Armstrong, Stuart

Full Name	Stuart Armstrong
Known as	Stuart Armstrong
Date of Birth	30th March 1992
Birthplace	Inverness, Scotland
Height	1.83m (6ft 0in)
Position	Midfielder (CAM)
Signed	01 Feb 2015 (Dundee Utd £1.75M)
Left	26 Jun 2018 (Southampton £7m+)
Squad No.	14
International	Scotland
Caps	[TBC]
Goals	[TBC]

Post-Celtic
As expected, Stuart Armstrong was ever professional, and went on to be a regular mainstay and core player for Southampton over the following years, albeit with little in return in silverware. Southampton were mostly a side that can be best said to be a mid-table side.

For Armstrong, it meant he had now hit a glass ceiling, and unlike at Celtic, there was no greater challenge expected with no potential Champions League matches or major titles to strive for.  There was little room for manoeuvre without moving to a club who would be a riskier option or downgrade now for Armstrong. Southampton was a relatively safe no-mans land in football terms in England. Regardless, he was a successful & respected player at Southampton and went on to play alongside Elynoussi who himself spent two seasons on loan at Celtic.

He also was a regular player deservedly for Scotland [….]

[….]

Quotes

APPEARANCES	LEAGUE	SCOTTISH CUP	LEAGUE CUP	EUROPE	TOTAL
2014-15	15	0	0	2	17
Goals	1	0	0	1	2
2015-16	25	1	0	11	39
Goals	4	0	2	0	4
2016-17	31	4	2	9	47
Goals	15	2	3	0	20
2017-18	27	1	0	10	39
Goals	3	0	1	1	4
Total	98	6	2	32	142
Goals	23	2	6	2	27

• 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18

• 2017, 2018

• 2016-17, 2017-18

The Evolution of Stuart Armstrong

LONG READ: The evolution of Stuart Armstrong as ex-Dundee United star’s mentor, a Southampton legend and a former coach discuss his extraordinary rise

How the former Dundee United star conquered the English Premier League with Southampton

By Eric Nicolson

Kieran Tierney has become Arsenal’s flavour of the month and player of the month by broadly doing the same job in a red and white strip as he was asked to do in a green and white one.

As proud as St Mirren and Hibs supporters will be of John McGinn’s exalted status in Birmingham, his all-action game at Aston Villa remains instantly recognisable.

Andy Robertson was an attacking left-back when he left Dundee United and he’s an attacking left-back now that he’s a Champions League and Premier League winner. There are more one-twos on the edge of the box at Anfield than there were at Tannadice but a spade is still a spade.

As a rule of thumb, the SPFL-raised Scots who cross the border and succeed do so because they find a manager who values their skill set, then extends the curve by refining and moulding it for the requirements of his team and a higher standard of opposition. The holes are square and so are the pegs.

Go through all of them playing in England’s top flight and it’s a similar story – Robert Snodgrass (drop the shoulder, exquisite crossing); James McArthur (disciplined, dirty work in midfield); James McCarthy (up and down, tackles flying); Ryan Fraser (raw pace and cutting in from the left); Kenny McLean (dictating tempo); John Fleck (vision and weight of pass as a number 10).

But Stuart Armstrong is different. Perhaps even uniquely different.

The challenge Ralph Hasenhuttl has set him at Southampton, or more accurately, Armstrong being capable of rising to the challenge Hasenthuttl has set him at Southampton, sets him apart.

Saints fans poring over Armstrong’s highlights package from his seasons with Dundee United and Celtic hoped they had signed the next Steven Davis – an energetic, goal-scoring, midfielder who could marry running power with a bit of composure and creativity. And when he broke into a struggling Mark Hughes team the position in which he was deployed, and on occasion the performance he produced, supported the Davis analogy.

Now, ask Southampton legend Jason Dodd to compare him to a player he either played with or watched over the last three decades, it’s not athletic equivalence he’s attempting to recall, it’s craft and guile at the top end of the pitch.
“When Stuart first came down from Scotland I thought we were getting a box to box midfielder,” said Dodd, whose Southampton career lasted 16 years as a player and a few more as a coach.
“Steven Davis was magnificent for Southampton but if you were being critical, which is harsh, did we get the goals we thought we were expecting from him? Probably not.

“Adam Lallana was a very creative player but he would operate deeper on the pitch. It’s a while ago now (1996-1997) but Eyal Berkovic had a brilliant season with us.

“He was smaller but he linked the play really well, like Stuart, in the danger area. The lads weren’t too sure about him when he came in at the start but his performances changed that. It was in areas that mattered – the final third. That’s where you need players to make the difference and win you Premier League games. Stuart is definitely doing that.”

Before anybody rolls their eyes and thinks back to the Eyal Berkovic whose every touch of the ball was booed by Celtic fans in a pre-season friendly, by which time they wanted him out of Parkhead, Israel’s greatest footballer is revered for his season at the Dell.

Two goals and three assists in a 6-3 victory (there were no grey kit excuses from Sir Alex on this occasion) over Manchester United doesn’t get easily forgotten. Matt Le Tissier’s lob over a stranded Peter Schmeichel is the pick of the six that makes all the ‘best ever’ DVDs but a Berkovic 20-yard volley isn’t far behind.

Dodd played that day. Maybe it was the fact that Armstrong’s display against United was fresh in the memory that prompted the Berkovic comparison when he spoke about his development under Hasenhuttl. It was against the same club that the magnitude of the 28-year-old’s evolution was brought into sharp focus as he shone under the lights of Old Trafford.

Armstrong started out with the other United as a teenage substitute wide-midfielder tasked by Peter Houston with making full use of his pace against tiring full-backs by either getting in behind where he could be picked out with a diagonal pass or cutting back in to burst through the space between the left-back and left-sided centre-half. Ten years later, here he was, effectively a support forward for Danny Ings, triggering a sophisticated and well-oiled Southampton press, giving a robotic Harry Maguire all the trouble he could wish for with movement and awareness any born and bred number nine would be proud of.

Before this game, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s men were rolling over the top of their opposition and rolling back the years, winning four league games in a row by a three-goal margin. But in the first 15 minutes against Southampton in particular, and other shorter spells later in the game, they were falling into the traps Armstrong and his team-mates were setting them.

The type of goal that pleases Jurgen Klopp the most is when the aggressive ambush high up the pitch produces a turnover and his players react dynamically off it. Hasenhuttl, the ‘Alpine Klopp’, is cut from the same gegenpressing cloth.

The real Klopp would undoubtedly have approved. For a combination of training ground practice meeting off-the-cuff expression in a counter-press, you’ll not find a better example than Southampton’s opening goal.

With Paul Pogba taking a fraction of a second too long on the ball while he was assessing his options, Ings springs into action and pick-pockets him on the D. At this stage you still wouldn’t put the chances of a goal any higher than 50-50, though. Maguire is several yards closer to David de Gea than the soon-to-be goal-scorer, which should make him the favourite to get to any cross that will come in from Nathan Redmond now that Ings has quickly moved the play into the box.

But it is the striker’s run from Armstrong of inside and then, when Maguire momentarily and fatally turns his back on him to face Redmond, away from the centre-half and towards the back post that defines the attack and goal. The cushioned first touch and crisp finish wasn’t too bad either.

Stuart Armstrong’s mentor Stevie Campbell

Houston to Hasenhuttl, with key interventions from Jackie McNamara and Brendan Rodgers in between, has been quite the progression for Armstrong. Even his mentor, Stevie Campbell (pictured above), wouldn’t have predicted where the positional pendulum would settle at what can now be described as the peak of his career so far.

“When I had Stuart at United, I played a 4-2-3-1 in my team at that time,” said Campbell, who was the head of youth at Tannadice.

“Stuart was the number 10. Scotty Allan wanted to play it but I put Stuart there. Scotty was on the right of the three, with Ryan Dow on the left, with Dale Hilson up front. It was a really potent front four.

“I did see Stu becoming that advanced central midfielder he became at United and Celtic, bursting in the box, but I must admit he’s changed his game recently. I didn’t see the most recent change coming.

“I’ve seen him wide before in a 4-3-3 and a 4-4-2. Ronny Deila regularly played him out wide at Celtic. But now, he’s just off the striker. It’s almost like they’re playing two 10s at Southampton and he’s the right-sided one.

“What I will say is – Stuart can adapt to any position. Football evolves and if you want to stay at the very top you have to evolve with it.”

Speak to any academy coach and he will be able to reel off the names of the ones who have made it in the game after the start he has helped give them. With Campbell it would take longer than most. To that “potent front four” mentioned above add the likes of Johnny Russell, the Souttar brothers and Ryan Gauld. But it is his bond with Armstrong that has probably been the strongest.

When the family relocated from Inverness to the outskirts of Dundee, Campbell seized an opportunity that had fallen into his lap.

“I was at Inverness before I came to United,” he said. “I spoke to Scott Kellacher (in charge of the Caley Thistle academy) about us having a look at Stuart and I took an instant like to him. Basically, I asked his dad straight away if he’d like to join us at United.

“I’m not going to lie, I was a bit surprised that Inverness said we could have him for nothing. I thought it would be harder than that.”

Campbell couldn’t keep a lid on the expectations he had for Armstrong and those high hopes soon filtered up to Houston’s predecessor as first team manager at Tannadice, Craig Levein.

“I can remember early on we took the youth team up to Stornoway,” he said. “We’d played one game and Craig was on the phone. ‘How did your boy Armstrong do?’ I told him that we won the game and how Stuart had played. Then he said: ‘I’ll see you tonight’. I was like: ‘Gaffer, we’re in Stornoway!’ The next game had just started and there he appeared. It probably says as much about the gaffer being obsessed with football as it does about wanting to see Stuart play!”

There is no such thing as inevitability when predicting youth talent to first team conversion as Campbell knows better than anyone. But Armstrong was as near to it as you could hope to get.

Sure enough he got his chance off the bench under Houston in November, 2010 against Kilmarnock. Four more substitute appearances followed before he got a starting jersey in Paisley, not long after the turn of the year.

It wasn’t until the following season, 2011-12, before you could describe Armstrong as a regular. A man who faced him in that campaign, and would later go on to be his coach with Scotland, got a close-up appreciation of a talent-base that would expand with experience in later years.

Recently-appointed St Johnstone boss Callum Davidson said: “Stuart came on for Dundee United when I was still playing for Saints. That was my first glimpse of him. He was played out wide – on my side of the pitch.

“He was full of running and you could see that he had a lot of other good attributes even then.”

It is no slight on Houston that he chose to bed Armstrong in as a wide midfielder. It was the sensible choice – both in terms of the player’s own development and the quality of the senior central players who were ahead of him. But it was Jackie McNamara who moved him inside and unlocked the goal-scoring potential of a player who had only found the back of the net on three occasions up until that point.

In 2013/14 Armstrong was playing with a 10 on his back and he lived up to the shirt number, scoring on 11 occasions. There are plenty and varied examples to pick from but if there was such a thing as a signature Stuart Armstrong Dundee United goal it was seen at Celtic Park when he surged through the middle, took a chipped Nadir Ciftci pass over Virgil van Dijk on to his chest, went round Fraser Forster and finished from close range.

That United side was on the slide the following season but Armstrong certainly wasn’t. There were another six goals before he got his January transfer to Celtic. Being moved back out wide wouldn’t have been part of the plan, however. Certainly not in the way Deila was utilising him – with more emphasis on defensive duties than offensive ones. Yes, he had better players to compete with for a starting place but any United supporter or former team-mate would tell you Armstrong’s wings were being clipped.

That Deila left before he did and that the Norwegian’s successor, Rodgers (above), was willing to give him his chance back in the middle was the key to the next phase in his career. The confidence to spell out where he wanted to play to a manager of the former Liverpool boss’s stature speaks to the character traits of Armstrong that Campbell believes get overlooked as a result of the polite manner, the extensive vocabulary, the university degree and the choir boy looks.

Too nice? Too deferential? Not a chance.

“There were people who were questioning his mentality in the early days at United,” said Campbell. “People who thought he was a bit soft. Maybe that was because of his personality.

“But I knew. He’s got a steeliness that folk won’t see because he’s such a nice lad off the pitch.

“He’s always been one to listen and learn but he’ll ask questions of a manager as well. There’s nothing wrong with being opinionated.

“His career hasn’t quite mirrored what Andy Robertson has done at Liverpool – winning the Champions League and the Premier League – but what they have in common is they both came to United after being rejected in the past. In Stuart’s case it was Aberdeen and Inverness. You need to be very strong mentally to go on to do what he’s done.

“Even at United there was a time when he wasn’t playing. There was a time at Celtic when he wasn’t playing and there was a time when he wasn’t playing at Southampton.

“Certainly in the case of Southampton there would have been plenty of people saying: ‘Is this jump too big for him?’ He’s shown great resolve.”

There is one particular bounce-back from Armstrong that Campbell looks back on as a sliding-doors moment.

“Stuart was gutted to be left out of the starting line-up by Jackie for the Scottish Cup semi-final against Celtic (which United lost 4-3 after extra-time),” he said.

“The plan was always to bring him on around the hour mark, which is what happened. We had a bit of a fall-out because I didn’t think he contributed to the game in the way he could.

“But he came back from that disappointment straight away and didn’t let it linger. We played Motherwell a few days later and Stuart McCall and Kenny Black were blown away by his performance. He was so good that night. He had a point to prove.

“He has shown that strong mentality time and time again. He’s come back from everything that has been thrown at him. If there were any doubters left I think he’s proved them all wrong by now.”

Davidson had an excellent career in England and he believes that having a split-personality when it comes to football and real life is no bad thing.

“Stuart’s a quiet lad but you can be nice and have another side to you on the pitch,” said the former Blackburn Rovers and Leicester City defender.

“I’ve come across plenty of players who are so nice off the pitch but totally different on it. The prime example for me is Paul Dickov. I used to travel with him every day at Leicester and he’s the nicest guy in the world. But not on the pitch he isn’t. Steven MacLean is the same. Being a nice person who conducts himself properly definitely isn’t a negative.”

If 2013/14 was the high-water mark in Tangerine, in a hooped shirt it was 2016/17. By the time Armstrong was played at right-back in an autumn home game against Inverness (and christened the ‘blond Cafu’ by Rodgers following a man-of-the-match performance) trust between player and manager had been established. Rodgers had a grip on what he could offer and a 17-goal tally in the Invincible treble season was an emphatic return on the faith invested, mainly from the heart of midfield.

The next season – his last in Glasgow – wasn’t quite as eye-catching but when Armstrong got his move to the English Premier League he was sent on his way by Rodgers with the prediction “his power, speed and instinct to arrive in the box to score” would see him acclimatise and thrive.

It took a few months but acclimatise he did and four starts in a row at the end of November/start of December included three goals scored. He had won Hughes over but the Welshman’s sacking meant the process would start afresh with another manager, one who had radically different tactical ideas on the game.

In the second half of last season and the first half of this, Hasenhuttl’s Southampton side frustrated and teased in equal measure as he attempted to fix things under the bonnet while the car was moving. That would pass as a fair description of Armstrong as well.

In the present day though, Saints will finish the term as one of the form teams in the league and Armstrong as one of the form players.

Hasenhuttl didn’t lose faith in his side – even after a 9-0 home defeat – and the supporters didn’t lose faith in their Scotsman.

“We’ve always known Southampton have got a goal-scorer (Ings) but they were lacking goals from anywhere else,” said Dodd. “Now he’s helping to give them that with his own goals and his assists.

“It took him a while, which is understandable. Very rarely do players walk straight through the door and everything is happy days. Everyone can see the difference in him now from where he was before.

“The squad is a lot stronger, there’s competition for places in the team and they all know they need to be producing week in, week out just to stay in this team. Stuart wasn’t the only one struggling before. I think the lads were a little bit unsure about how they were supposed to play.

“Stuart’s getting a run of games and you can see the benefit of that. I think it will be his longest run since he came to the club. I liked him from the beginning and I felt the manager was maybe a bit harsh on him. You don’t know, though. Perhaps he wasn’t doing what was asked of him.

“What you do know is if the best 11 is getting put out, he’s a shoo-in every week. His performances merit minutes on the pitch, it’s as simple as that. He’s just getting better and better and better.”

Dodd, who now works in the media, has heard Hasenhuttl’s formation described as 4-2-3-1 and 4-2-2-2. Either way, it’s fluid, it’s working and it’s enabling Armstrong to showcase his abilities.

“You shouldn’t get too caught up with what the system is on paper,” he said. “It’s about how the players react to each other. With the midfielders they’ve got in the side, Stuart’s got a bit more freedom.

“I wouldn’t go as far as to say he was lost before but he was finding it tougher as the wide man in a 4-3-3. He was a bit of a threat but it’s a lot to expect of him to produce goals and assists from that position. He found it harder. This is suiting him much more.

“You’ve got James (Ward-Prowse) and (Pierre-Emile) Højbjerg or (Oriol) Romeu in the middle, the two wide players – Nathan (Redmond) and Che (Adams) – and Stuart sitting in behind Danny (Ings).

“Stuart can get it into his feet but go beyond as well. That compliments Danny really well. They are all understanding what their roles are far better.

“He’s quick as well. I wouldn’t have necessarily said that when he first came in. It probably had something to do with the position he was playing.

“You have to give him all the credit. He’s had to work for his chance and his all-round game is excellent. He looks comfortable and composed. And the thing that I look for as an ex-player is his team-mates are having him. They know what he can do and you can see how comfortable they are giving him the ball, which speaks volumes.”

You don’t need to be capable of completing a law degree in your spare time like Armstrong to be a successful footballer but in his case two forms of intellect has been an asset.

“He’s obviously a really intelligent boy – too intelligent, I say! But he’s got football intelligence as well to thrive in a system like Southampton’s,” said Campbell. “I saw that game intelligence and adaptability from a very young age.

“It’s great to see him in such a rich vein of form in a team that is almost as good as anybody in England at the moment – with the ball and without it.

“A lot of Southampton’s goals are coming from their pressing, which takes a lot of work on the training ground, fitness and concentration.

“It was him pressing high up the pitch against Manchester City that resulted in the winning goal that day. He tried to call it a pass but it was a tackle!

“He’s building up an incredible record of goals and assists over the last few games. Both are just as important as each other.

“I actually texted him before the United game. I said: ‘Another assist tonight, please.’ He texted back after the game saying: ‘Sorry I didn’t get the assist, Stevie!’ The goal would have to do.”

There will be some Scots, certainly those who don’t follow United or Celtic, for whom their first thought in relation to Armstrong is the wrong option he chose at Hampden Park that set in motion Harry Kane’s stoppage time equaliser to deny Leigh Griffiths his place in Tartan Army folklore and Gordon Strachan’s team two more points towards qualification for the 2018 European Championships.

Davidson, on the Scotland coaching team that sweltering and unforgettable June afternoon, said: “It was hard for everybody after that game, not just Stuart. But it would be disgraceful to put it down to one person.

“Football is a reactive game. You could maybe count four or five mistakes for that equalising goal.

“His confidence was really high at the time. He was playing very well. As a player you do spur of the moment things and that was the pass he chose. I definitely wouldn’t blame him for it. He’s a player I rate really highly, especially after working in the Scotland squad with him.

“It’s not easy making the transition into the English Premier League – but I could tell he had all the talent and energy that you need to do that. He can break forward and step in with the ball when he’s in central midfield and be brave in possession. He makes things happen and he’s adapted his game again to make his manager pick him.”

It will be intriguing to see if Steve Clarke picks him.

Armstrong only got a November call-up after others had dropped out but he wasn’t getting a club start at that point, let alone being talked about as one of their most influential players.
By the time the next batch of internationals come round, Dodd hopes he will have signed a contract extension with Southampton.

“Stuart was under the radar but now he’s getting the credit he deserves,” he said. “The only disappointing thing for him is that he won’t want the season to end with the form he’s in. It will be holidays soon and then you’re starting all over again.

“He’s got two years left on his contract and one or two deals left in him. Next season should be great for him – he’ll either get another contract with Southampton or he can think: ‘OK, where do I want to go next?’

“From a selfish, Southampton point of view we want him tied up, even if it’s for an extra year. But if he carries on doing what he’s doing, with the goals he’s scoring, he’s going to attract the attention of the bigger boys.”

One man who certainly won’t be putting a limit on his career rise is mentor Campbell.

“Stuart’s taken himself to another level,” he said. “Physically he’s become a different boy, which probably started at Celtic. You would think he’s now at his peak but you just don’t know. He might end up moving on from Southampton. What I do know is he’s got a lot of time for this manager and he’s happy there. They’re a very good team now. It’s been a great tale and who knows where it will end?”

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