STUART ARMSTONG left Celtic to head to the Premier League in a £7million deal this summer.

But as we head into the festive period in the coming weeks, has that move paid off for the former Celtic hero?

Right now, the short answer is no.

Since showing some form in pre-season the midfielder has hardly been seen for the struggling Saints who are sitting just out the relegation zone with seven points from eleven games.

The Scottish midfielder wanted to leave to play in the Premier League but he’s hardly had any game time since moving.

So far, Armstrong has started ONE Premier League game and came on as a substitute in six of them. In all the player has only played 152 minutes of Premier League football with no goals or assists to show.

Southampton fan Website Saints Marching has a theory.

‘A reason which could explain the 26-year-old’s absence could be the switch in formation. After rotating between a 3-4-2-1 and 3-5-2 almost exclusively in pre-season, it was binned after just over 45 minutes in the Premier League for a 4-4-2.

‘The only games Armstrong has started was in the 3-5-2 in that match against Burnley on the opening day, and when Mark Hughes experimented with a 4-2-3-1 in the Carabao Cup win over Brighton. Either side of that we’ve seen him limited to just ten minutes of involvement.

‘Granted, despite his energy levels, the ex-Celtic man doesn’t possess a great defensive game and therefore having him occupy a role in a midfield two wouldn’t be wise – he’d need to play in at least a three or in his natural CAM position we’ve seen him play in those two aforementioned starts.’

It’s not looking very good for the invincible star at the moment but he may get his chance in the coming months.

Southampton were blown away by Manchester City last weekend, suffering a 6-1 defeat but the manner of the defeat was as bad as the result suggested.

 

6 COMMENTS

  1. I do hope he can get himself back to doing what he is best at,but this can happen they want out of a team that wins medals each year and Pay a big wage for doing so,then they want to leave all that behind for more money in some cases or they leave for the reason they just can not handle the Pressure or they leave for both reasons,now he is at a club like thousands of other players where there is not much hope of winning another medal and there is not that intense pressure on him making the team and playing week in week out you must be physically and mentally strong to do that or you get found out as there is no hiding place at any Big Football Club…

  2. Why would this be a mystery?
    Armstrong was a part of a great team. He thought he was bigger than us and has come back to earth with a resounding bang.
    He tried to hold Celtic to ransom the same way Dembele and Boyata did.
    But we held him one year too much. He should have been booted out the door when he started his games. Armstrong is a cancer. We are well shot of him.

  3. no mystery, he’s not good enough, as anyone who watched him knew, in fact the mystery is, how did we get 7m for the guy? He wasn’t worth that even in his own dreams, so well done Celtic.

  4. Al b honest I thought he did a great job for us so I for 1 won’t be slagging him off or hoping anything bad comes to his career but to be fair to the lad he just fancied a shot at the premiership so al be honest I wish we still had him but £7m wasn’t bad business but I do wish him well ???

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