Celtic journalist and podcaster Ryan McGinlay has suggested Ryan Christie could have been the Bhoys’ player of the season had he stayed at the club this season.
£8.1m-valued Christie made the move to Celtic in 2015 and went on to make 151 appearances for the Glasgow outfit, scoring 41 goals and providing 44 assists in all competitions. However, he decided to seek pastures new last summer, transferring to Bournemouth in the English Championship after stating he wanted to try his hand south of the border.
Writing on Twitter, McGinlay suggested the 27-year-old could have had a successful campaign had he chosen to remain in Glasgow. He said: “Christie could have been our player of the season if he stayed.”
TIF Thoughts on Christie
Christie has adapted well to life on the south coast, scoring three goals and providing eight assists in 35 league outings. The Cherries currently sit second in the Championship table, and while promotion to the Premier League is not yet secure, they remain in pole position to join Fulham in the top flight next term.
For Celtic, it has been a mixed campaign. Ultimately, though, exits from the Champions League, Europa League and Europa Conference League at various stages, as well as the Scottish Cup, will be forgotten if they clinch the Scottish Premiership title. Team spirit, rather than individual quality, is the making of Ange Postecoglou’s side, though interestingly, Christie sits at the top of Celtic’s average ratings this term with 7.83 across his four league outings (as per WhoScored).
Do you agree with McGinlay?
Yes
No
Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and McGinlay’s statement is without risk given we will never know if he would have been proven right, but given his displays in the past for Celtic, there is no reason why Christie wouldn’t have shone again.
I 100% disagree with this sentiment.
Like Armstrong before him, Christie became a legend in his own mind.
On his game he was a very good player, but he was only really on his game part of a season and extremely inconsistent the rest of the time.
One thing I always liked about Christie was his preparedness to have a go from outside the box, and with a pretty high success rate.
I remember one season he scored a hattrick all from outside the penalty area against St.Johnstone in what I believe was the first game of the season.
Regardless of what he’s tried to make us believe, he proved that he did not have the grit and determination to be a consistent top performer with us. We are too big a club for Christie and I believe Ange would have offloaded him by now.
He proved his massive lack of ambition going to Bournemouth. He says differently but facts are there as clear as day.