-owned club and said, “I had a great time at Falkirk, but I am just concentrating on Sunderland and doing well here for the next three or four years.

“I needed to stake a claim to play every week and hopefully I can do that at Sunderland. If somebody offers me another 16 goals between now and the end of the season, I would take that any day of the week. I would be a happy man.

“I am confident we can mount a strong promotion challenge. I talked to Roy about that as well and we are only three points off the playoffs. I am just glad the transfer stuff is all over and I can get on with playing football.

“I am looking forward to getting a week’s training with the lads and hopefully I will get a few minutes against Ipswich on Saturday.”

Stokes made only one first team appearance for Arsenal, ironically away to Sunderland in a Carling Cup game last season.

He spent a couple of days at Sunderland back in August with a view to a loan deal but Niall Quinn, manager at the time, was unable to guarantee Stokes regular first team football and Arsenal pulled the plug on the deal.

He subsequently moved to Falkirk and Scotland, became the first player to score back to back hat-tricks in the Scottish League and ended up with 14 goals in 16 league appearances.

Irish B international Stokes added, “I am excited about the move to Sunderland. I took everything into consideration and just felt it was right for me. Arsenal are a great club and I have only got good things to say about them. I have trained and played with some great players there and it has helped my game.

“I am glad I got the opportunity to play there, but it was time for me to move on and try to get first team football.

“The fact that there are such strong Irish connections at Sunderland helped me make the decision. It is going to be easier to settle in. I know a few of the lads here already.”

Irish boss Stephen Staunton has welcomed Sunderland’s move for Stokes and said, “It’s good to see that Anthony could be back playing first team football regularly. It will be another test for him and if he continues to make progress, then I will be very happy.

“We had him in the B international squad recently and we are keeping a close eye on his progress, so this is good news for Anthony and for Irish football.”

Celtic manager Gordon Strachan was none too pleased after failing to agree terms with Stokes, set to earn over ¤20,000 a week at the Stadium of Light.

Strachan said, “We offered him the chance to come here, but he has chosen to go to Charlton. You win some and lose some.

“People want to come here and win championships, play in Europe at the highest level, play in front of 60,000 people and play with good players with the chance of making yourself a legendary figure. If you feel you can get that elsewhere then fair enough.”

Shelbourne, the Dublin club who sold Stokes to Arsenal, will also benefit financially from his latest deal.

Butler the Hero

THOMAS Butler, the forgotten man of Irish football, was an unlikely FA Cup hero on Saturday when his two goals helped Swansea to a shock third round win at Premiership side Sheffield United.

Butler, once capped by Ireland and previously at Sunderland, Dunfermline and Hartle-pool, first came to note when he played in the Premiership at just 19 years of age.

A fall-out with Sunderland brought about a swift end to his six year spell at the Stadium of Light, and off-field problems saw Butler drift out of the limelight in recent times.

All that changed on Saturday however when his two goals made all the headlines and now, at just 25, Butler is ready to make the most of his second bite at the cherry.

“When I was at Sunderland I had injuries and other problems, and at the time it got me down and made me a bit depressed,” admitted Dubliner Butler. “I also had a dispute with the club. That’s private, but I came through it.

“I still feel I’ve a lot of potential. I’ve played at the highest level against some of the best players in Europe, and I’ve played quite well against them. There’s no reason why, after a season or two playing regularly, that I can’t do that again.

“I know you can’t play in the Premier League unless you have the ability to play there, and I feel I have that - although that only comes with playing all the time.

“If Paul Scholes played one bad game for Manchester United then Ferguson wouldn’t drop him for a long period of time. He would play him until his confidence returned, and that’s happened to a lot of players around the country — but just not me.

“For me to play against Sheffield United and to score two goals is a brilliant feeling. I know I’ve not scored many before now, and that does tend to play on your mind.

“Throughout my career I’ve had chances, I’ve played, but picked up an injury and then tried to get back in. I don’t think I’ve played a full season, so from my point of view that’s what I will now be trying to achieve.”

Kenny’s Debut

NEW Dunfermline boss Stephen Kenny couldn’t have asked for a better game to act as his first win as manager of the East End Park outfit as the Scottish Premier League’s bottom side shocked Rangers with a 3-2 Cup win on Sunday.

Kenny’s team, rooted to the foot of the table and still without a league win under the former Derry manager, led 2-0 at halftime and went three up early in the second half before two Kris Boyd goals ensured a grandstand finish.

A delighted Kenny said, “I’m pleased for the players because they have given me everything over the last few weeks. We went 3-0 up but Rangers upped the tempo, got two back and could have scored again, so we just hung on.

“Hopefully this win can galvanize our season. We need to save a few of those goals for the league. We played a lot better than that against Motherwell and somehow lost the game, which I still can’t explain.”

Dunfermline will now host Scottish Cup holders Hearts in the fourth round of the competition. Celtic will travel to Division One Livingston.

Kenny made his first signing of the transfer window before the game when he took Celtic’s Ireland youth international striker Jim O’Brien on loan until the end of the season.

“James just came in on Friday, I’ve only just met him, and he’s on loan until the end of the season,” said Kenny. “He’s the top scorer in Celtic’s reserves and he can play in a few positions. He’s a good prospect.”

Celtic’s Win

POLISH striker Magic Zurawski hit a double and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink and substitute Derek Riordan were on target as Celtic hammered Dumbarton 4-0 in the Scottish Cup at Parkhead on Saturday.

Manager Gordon Strachan said afterwards, “The positives were that our strikers scored which was a relief, and it was nice to see them being congratulated. We could have had more but as you seen, Jan was a wee bit rusty. But we put out a top side and we did the job professionally.”

Meanwhile, Derby have agreed terms with Celtic for midfielder Stephen Pearson, set to move to Pride Park despite Gordon Strachan’s reluctance to let him go.

Sunderland and Norwich were also in for the player but Derby boss Billy Davies said, “We’re hoping we can bring Stephen here. We’ve agreed a fee with Celtic and he would be a valuable addition to our squad.”

Managerless Rangers have pulled off a significant coup by luring Celtic reserve team coach Kenny McDowall away from Parkhead to become part of the new management team at Ibrox.

A statement from Celtic said, “Celtic Football Club can confirm that Kenny McDowall will be leaving his position as reserve team coach with immediate effect. The club thanks him for his contribution during his time at Celtic.”

Celtic’s Irish youngster Diarmuid O’Carroll has joined Ross County on loan.

Dillon for Scotland

DUNDEE United have finalized the loose ends of a deal to bring Shelbourne defender Sean Dillon to Scotland.

Beleaguered Shels supremo Ollie Byrne will use the ¤100,000 transfer fee to help pay players owed money as the Dublin club fights a major financial crisis.

“The fee received for Dillon will help a bit and I intend to use the money to clear up any outstanding wage issues with the players,” Byrne told the Irish Star. “In the past week money has been paid to the players and the weekly wage bill is now a lot less than it previously was.”

Shels are still looking for a new manager after Byrne was unable to offer the job to former Bohs and Shamrock Rovers boss Roddy Collins.

The club’s search for a replacement for departed manager Pat Fenlon continues, meanwhile, after Roddy Collins was ruled out of the running.

Byrne added, “I explained to Roddy that there were too many obstacles to appointing him as manager. It’s a pity that this is the case for he has many of the right credentials for this job.”

The problems continue for Shels on the playing front with Byrne threatening to go part time next season and Glen Crowe, Jason Byrne, Owen Heary, Dave Rogers and Colin Hawkins all said to be mulling over offers from elsewhere.