Adam Armstrong finally seeing opportunity and light at the end of the tunnel – Best yet to come? | OneFootball

When you are a centre forward who is struggling in front of goal, sometimes you just need a bit of luck to turn the tide in your favour once more.

Like many Newcastle fans, I take a keen interest in what happens to players when they leave our club and since leaving Newcastle United, I have watched on as Adam Armstrong has battled to establish himself as a forward player capable of being effective in the top two divisions of English football.

When Adam Armstrong left the club to join Blackburn Rovers League One promotion push in January 2018, it was a sad end to a career that had promised much more than just 21 (mainly sub) appearances and no goals.

A prolific goalscorer with England’s youth sides, Armstrong had shot to prominence with an impressive loan spell at League One Coventry City in 2015-16, scoring 20 goals in 40 appearances as well as adding five assists.

Having proved himself in the third tier, next up was a spell at Barnsley in the Championship. The step up to the second tier would prove more challenging for Armstrong and he would score just six goals, adding four assists, in 35 appearances.

With Newcastle United now back in the Premier League, Adam Armstrong hadn’t done enough to convince Rafael Benitez that he was ready for the challenge of England’s top flight.

Armstrong would therefore be on his travels once more, this time to Bolton Wanderers. This would be the first time he would really struggle in his career, scoring just three goals in 23 appearances, before terminating his loan deal early and dropping back down to League One, joining Blackburn Rovers.

Back in the third-tier Armstrong would find his scoring touch once more, finding the back of the net nine times in 21 matches as Rovers achieved automatic promotion.

By this point it was clear his career at Newcastle United was over and he would join Blackburn Rovers on a permanent contract in the summer of 2018.

The next three seasons of his career would be ones of gradual improvement. There were nine goals in 48 appearances in 2018-19 and then 17 in 48 the following season.

In 2020-21 Armstrong exploded. In 43 appearances he would score 29 goals, add five assists and win a host of individual awards.

This form would be enough to persuade Premier League side Southampton, who had money to spend after selling Danny Ings, to take a chance on Armstrong and after getting off the mark on his debut with a thumping finish, it seemed that he was finally ready to make his mark at the top level of the English game.

However, that debut goal was to prove something of a false start, with his first two seasons at Southampton culminating in relegation to the Championship with Armstrong scoring just five goals in 67 appearances.

Following relegation back to the second-tier, Armstrong was heavily linked with a move away from Southampton, rumours that were quickly squashed by incoming manager Russell Martin.

Which brings me back to the opening to this article, the need for a bit of luck to inspire a change of fortunes when you are struggling in front of goal.

Adam Armstrong desperately needed something to fall his way and in the opening game of the Championship season, a curling effort from Nathan Tella brushed off the back of his head and into the Sheffield Wednesday goal.

Despite some debate, Armstrong was eventually credited with the goal and followed that up with two nerveless penalties in a thrilling 4-4 draw against Norwich City.

In their third league match of the season against Plymouth Argyle, Armstrong displayed remarkable maturity after being pressed into an unfamiliar midfield role following an injury crisis.

He secured his first assist of the season in a 2-1 victory and was singled out for praise by his manager Russell Martin, who clearly values his skills highly.

Armstrong’s fine start to the season saw him bag his fourth goal of the season, the winner in a 2-1 victory over Q.P.R in his 350th professional appearance. He now has 102 goals to go alongside 33 career assists. Remarkably, he is still just 26 years old.

When Adam Armstrong was first coming through the Newcastle and England youth teams, it was hoped that he might be a local hero that could follow in the footsteps of Alan Shearer.

While that clearly hasn’t transpired, Armstrong has made a fine career for himself and refused to let the disappointment of his release by his boyhood club affect his career.

With a manager that believes in him, he will hope to put the relative disappointment of the previous two seasons behind him and continue to make his mark at Southampton, just like he did at Blackburn Rovers.