Armstrong leading the way for players’ lives after game

Paul Paton insists Scotland star Stuart Armstrong should be a role model for young footballers in Scotland – after admitting he has been left in limbo following his departure from Dunfermline.

Paton was one of 17 players told by the Pars they would not be offered a new contract because of the lack of clarity over when and how next season will restart in Scottish football.

He is now facing an uncertain future in the game and has confessed he is steeling himself for an almost certain move into part-time football.

But, with a lack of options outside the game and no coaching badges to fall back on, the 33-year-old hopes youngsters coming through now do not make the same mistakes he did by failing to prepare for life away from football.

And he reckons former Dundee United team-mate Armstrong, now with Southampton, has shown the way by studying for a law degree while playing at Tannadice and for Celtic.

He said: “At this stage of my career, unless it was a very good full-time offer, I think I’m probably looking to go parttime. What I’m looking to do is get a good secure job for the future, rather than living on year-to-year contracts.

“I’ve not done my coaching badges yet; that’s the long-term goal, to go into coaching. But the way football is just now, it’s hard enough to find a club, never mind a coaching role.

“That is something I would look to do in the future. I think I’d be successful at it.

“But, at the minute, I think I might go down the route of getting an adult apprenticeship and having something behind me, because you never know what the world’s going to throw at you.

“Look at this situation, no one saw this coming. So I’m looking to get a bit of stability in my life now.”

Asked on PLZ Soccer if there was a fear of the unknown, he added: “Yes, of course. I’ve got nothing behind me, in terms of job prospects.

“I’ve always just concentrated on my football and I never really saw this happening this year. That’s my own fault I should have something in place and I would advise all younger kids to have something in place.

“The prime example is Stuart Armstrong. He was playing every week for Dundee United and he was doing his law degree at the same time. He’s now a Premier League footballer.

“All kids should look at him, he did it the correct way.

“I probably wish I had done something similar, but I was always just solely focused on football, and that’s probably my downfall.”