PADDY ROBERTS heard the Celtic supporters at Pittodrie on Friday evening on at Pittodrie and Stuart Armstrong will this morning be trying to find out the words of the more complex song the away support were singing in his praise in the dramatic, frantic win over an Aberdeen side that adapted their own game to try to rattle Celtic then found themselves on the verge of a hammering after just 11 minutes.
Fake news and click bait sites have Armstrong going to West Brom or alternatively Everton this morning. One even adds an ‘Opinion Piece’ at the end saying that Stuart could do okay at West Brom at the bottom end of the Premier League but would struggle in a mid-table team like Everton.
And we are told that Armstrong is keen on a move to the Premier League.
Who reads this stuff? Have there ever even see Celtic play?
Armstrong wants to stay, the ball is well and truly in Celtic’s court. Expect good news in the days before the Cup Final.
Paddy Roberts would like to stay too but for him it is more complicated. Manchester City need to agree to loan him back for a season or sell him to Celtic. The moves that Celtic have made in recent weeks indicate that the player’s intention, although unspoken, are clear enough If this was John Guidetti, with his “I’m not playing at Ross County’ crap, then Celtic would be doing nothing to try to keep him at this stage.
And there’s a striker at Ross County who would have taken that last minute chance against Manchester United last week, John, just saying.
Paddy Roberts though was happy to talk about other things after the win at Aberdeen. As Celtic reach the last 3 matches – all in Glasgow – there are records galore and real glory to be had for these players. Other than the Lisbon season, has there been a more impressive season for Celtic should they win the cup and avoid defeat against Thistle and Hearts?
The pressure isn’t getting to Roberts, or the rest of the players, though.
“I don’t think it fazes us. We just go on to the pitch and we just want to play the best we possibly can and improve.
“We just want to get better every game and it doesn’t faze us making history.
“We just want to play well. That proves we’re a top side and just want to get better.
“We’ve been the same since we started the season against Hearts. We’ve taken every game as the same and we go into the next two similar and then the Cup Final itself.
“It’s a good two weeks to come and we’re looking forward to it.
“If you worry about it too much, you can let it get to you and your emotions, but we’ve been resilient this year and been mentally strong.
“Of course the main thing for us is to keep mentally strong and focused on the games,” Paddy said.
“When the Final comes we’ll get to it, but at the moment we’ll just worry about the next two games we’ve got coming.
“The manager says that the teams that want to beat us wait for us to slip up rather than try and beat us.
“If we don’t do that, we know our game, and we know we’ll come out with the best result.
“For us, it’s just staying mentally focused and prepared and going into every game how we have this season and coming out with the result.”
Looking back to the win at Aberdeen, Roberts was pleased with the performance at the result.
“It was a good three points. We started strong and got three good goals. It was a tough battle and, in the end, we defended well to get the win which is all that really matters.
“We knew we were going to start strong and after the third goal went in, we thought it would be good night.
“But obviously, top team that they are, second in the table, they put up a good fight.
“I think they way they played was more direct and they played to the big man and the target man.
“They obviously played to their strengths and they did well. They tested us and to show our capabilities in defence is massive.
“We know what we can do. Aberdeen is a tough place to go and in the last few seasons it has been tough.
“But we went there, scored three goals, won the game and now we’re going into the cup final the same as ever.”
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