Armstrong ‘learning every day’ about life at big club
Celtic midfielder says he seeks out family for advice when the pressure mounts
STUART Armstrong sits in a dressing room at Lennoxtown, unburdening himself as though he were in a confessional. It is a little more than a year since the midfielder swapped his cushy existence at Dundee United for the glare of life at Celtic and put in its bluntest terms, there have been periods when he has struggled, both mentally and physically, to cope with the increased demands. While the 23-year-old made a flying start to his new life at Parkhead, this season he has often appeared subsumed by the pressure engulfing both the club and its Norwegian manager. Poor performances have been taken to heart, with family used as a sounding board.
“It’s a huge club and there is loads of pressure,” said Armstrong. “If the performances are not up to scratch, everyone knows about it here. There is no denying there is a huge mental aspect to being at Celtic and the combination of both physical and mental can be challenging. There are times when I haven’t coped as well as I should have – physically or mentally. But it’s about learning and this is my first proper full season with Celtic. I’m learning more every day about how to accept being a Celtic footballer and everything that comes with that.
“I’ve always had high expectations and if I haven’t performed as I would have liked to, I think quite negatively,” he added. “But you cannot be that way because football isn’t perfect. Every game isn’t perfect. So you need to take the positive aspects from each game and forget the other parts.
“That’s the difference between here and Dundee United. There, if you have a bad performance, the amount of people who would see it or talk about it would be miniscule in comparison to Celtic, but that’s life and something you have to get used to. It’s important just to take yourself away from football for a bit and not think about it. When something is bothering you, family is obviously the best option.”
Armstrong faces his hometown team Inverness Caledonian Thistle today, hoping to take advantage of the postponement of Friday night’s meeting between Partick Thistle and Aberdeen to stretch their gap on the rest of the Ladbrokes Premiership table to six points, having played a game less. That would help ease the pressure on the club somewhat, but like all professionals Armstrong takes pride in his performances, and admits in an ideal world he would prefer a central role to one wide on the left. Perhaps he’s made the crucial mistake of playing too well in the other position.
“That has been challenging, now and again,” admitted Armstrong. “Naturally, I am a central midfielder, but we have a lot of competition in there. In an ideal world, of course I’d love to play centre midfield. But seriously, I need to accept life on the left and everything that comes with it. There are good positive aspects to playing there, lots of attacking moves, shots at goal and runs in behind.”
At least, the club’s new medical staff of Bard and Grete Homstol seem determined to take care of the physical side of the equation. Armstrong struggled with early season back and hamstring injuries but the hands-on Nordic husband-and-wife team subject the squad to deep muscle massages before and after training. The theory insists that it will allow the players to do more high-intensity work in training and matches.
“We have screening in the morning which highlights anything which may be tight,” explained Armstrong. “They look at anything we’re not quite happy with and run through things to make sure we’re at our optimum level to go out and train. It’s not something I’ve had much experience of in the past but I think it does make a difference and is definitely worth doing.” If Armstrong has discovered the differences between being a Celtic player and a Dundee United player, it is worth noting that this week the players at Tannadice were subjected to stinging criticism from their chairman, Stephen Thompson. He said United’s players had “13 matches to redeem their own professional reputations”.
If it is to be relegation for United – they face Hearts at Tannadice, with a 13-point gap to make up on closest side Kilmarnock – such a prospect would sadden Armstrong. “It’s not looking likely for them after their defeat on Tuesday and that’s sad to see,” said the midfielder. “It’s not nice to see your old club go down because I have a lot of friends there and there are also a lot of good people there.”
Armstrong has more than 13 matches to redeem his own reputation. But there is no time like the present when it comes to proving he can cope with everything a life at Celtic can throw at him.
There are times when I haven’t coped as well as I should have – physically or mentally. But this is my first proper full season with Celtic