The reality of the English Premier League seems to be setting in for former Celtic midfielder Stuart Armstrong, given his latest comments.
The 27-year-old, who is currently on international duty with Scotland, has been speaking to press about the change in challenges between his current employers Southampton and Celtic.
While winning trophies was the norm during his time in Glasgow, Armstrong is now struggling to even win matches at the lowly Saints. Ralph Hasenhuttl’s men sit second bottom in the English top-flight and have lost their last four matches in all competitions.
And Armstrong, who has featured in all four of them, admits things are very different for him down south.
“It’s been an interesting journey for me so far, not always smooth,” he told the Evening Times.
“At Celtic, it was always more dominant, you have a lot more possession. Your aim there is to win the league and the cups. In the Premier League, your ambition is to finish as high as possible.
“So, it’s different challenges and different mentality.”
Armstrong hasn’t hit his stride since leaving Celtic
You can almost hear the “I told you so’s” raining down for the Celtic support. Many pondered whether Armstrong would amount to anything great down south – in a team who spend far more time defending than attacking.
The midfielder was always at his best when Celtic were. Perhaps that was coincidental. But it was no surprise that his best football came in the domestic game – while European matches often passed him by.
Only two of his 28 Celtic goals came in European matches so it’s perhaps no surprise to note that Armstrong has only scored four for Southampton since joining nearly 18 months ago.
In fairness, he’s likely to be earning a greater wage in the riches of the English Premier League. And he’ll be playing against better players on a weekly basis. But, still, you wonder deep down if he regrets leaving Celtic when he did.
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