Christie to sign new Celtic deal but admits he feared for future
● Rodgers assures midfielder he has key role at the club to seal remarkable change in fortunes
Ryan Christie is poised to sign a new contract with Celtic just weeks after he admits he concluded he had no future with the Scottish champions.
A remarkable transformation in Christie’s fortunes has seen him become a key figure in Brendan Rodgers’ side during their recent return to top form, scoring three goals in their last three games.
The 23-year-old, who has also retained his place in the Scotland squad for this month’s Nations League qualifiers against Albania and Israel, is out of contract at the end of this season.
Christie has struggled to secure regular first-team football at Celtic since joining them from Inverness Caledonian Thistle in 2015. He returned to the club this summer after spending the previous 18 months on loan at Aberdeen but initially seemed no closer to finding a place in manager Rodgers’ plans.
Whenhewasnotevennamed among the substitutes for the league defeat against Hearts at Tynecastle in August, a day when Rodgers, pictured, made a raft of changes to his side ahead of a Champions League qualifier, Christie admits he feared he would have to leave the club.
But he is now close to agreeing terms on a new deal after being assured by Rodgers he has an important role to play going forward.
“We’re in negotiations right
now and it has all been positive,” said Christie. “I spoke to the manager the other day and he made me aware that he wanted me to stay and there was a pathway for me. That was all I needed to hear. Hopefully, we can get that deal sorted soon.
“The lowest point for me was right at the start of the season. We played a few qualifiers, then I was in the stand for the league game at Hearts and for a few games after that. It was hard to see a pathway for me at Celtic then.
“Iwasobviouslycomingback
from Aberdeen where I was playing most weeks. I found it so much harder to adjust to not even being on the bench. So it was a frustrating time but, if anything, that spurs you on to keep your head down and work harder. You just hope it pays dividends.
“This is the outcome that I wanted. I knew at the start of the season, coming into my last year under contract, that something needed to change if I was going to stay at this club.
“I had to make some kind of impact. So to be here and to hopefully get a new deal over the line will be fantastic for me
and a positive turnaround. It will give me confidence that there’s a pathway for me at this club and I can contribute to the team.”
With French midfielder Olivier Ntcham rated as seriously doubtful because of a hamstring injury, Christie is set to retain his place in the Celtic starting line-up for tonight’s pivotal Europa League Group B qualifier against rb leipzig in glasgow.
It’s a match Celtic need to win to retain genuine hope of further progress in the tournament after suffering a 2-0 defeat to Leipzig in Germany
a fortnight ago. “Our aim at the start of this season was to have European football after Christmas,” added Christie.
“So we realise what we need to do on Thursday night. We need to win and then assess the remaining two fixtures that are coming up in the group. I don’t think there’s any added pressure because there’s always pressure when you play for Celtic. We’re playing at home and we take great confidence from that. I’m sure it will be a different game from out there in Germany.”
As Celtic attempt to take a significant stride forward in their Europa League group tonight, Brendan Rodgers believes a man who spends much of his time on the pitch standing still could hold the key to their hopes.
If it’s a strange compliment for the Celtic manager to pay any player, it’s also one which is easily appreciated by anyone who has witnessed Tom Rogic at his best over a sustained period.
“He could play in a tuxedo,” jokes Rodgers as he assesses the Australian international playmaker’s technical and creative gifts which so often
BRENDAN RODGERS
set him apart from any other player currently operating in Scottish football.
Rogic’s economy of movement is one of his biggest assets in Rodgers’ eyes. The 25-year-old has been badly missed by Celtic in their previous two Group B fixtures, away defeats to Salzburg and RB Leipzig which have diminished their prospects of further progress in the tournament.
Celtic will be eliminated tonight if they lose at home to Leipzig and Salzburg avoid defeat against Rosenborg. Realistically, only a victory will be good enough for the Scottish champions and Rodgers feels Rogic is the man who can help turn the tables.
“Tom gives the team a dif“leipzig ferent dynamic in terms of how he plays,” said Rodgers. “He doesn’t move so much, which actually helps. That’s because he can find space.
“The dynamics of your team are always important, especially when you play three or four in midfield.
“Tom has this incredible quality of standing still and knowing where to stand. He conserves his energy well, so that when he doesn’t have the ball, he can press the game.
“When he takes the ball, he’s normally receiving it to go forward. He’s a big, big talent and a very important player for us. He has got great tools that can help us as a team and he’s that creative player you need at this level to make the difference for us.
“You talk to other managers after games and they normally highlight Tom in conversation with me. The players themselves and opposition players know the problems he causes.
“He’s got an in-built brain for football. You just need to put him into a structure and a framework to get the ball and into areas where he can hurt teams. He’s very elusive. He’s so cool and calm and he just moves so well. He’s fantastic.”
Amid the widespread admiration of Rogic’s talent, a constant criticism of him has surrounded his fitness levels. He is regularly substituted midway through the second half of matches but Rodgers insists that is no reflection of the player’s conditioning.
“He can last a full game, make no bones about it,” added Rodgers. “But we play so many games. There are just moments in games when you might be trying to shore it up and you just want to keep the energy in the team.
“So you change it slightly. Or you are trying to conserve his energy for another game. If you have comfort in a game, you can take Tom off.
“Maybe it was something before that was labelled at him, but it was unfair. He’s just got that languid style and it doesn’t change from the first minute. The time you look at him in the 70th minute and he’s still got that style, so he maybe looks tired.
“Tom’s got good fitness. We’ve been managing some issues with him around certain aspects, but he’s a fantastic player and what’s been
“He could play in a tuxedo. Tom has this incredible quality of standing still and knowing where to stand. He conserves his energy well”
great to see is his personality grow in these last couple of years to really impose himself in games. He’s not frightened to be the big player.
“Evidence shows you that. That’s great to see that he puts himself into these big occasions and wants to perform.”
Rodgers is urging his players to adopt a bold approach tonight against an in-form RB Leipzig side who have kept six successive clean sheets.
are a very good team and if you are looking at it man for man, they’re better than us,” he said. “It’s that simple. That’s why they’re near the top of the Bundesliga and why they’ll be challenging in domestic and, probably, European competition this season.
‘But we still have to go and show our true face. If we play how we can and lose, OK, that can happen. But let’s make sure you’re not timid with it. You don’t give up space easily. You fight and you get up tight to players.
“If you give good players the chance to play, they will play. So you’ve got to get right in amongst it, press the game and have that same feeling that you do domestically.
“We have to do everything we can to try and win the game. We go into the game really confident, in a good way after recent performances and with the support behind us, which is huge for us.
“I said before the group started that I felt the home games were going to be critical for us. If we get a win in this one, then we still have an opportunity to qualify. If we don’t, then it is extremely difficult. We have to maximise our opportunity and if we can do that and win our next two games, then we will have given ourselves every chance.”