A winning mentality is ever-present for Christie
THE clubs may be worlds apart financially, but Ryan Christie is certain Aberdeen exist in the same sphere as Celtic when it comes to a winning mentality.
Christie is relishing a seasonlong loan at Pittodrie from the champions, having also spent five months in the north east during the previous campaign. His willingness to return as part of the £1.3million deal that took Jonny Hayes to Parkhead is easily explained. Under Derek McInnes, he feels the same relentless obligation to seek success that exists with Brendan Rodgers at his parent club. The Hayes transfer was one example of Celtic’s monetary muscle, which will be further strengthened by another season in the Champions League. In contrast, McInnes is still in six figures for his transfer spending over the past four years.
Despite that disparity, Aberdeen have matched Celtic’s points tally from the opening five rounds of fixtures in the new season and remain determined to again be their closest challengers.
This start to the season comes as no surprise to Christie. Ahead of today’s home meeting with Kilmarnock, he has won 18 times and lost twice in the 21 domestic games played under McInnes.
‘I wouldn’t say there are any differences (between Celtic and Aberdeen), as it’s similar in terms of the expectations to win here,’ claimed the 22-year-old.
‘I think it comes down to attitude and mindset at a club, even if you don’t have the budget that the likes of Celtic do to spend on players and wages.
‘As long as you’ve got the mindset of wanting to be successful, that rubs off on other teams coming to Pittodrie.
‘Any game we go into, no matter who we’re playing, obviously we want to win, but there’s an expectation to win as well. That’s good for me as being on loan here gives me that experience, which is the same at Celtic Park.
‘We have that attitude here. It’s great for players like me to learn and play in that environment.
‘I think it brings everybody on and improves your game on a Saturday. When I decided to come back here, that was one of the factors.’
Being unable to play against Celtic has been an aid to Christie’s impressive win rate, albeit at the cost of sitting out last season’s Scottish Cup final. The solitary draw he has experienced with Aberdeen came last weekend, when the excellence of Joe Lewis kept Hearts at bay at Murrayfield.
‘Looking back at it now, though, you’ve got to say it is a clean sheet, although we didn’t score which we want to do every game,’ added Christie (pictured).
‘I think, over the years, everybody in the league would agree that away to Hearts is a really tough fixture.
‘It shows how much pressure we put on ourselves that we were quite disappointed with the result.’
History suggests today provides a fine opportunity to regain a winning feeling. Aberdeen are seeking their 14th successive victory over Kilmarnock, a sequence that stretches back to February 2013.
The Rugby Park outfit don’t have their problems to seek in the present day. Last weekend’s 2-0 defeat to Motherwell left them on one point — and prompted experienced defender Gordon Greer to be publically critical of the team’s work rate.
Lee McCulloch’s squad also exchanged some home truths in heated exchanges within their dressing room.
‘We had a meeting after the game among the players, the contents of which will obviously remain private,’ said Killie midfielder Steven Smith.
‘But there were a lot of harsh words said to each other and it was taken the right way. The manager wasn’t involved in it — he’d already said his bit.
‘We asked him for five minutes to ourselves and we said a few things which needed to be said and we’ll leave it at that. But it went well — sometimes it can end up in arguments but it went positively and training has been good this week. ‘It’s important to clear the air at times but it can go both ways. Either people can take what’s said on board or they can fall out and not speak to each other again. ‘But we did it for a reason. I didn’t expect it to be an issue but we have a lot of young players. I’ve been that young player and you can either shy away from it or accept it.
‘They were given their chance to speak as well, so everyone got their points across. But it’s all right saying we’ve had this clear– the-air meeting — unless we start getting results, that’s irrelevant.
‘The time for talking has stopped and we need to start putting in performances. I believe that, if we stick together and work hard, we can get a result against Aberdeen.’