SOME Celtic fans find it hard to comprehend when a player doesn’t want to play for the club anymore – mainly because most of us would pay Celtic a handsome fee for the privilege.

That’s why when a player doesn’t look fully committed, hurt feelings quickly boil to the surface, and nowadays we find the evidence of that on social media.

No sooner had the RUMOURS, and we must still stress this is only rumours, that Stuart Armstrong will not be signing a new deal we’ve seen some amount of vitriol aimed at the player.

Why should we be getting mad at anyone who wants to get paid more money to do their job? Armstrong will know himself that staying at Celtic would be the best footballing decision, BUT he’s a smart lad and knows how fickle football can be. It was only ten months ago that some, including myself, were predicting he would be moved on by Brendan Rodgers.

To the midfielders credit, he has upped his game tenfold and became a pivotal part of the treble winning invincibles. Dragging Celtic quickly back from a 1-0 deficit in the Scottish Cup Final was one of his finest moments so far.

Now, ten months on, after he was tipped to leave in the January window we are falling over ourselves trying to get him signed and getting angry when he doesn’t. Let’s face it, most of us would have happily sold him to a Championship side last year without a second thought. Should the midfielder have been angry at us then?

Ultimately, the club itself is the catalyst behind players moving on. It’s no secret that Celtic sell itself as a club where a player can learn, grow but most importantly be moved onto a better league and a higher pay scale.

Do we blame the player for taking advantage of the club’s own philosophy, just because it doesn’t suit us at the time?

I do buy into the argument that Stuart has only had a good 7-8 months and should count his chickens a little but if Premier League sides are willing to pay Celtic a healthy amount and Armstrong a fantastic wage, then all we are seeing is Celtic’s transfer philosophy at work. Even with a year left on his current deal, English Premier League sides are impatient and rarely look to wait for the player’s contract to end, paying more than they should for someone they can pinch in January. That will suit Celtic down to the ground.

The alternative is keeping the midfielder until his contract runs out but we’ve seen what happens in those circumstances.

If Armstrong doesn’t sign a deal, then I wish him all the best, and hope it works out for him but there will be a part of him who will always think ‘what if?’. But there’s certainly no need for the dummy spitting going on at the moment.

11 COMMENTS

  1. No harm to the guy, but he’s telling Brendan one thing while his agent does another. All the while the clock is ticking down. That’s what is annoying me. Do one or the other. If he’s staying, sign a deal before he makes himself unpopular. If he’s going, go now so we can get money in for someone else

  2. Sell him as soon as the maximum is extracted from the no-mark EPL relegation battlers that will be willing to pay him Murdoch millions. But he is stringing everybody along. Supposedly he has been telling the manager he wants to stay while instructing his agent to do the opposite. So he is a snide. He is not your usual thick dummy footballer he is a clever guy and knows what he is doing. Get 12 million for him from Southampton then bye bye and best of luck. Throw all of his stuff in a carrier bag and put it out the back of the Jock Stein. That is practically what they did to Danny McGrain after 25 years of service so why does this guy deserve any better. His heart is not in it. Clearly does not really see him self as a Celt. This situaton was getting sorted before the start of June. Then we were told when the international was over, then when he returned after the break. He knows that Celtic will not pay him 25-30 grand a week he knows he will get 20-22. Therefore he signs or he goes. Could all be done in less than a hour. Do it early enough on Thursady morning he could be at Southampton by 4.00pm

  3. If he does not want to stay and Holding Celtic to Ransom wanting 28K a week to stay get him ti fu– and take the £8+ million which would be healthy return and good for the Club,

  4. Greed for gold wins as usual ….he hides behind the AGENT PISH….keeps stuum with the club and fans ….agent wants another pay day ….player plays the old soldier..DOPEY RICH SKY ENGERLUND mob dangle the green backs ….player and agent get PAY DAY …and feck Celtic along the charade…..VERY LOUD SILENCE…from player and AGENT when he was struggling to get a run under delia ….TUMBLEWEED IS DEAFENING……

  5. Nobody Bigger than OUR CLUB FACT: Q Is Armstrong not in Charge of the AGENT So he should yell him what to go for & stop pissing about; Get the most money wee can get & get the young players in and stop sending them out for experience ,The money would be well spent on new Defence as the two against irish mob were ROTTEN, wee want to move forward not go back words, That is CELTIC’s problem holding on to players to long & end up struggling ,Wee are inn a good place right know but in can go pear shaped very Quickly that is why wee need to keep moving forward by getting new players in and selling the one that don’t want to be at our great club, HH KTF

  6. sorry but i strongly disagree with the main message in the article above . celtic have made armstrong the player he is today . celtic are the ones that have given armstrong the opportunity to go to an inferior team but make more money . for this armstrong should show some gratitude by signing a new contract to allow celtic to negotiate the best possible price for him . football is slanted way too far in favour of players these days and agents are just a cancer in the game .

  7. Do we remember Widen McGeady he wanted to leave butt signed a new contract so the club could get best possible deal Armstrong only interested in Armstrong sign up and go or just say no and go we will survive and maybe u will regret leaving will be richer but not happier ??

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