Ryan Christie

Football players have been told they need thick skin.

The criticism that comes their way can be horrific.

It can be vitriolic and it can be personal.

For Ryan Christie the stick he received when he left Celtic for Bournemouth on deadline day was perhaps more in the unwarranted category.

That's not to say it was always above the threshold of 'too far', but for the playmaker it was like water off a ducks' back.

Fans pay their hard earned cash every weekend to have their say and Christie understands that.

Pundits, too, are paid to give their opinion.

The players they're speaking about may not always necessarily agree, but that's the gig.

When Christie became a Cherry it left him open to criticism as to why he'd leave Parkhead for the English Championship.

Why would he depart a title challenge for a recently relegated outfit in the second tier of English football who play their weekends in front of 12,000 fans max?

Frank McAvennie was heavily critical, as was Davie Provan.

It was all about the money, apparently.

But ambitious Christie did his best to drown out the naysayers - even if his closest family and friends struggled to do the same.

"To be honest I'm old enough now not to really turn my head about the media now, especially after playing for Celtic," Christie told Football Scotland in our 30 minute sit-down.

"It didn't really faze me all that much but it maybe fazed the people around me more. The move felt right.

"I'd known in my head for a while that I was at a point in my career where I wanted to try something different. Being in Scotland for so long.

"In terms of money there were moves on the table which would have been more financially beneficial which I went against.

"That proves in my mind that it wasn't like that.

"When I moved within a few weeks I felt I'd made the right move and I've loved it ever since.

"The people closest to me knew, I speak to them so often, that through that period there were a lot of decisions to be made.

"I'm always going to lean on the people closest to me for advice and I felt they always got the feeling from me that I wanted a change."

Christie did move on, in the end, but he admitted to having last minute doubts.

New Hoops boss Ange Postecoglou had walked through the door and brought with him a fresh plan.

A new pair of eyes for the Australian coach to identify what was needed.

That excited Christie and it was clear to see he was enjoying his football early doors with his form in tip top shape.

Still, the desire to work with Postecoglou may have been strong, but Christie's need to challenge himself elsewhere eventually won the day.

"It was difficult at the time as well because at the start of the season I felt like I'd got a new lease of life again," he added.

"It came at an annoying time because I felt my mind was made up and then it makes you question things.

"Ange came in and I loved working under him and then I whittled it down and at the age of 26, if my next contract was in at Celtic it would probably have been one that kept me in Scotland for the rest of my career.

"I thought, 'Is now the time to jump?' I needed to and I'm thankful I made that decision."

Postecoglou has been known, even in his short stint as boss so far, as a man who takes no prisoners.

He suffers no fools within his squad but also he wears his heart on his sleeve when it comes to addressing the press and his critics in public, too.

And his straight-shooting did not go unnoticed with his player.

"I enjoyed his approach to it, you could tell the coach he was, he wasn't taking any back-step, he was in from the go and ready to work," Christie recalled.

"You kind of got the feeling that everybody had put the season before behind us.

"To be fair to Ange he was superb with me in terms of pulling me in and chatting to say that as long as I was part of his squad he was going to treat me equal no matter the contract situation, which I greatly appreciated.

"It was strange because of the timing, I thought I'd started the season well at Celtic and it felt like it was going in the right direction again it was almost I was questioning my initial thoughts.

"It was only when I sat down and put everything on the table I just felt now is the time to be part of a new set-up and league, it was right up my street."

 

Sounds like he's trying to justify it to himself....

 

Ryan Christie has earned Celtic £2million after sealing promotion with Bournemouth.

The Cherries attacker helped his side to a 1-0 win over Nottingham Forest this evening.

The points did the business at home and means Christie will be playing Premier League football next season.




Christie departed Parkhead back in September's deadline day for just more than £1million but there were add-ons written into the player's deal before he was permitted to leave.

One of those clauses sees Bournemouth pay an extra fee to the Hoops around the £2m mark.

Christie, 27, has scored three times this season in the Championship.

 

They absolutely waste him

 

Couldn't give a * what they do with him as long as it brings us money in.

 

Extra £2m? That’ll do nicely.

 

Thanks for the 2 mil ya wee *

 

Thatll cover barkas..

 

Cheers pal. Enjoy relegation next year x

 

Think we only paid Inverness about 600,000 for him originally so at least we made some kind of profit on his sale with this extra 2m on top of the original 1m Bournemouth paid for him. Any other clauses that might net us another fee down the road?

 

yeah i seen that he scored 3 goals in a season * they playing him as a center back or something

 

Was thinking at first what the * is he wearing but it's a dug.

 

Didn't even see it.

 

My phone brightness was away down, thought he was wearing some barbarian type fur coat or something, thought * sake the boy's lost the plot down there.

 

Not many people know this but Ryan Christie has four pet bear cubs that he lets sleep in his bed, he has them instead of children because he fires blanks and could never preduce a kid.

 

Who told you this?

Not saying it's made up, just curious.