Highlander Christie feels like one of the clan...
SCOTLAND
SHOULD Scotland ever successfully embark on another adventure to a major tournament, Ryan Christie will be first in line at the kilt fitting.
Craig Brown’s side famously turned up at the 1998 World Cup having been kitted out in tartan dress for the opening ceremony in Paris.
Highlander Christie recently attempted to claim the most patriotic Scotsman title in the Celtic dressing room after a heated debate about wedding attire with his countrymen and he is hoping that ultimately there is something to get dressed up for in the coming months.
“I had an argument with the boys – I said I was more patriotic than they were,” he said with a laugh.
“It all started with a debate about weddings. They said they would wear a suit for their wedding and I thought it was normal to wear a kilt. I’m in the right, am I not?
“I was getting stick for it. Of course I’ll wear a kilt to my wedding – any opportunity.
“Kieran Tierney, James [Forrest] and Callum [McGregor] were all there and it got to the point where I was pulling others in from outside to try and get more on my side.
“But most of them said they would plump for a suit as well! I’m not sure I won the vote, but I still know I’m right!”
Christie is of a generation for whom success for Scotland is something that has never been witnessed in real do my best at that before I think of anything else.”
And while he has not begun the formalities of earning his badges, he is forever watching and studying other teams and their set-ups.
“I try and watch as much football as I can,” he explained. “The big Champions League games, you watch players in different positions and see how good they are.
“When you get a chance to see it live, you then realise how good some of the players are.
“Just with the amount of games I’ve played and the amount of positions, you start to realise what it takes to play in each position.
“For example, the controlling position, it’s not all about going forward and scoring goals.
“You are looking behind you and seeing what you have to pick up as opposed to going forward and trying
time. The playmaker recalls family parties that effectively turned into post-mortems as tournaments came and went without invite, something that the current group have the weight of changing.
“For any big Scotland games my family would make a party of it and we had loads of folk round at the house to watch,” said Christie. “There is a big Scotland following from the north and I could see that for real when I was called up because of the number of calls and messages I received. “It’s nice to get that and it makes me proud and hopefully I can go and make an impact. “I remember the James McFadden goal against France and Gary Caldwell’s goal against France at Hampden. Basically we always had a houseful and a good laugh sitting down watching the football on TV and I identified with the international team from a young age.
“Unfortunately my memories of watching Scotland always end with disappointment after the qualifiers and the aim for everyone in this camp is to be the squad that makes it to a competition.
“To go down in history