Christie still needs to bulk up to make the weight worth it CELTIC
RYAN Christie these days is worth his weight in goals for Celtic.
That’s three in two games for the 23-year-old, the latest coming at Dens Park, a lovely outside of the left foot finish which finished in the bottom corner of the Dundee net.
And as we now know, the reason Brendan Rodgers has given Christie his chance is because a natural skinny lad has beefed up. This is far from simple for a lad for whom a fish supper would triple his BMI.
Christie admitted: “It hasn’t been easy – it’s been a long, drawn-out process which started when I first joined Celtic. It’s nice that it’s finally paying dividends after a few years but it was something I knew I was going to have to work on.
“The sports science staff at the club are great and they would send me all sorts of programmes to ensure that I’m bulking up in the right way but also staying lean. However, I still have plenty more to do.”
That he does, however, Christie looks sharp, fit and above all confident. Self-belief is needed to play in a team of champions because there is no point being there if you don’t believe you’re good enough.
Christie said: “It’s easy for me to come into this side – all I have to do is pass the ball to them! With Broony being injured, Callum McGregor comes in there and he uses the ball so well. Every time he gets on it he wants to pass it forward. For the likes of myself and Tom in front of him, that’s an absolute joy.
“We’ll see what happens on Saturday for the Hearts game. We’ve had a few injuries and that’s made everyone in the squad aware that they always need to be ready to come in and play their part.
“Due to the ridiculous amount of games between now and the end of the year there will be a lot of rotation so it’s all about coming in and making an impact when that opportunity comes. Hopefully, we can continue to do that.”
Christie’s goal at Dens came at the end of a lovely move. A superb pass by Odsonne Edouard sent his team-mate into the box where he produced a fine finish to make it 5-0.
He might not welcome the comparison but the timing of the run and impressive skill which resulted in a goal was reminiscent of Stuart Armstrong at his best.
Christie said: “For my goal on Wednesday, it was a fabulous through ball from Odsonne and all I had to do was stick it past the keeper. Obviously, I was happy to score again but it was even better that the result was already in the bag.
“I’m also delighted that Odsonne got his goal because he deserved it for his tremendous link-up play.
“Everyone can now see the confidence we’re showing going forward. Hopefully, that will give other teams the fear of coming up against us, knowing that we can really punish them. We just need to keep our heads down and maintain this momentum.
“We just need to keep doing – we don’t have the time to be happy about this result because we’re too busy trying to concentrate on getting the next one.”
Celtic were excellent against Dundee. The movement, passing, link-up play and speed which all of this was done reminded the supporters of the Invincible team.
Hearts were dismantled in the second-half last Sunday and should the league leaders, which the Edinburgh will if they lose at Parkhead, not find a way to stifle the opposition, Celtic’s free-flowing football is going to be too much for them.