Celtic: Podcaster talks about Ryan Christie

Celtic podcaster Paul Carlin has been talking about Ryan Christie and his place in the club’s first team.

Carlin was recently a guest on the latest episode of The Cynic podcast and while the panel talked about many things involving the Bhoys, Carlin spoke about the midfield situation at Parkhead. He specifically focused on Christie and what his role might be in the upcoming campaign.

Christie, 25, had joined Celtic from Inverness Caledonian Thistle in the summer of 2015. He was loaned back to his former club and also had a couple of loan spells at Aberdeen (via Transfermarkt).

Carlin believes that Christie might not have a starting spot in the team next season. Discussing how he would pick his ideal midfield three, he said: “[Callum] McGregor is [the] first you put out of those three most of the time. I know he wasn’t great against PSG, but I think McGregor has got to be in there. When [Scott] Brown’s fit, McGregor and Brown and [Olivier] Ntcham [should play] and again, depends on what formation we’re playing.

“If we’re playing with 3-5-2, I’d love it if it was Brown, McGregor and Ntcham because he just gives you a brilliant range of passing, just a range of different ability, different pressing and Ntcham’s prepared to try some different stuff.

“Christie will get his chance. Christie will be required a lot this season but if we can hold on to Ntcham, I think it’s got to be Ntcham, McGregor and Brown, for me. Ntcham just gives us something that no one else at the club has got. We’re all familiar with the phrase ‘technicians on the pitch’. We came unstuck with that against Cluj but that was because we were trying to crowbar in Ntcham, Christie and McGregor. One of them’s got to fall out, and at this stage, I think Christie’s falling out.”

Carlin believes that while Christie will have a role to play in the 2020/21 campaign, Celtic would stick with playing Olivier Ntcham, Callum McGregor and Scott Brown in a midfield three. As a result, Christie may not be a regular part of the side.

TIF Thoughts…

Christie, who is valued at £5.85 million (Transfermarkt), was a regular for the Hoops in the 2019/20 campaign, making 43 appearances in all competitions for the Bhoys. He scored 19 goals while picking up 16 assists. In the Premiership alone, the Scotsman directly contributed to 22 goals in 24 appearances (via Transfermarkt).

It shows that Christie was an important part of Neil Lennon’s side and the numbers show that he could still contribute to goals on a regular basis. So even if Celtic don’t play him regularly next season, they could arguably still rely on him to come up with goals and assists for the Hoops.