Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Stuart critics swipe
THE wheels may have come off in Paris but Stuart Armstrong is convinced Celtic are still on the right road in Europe.
The Hoops midfielder admitted the PSG punishment was painful but it was nothing compared to the misery in Molde.
Getting stuffed by PSG was no fun but he’s convinced the team is a million miles away from the group that went down in the bucketing rain in Norway in October 2015.
Armstrong insisted Celts are in far better shape under Brendan Rodgers and he’s convinced they are going in the right direction despite a few diversions along the way.
He said: “It’s different from then when we didn’t win a game in our Europa League group. We had three tough qualifying games against teams desperate to get to the Champions League. It’s hard even to get there.
“If you take the PSG results out of it then the home game against
Bayern and the great win at Anderlecht shows we are making strides.
“We are under no illusions how good they were. Even when we played Barcelona last year they got to seven and it was a different level. But this PSG team were absolutely magnificent.
“They also beat Bayern 3-0 – they really are a European giant and if they don’t go all the way and lift it then I’ll be surprised.” BRENDAN RODGERS last night insisted he’s got the guts to stick to his guns as he accused Celtic’s Champions League snipers of talking balls.
The Hoops boss insisted he’s ignored the flak which has come his way following Wednesday’s Euro horror show in Paris.
Chris Sutton was among the critics, pundits Kris Commons and Kris Boyd had a pop at the gameplan while the English media were quick to put the boot in the wake of the 7-1 pounding in Paris.
But the noise fell on deaf ears as the Celtic boss claimed the critics are not committed to any cause - while his side will always have the courage of their convictions.
Rodgers - who is looking to get his hands on the Betfred Cup tomorrow - said: “When you try to have balls to play, then you’re always going to be open to that criticism.
“I’m here to do the best for Celtic and I’ll do what I think is the best thing for the club. Hopefully up until this point it has been OK. I continue to work that way, to be better, to improve the club in as many ways as I can help it. I would like to think the players have improved both individually and as a team.
“They’ve shown courage to go and play. Of course 7-1, no one wants that.
“It’ll always open us to ridicule from people who either don’t watch the game or just look at the result. But I can’t affect that. I don’t worry.
“When you have an attacking philosophy people think you don’t necessarily work on defending.
“Fundamentally we defend very well, in terms of how we press and the aggression we have.
“But you also have to respect we’ve come from Ross County on Saturday to play away at PSG.
“It’s not something our players unfortunately are used to – that speed. Look at Neymar’s goal. It’s incredible.
“There will always be criticism. After the games we will need centre-halves I’m sure. It fits the narrative of what the guys need to confirm or not.” Rodgers insisted the detractors won’t leave a dent - because the pundits don’t have the same commitment to the game as him.
He said: “I’ve learned through experience just to not listen. The more experienced I get, I listen a lot, lot less. After the game my focus was on just making sure the players were okay, which they were, absolutely fine, and then yesterday I don’t involve myself.
“I’m not on social media. I don’t read so much of the press. I have not actually seen one letter or word that has been spoken.
“Because it’s normally by people who don’t have any commitment to anything. No commitment to nothing.
“So they speak, they talk, they get paid, obviously, for an opinion, but I haven’t seen one word of it. It doesn’t bother me.”
Mikael Lustig and Nir Bitton are both injury doubts for tomorrow’s final. Lustig did not train on Friday after going off early in the defeat to PSG on Wednesday.
And his replacement in Celtic’s three-man central defence, Bitton, is struggling.