Stuart Armstrong

Is there any chance that Armstrong has only signed a one year extension as he hopes he might get a better deal from the club next year again ? Thought he was man of the match again tonight for Scotland

 

id be starting him against psg.

 

Genuinely believe that a trio of Rogic, Armstrong and Ntcham is our best possible midfield.

 

What about the wizard of OZ?

 

Cause who needs a defensive midfielder

 

STUART ARMSTRONG says his national service heroics for Scotland will send him home to Celticready to fight for his place.

The midfielder capped getting his first goal for his country in Lithuania on Friday night by turning in a man-of-the-match performance in the 2-0 win at home to Malta last night to keep Scotland’s World Cup dream alive.

Coming into the international break Armstrong had started just five of his 11 appearances in green and white, but after a week to remember in dark blue he has vowed to return to Celtic with an extra spring in his step.

He said: “It’s pleasing. Each individual wants to help the team in any way that can whether it’s a defender, a midfielder trying to create goals and score or a striker.

“To get my first goal for my country the other night was a proud moment for me. I’ll try and add to that tally in the games to come.

“It’s always nice to come away with Scotland get into a different atmosphere and a different group of boys. It’s good to see everyone that you’ve not seen in a while.

“International football is always different from club football and there’s a lot of pride playing for your country.

“I look forward going back to Celtic and fighting for my place.”

There was more than a familiar look to this Scotland team for Armstrong for the second time in four days courtesy of the five Celtic team-mates around him.

The midfielder was joined by Craig Gordon, Kieran Tierney, Scott Brown, James Forrest and goal hero Leigh Griffiths in front of 26,000 Tartan Army foot soldiers, and it was clear to see the confidence from the domestic invincibles had transferred into Strachan’s side.

“It can do,” said Armstrong, who penned a new deal at Parkhead just last month. “It can help when you have a group of players who have played together before and know what each other are going to do and their movements, strengths and weaknesses.

“It can only help the team. But we have a very talented group in there that’s strong in a lot of areas.”

He added: “It’s a busy schedule until Christmas but everyone wants to play in the Champions League and we’ve managed to do that.

“We have massive teams in the group and it’s about improving on the group performance from last year. That’s the aim.”

Reflecting on the victories over Lithuania and Malta, Armstrong was understandably positive over the future of this Scotland squad.

With just two games left in World Cup qualifying Group F, the Scots now have their fate in their own hands when it comes to finishing second and hopefully grabbing a precious play-off spot.

He said: “The game on Friday night was a good team performance. We dominated the game. There was a good feeling about it with the fans being there and it was a really good atmosphere. It was 3-0 and very comfortable.

“Malta was a different game. There was less space and they were more defensive and it was more about us being patient.

“Getting the early goal from Christophe Berra definitely helped us. It was all about trying to get the second goal and seeing the game through.

“Six points is what we wanted and six points is what we got.”

 

He needs to show for us if he wants to start for us. I do not think he should leapfrog Rogic based on how he performs for Scotland

 

Why? His performances for Scotland give a good indication that he is hitting a bit of form, it would be foolish to ignore that because he wasn't playing for Celtic.

 

It shows his commitment to Scotland and willingness to work hard for them. He needs to show this for Celtic. Based on international performances we would be a better team if we had 6 Northern Ireland internationals in our team. This however is not the case

 

He offers so much energy in the midfield, it's hard to ignore. I expect him to start away from home in the CL. However, Rogic just edges it for PSG he can make something out of nothing and I think PSG will be surprised by his quality and direct play.

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Big decisions for Brendan to shoehorn all these excellent players in.

 

My midfield for the CL, with the possible exception of Anderlecht at home, would be Brown and Armstrong with Ntcham in behind. As well as Rogic has played he needs to demonstrate the ability to go for 90 minutes of a physically demanding game on a more regular basis. I think having Armstrong in instead of him makes us a bit more solid and gives us more energy in midfield. If we're chasing the game you could bring Rogic on later to run at tired legs.

 

Ntcham would have to play next to Brown, that's what he's there to do.

 

Some players bring out something special for international matches but don't/can't reproduce at club level. David Healy or the present NI team are an example of doing it at international level but not a club level.

I don't doubt his ability to do it at club level. Where he has been suspect is a commitment to the cause reinforced in my opinion by only signing a one year increase in his contract. He needs to prove his commitment to our cause to justify inclusion ahead of Rogic

 

Although I agree
About him against st Johnstone your form in a Scotland shirt doesn't merit your starting slot in a Celtic shirt unfortunately but I would like to see him brown and ntcham get a shot now rogic looks like he could use a bench at the moment he has started decent but the other three could be a master stroke

 

Not really. Armstrong has shown he has the ability to play at the level we need of a first team player, those six N. Ireland players haven't. It isn't a case of having doubt that he can play well enough for us, but having doubt about whether he is playing well enough at this particular time to warrant a starting place. His performances for Scotland are a useful indicator of that, as would be his performance levels in training if there was no international week just past.

 

It's his commitment to the cause that is in question highlighted by the fact that he only signed a one year extension to his contract.

If his performance levels from Scotland are used as an indicator then why not apply the same logic to the Northern Ireland players and assume they could do a job in the CL. They in fact bettered a much stronger team than Scotland. Form for ones country does not necessarily translate to form for ones club.