A shrug farewell to Stuart Armstrong

Congratulations, Stuart - you have finally got that move to headier climes that you have been angling for for at least a year.

Yes, you can play football - quite often, very well.

But, Stuart, my amateur judgment is that you are not now and never will be the big shot in football that you might be if you were more focused on your performance than your ego and your haircut.

Alex Ferguson once bemoaned the fact that David Beckham could have been a great of the game, had he been focused on his football, rather than his outside activities.

You, Stuart, could probably have been a very good player - though by no means a great - had you not given the impression that you thought the game too prosaic for a man of your qualities.

You arrived from Dundee United, after Ronny Deila signed you and Garry Mackay-Steven, with a flourish and then tailed off when nobody was looking.

From that point, we saw some flashes of what you might produce until, the second half of Brendan's first season at which point you started to fly.

That was convenient for all parties as we thought we had a player and you had a contract decision to make.

Of course, it all went tits-up at Hampden when you played that clever pass that gave England a last-gasp equaliser.

Not for you, hoofing the ball up the park or playing the easier pass. No, Stuart, you grandstanded and cost your team and your country the chance of victory.

Why do I mention this? Because I saw that idiotic pass for what it was - ego-driven at the expense of the team.

I had my doubts then but was still hoping you would buy into Brendan's project and be a part of something special - but what did you do?

You hummed and hawed and made the entire close-season seem to be about you (did I say, "ego"? ) and then you signed ... a one-year contract.

Any of us with a little experience could see what that meant - you hadn't got the offers you wanted and were going to ride the Celtic train for one more stop and do the same damned thing again.

At one time, I'd have rated you as a better player than Callum McGregor but the contrasts could hardly be more stark.

While Callum has been every coach's dream, absorbing every bit of instruction and developing into a footballer who can reliably compete at the highest level of competition, that's not your style, is it, Stuart?

So, you're making more money - good for you.

You're an "English Premier League player" now - whoop-de-doo!

I had a dream that you started with Southampton with a flourish, tailed off and then tried to show off in high-visibility matches before putting in a real shift as it came to contract time.

But, who am I to comment on a law graduate who is good enough to indulge in Plebeian pursuits?

And, if you had only pissed off last season instead of being a distraction, a wage-thief and a drain on morale, I wouldn't have.

This move suits all parties - but mostly Celtic.

You will be mentioned in the same breath as the likes of Robert Snodgrass - players people once thought might do something in the game but chose lucrative mediocrity.

No player is too good for Celtic - but many have thought they were.