STUART ARMSTRONG admits that he and Brendan Rodgers didn't see eye to eye when the former Liverpool boss took the reins at Parkhead - but the Scotland internationalist is adamant that his old manager made him the player he is today.
The former Dundee United midfielder was often played out wide by Ronny Deila at Celtic, which led Rodgers to initially believe Armstrong wasn't up to scratch for the Scottish champions.
Speaking to the i, Armstrong admitted that Rodgers wasn't a big fan of the midfielder to begin with - but a heart-to-heart between the pair led to Armstrong playing further infield, where he flourished before joining Southampton in a £7 million move two years ago.
Armstrong explained: "I don’t think he liked me at the start!
"Not in terms of personality, but in terms of play. I think he’d seen me play wide and I don’t think he felt my performances were good enough.
"We had an honest conversation and I expressed a desire to play in the middle.
"There was a lot of frustration from me in those days when I was playing as a wide player and I felt I had more to give.
"When I spoke to him he accepted my view and we developed a relationship from then.
"He gave me an opportunity to prove my point. He just believed in me and gave me that faith.
"He’s a fantastic coach, I can’t speak highly enough of him."
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