Rodgers set to hand goal hero Ryan a new contract
bRENDAN RODGERS last night backed Ryan Christie for a long-term future at Celtic after the fringe man’s semi-final heroics.
The midfielder produced a sensational display from the bench to inspire his team to hammer Hearts and book a betfred Cup Final date against Aberdeen next month.
Christie came off the bench at half-time to win a penalty for Scott Sinclair to open the scoring and was involved in a second for James Forrest before his wonderful curling finish sealed victory at Murrayfield.
It was a sizzling cameo and Rodgers feels the 23-year-old can still make a big contribution at the club.
Christie has struggled for game time since returning from 18 months
on loan at Aberdeen and his contract expires at the end of this term. But the Celtic manager insists he’s keen to tie him up.
He said: “Ryan was just sensational. He’s someone that of course we would look to commit to.
“The club have been talking to his representatives but I’m not aware of any movement.
“Ryan is definitely a player that we would love to keep. He is a fantastic player. You saw his contribution.
“You saw it at Aberdeen when he was there. It was step by step but now he’s 23. He’s at a really good age, so he can make a valuable contribution to this team.
“Olivier Ntcham felt a tightness in his hamstring and it was weighing up the risk.
“When you have Ryan on the bench you have a decision to make and I felt his energy and goal threat could help.
“I always felt Ryan could come back and then make a contribution because you need that personality to play for the big clubs and play in big games.
“He’s shown that. He’s come into games, he started games and you saw his impact.
“He scored a brilliant goal and was involved in two others. It’s all part of the development for him and it was great to see.”
Rodgers was delighted with all his players as the club stayed on course for a seventh successive trophy win of his reign.
He added: “You’re judged on the pitch. The games we lost domestically earlier in the season, I take responsibility for that, thinking about changing the team going into important European games.
“Still, we weren’t quite in our flow at that time. As the season goes on there’s development in the team and you can see it now in terms of the efficiency and creativity within it.
“In the last three games we’ve created chances. Some we’ve taken. Here we didn’t take all of them. The Hearts keeper made some great saves and we wasted some of them.
“Defensively we were very strong and not in too much trouble and I think we’re returning to the level we want to be at.
“But there’s still an awful lot of work to do.
“We were a bit static first half but second half they were great and deserve to be in the Final.
“We knew it would be tough because Hearts have started very well. But we know when we bring our game we can be a threat for any team.”
Hearts boss Craig Levein was devastated and felt the spotkick call by Willie Collum which turned the tide was soft.
Ollie Bozanic was penalised for tripping Christie but Levein said: “The lads followed the game-plan to perfection until the penalty kick. Bobby [Zlamal] then makes a mistake. I can genuinely say it’s the first mistake he’s made this season, so we were 2-0 down without having done an awful lot wrong.
“The penalty was very soft. Bozanic’s foot isn’t even off the ground. Christie is just waiting on it. But it’s given Willie Collum a decision to make.”
But Rodgers said: “Willie is in a great position to see it and the young player, when he makes the foul, he has no real argument with it.”
Rodgers offered an update on absent striker Leigh Griffiths. He said: “Leigh’s now back looking to get training. He’s nearly clear of his calf injury. So once he can get his work done and get up to speed in training, we’ll assess it from there.”