By KENNY STILL
Published: 13:26 EDT, 10 March 2025 | Updated: 13:26 EDT, 10 March 2025
THE mere inclusion of Ryan Christie’s name on Bournemouth’s team sheet for their trip to Tottenham on Sunday may have been overlooked by many on another dramatic day in the English Premier League.
While the late afternoon game between Manchester United and Arsenal hogged the build-up, and the only check-ins on north London centered on fitness updates on Ange Postecoglou’s struggling Spurs side, Christie’s return to the Cherries line-up after missing their FA Cup clash with Wolves the week before went largely unnoticed.
The 30-year-old had been forced off just 26 minutes into his previous Premier League outing at Brighton and manager Andoni Iraola later revealed that the player has been struggling with a ‘chronic’ groin issue which will require surgery sooner rather than later.
Sunday’s appearance, though, indicated that Christie has no intention of bringing an early end to his remarkable season on the south coast — and that should come as a huge relief to Scotland fans and, in particular, manager Steve Clarke.
In fact, the very minute those team lines were distributed to social media and beyond, Clarke was hopefully rubber-stamping the name of Christie at the heart of his Scotland line-up to face Greece in next week’s Nations League play-off first leg in Athens.
Ryan Christie has often been used as an impact sub under Scotland manager Steve Clarke
Christie battles with Portugal's Bruno Fernandes during last year's Nations League tie in Lisbon
For Scotland, and particularly under Clarke, Christie has often felt like a wild card, an attacking midfielder utilised as a false nine in the absence of forward options. A winger, an impact sub. He’s won 58 caps but it’s never truly felt like he’s nailed down a regular start or secured the complete confidence of his manager.
He started both of Scotland’s European Championship openers — against the Czech Republic in 2021 and Germany in 2024 — before reverting to a bench role, and playing just eight minutes across four games, for the rest of those campaigns. He always seems to be the first in line to make way when things don’t go to plan.
It’s a complete contrast to his current standing at club level. He is the heartbeat of everything Bournemouth do under Iraola, a statistician’s dream with his total pressures, turnovers, possessions won and through balls attempted. And he can no longer be ignored.
Iraola has previously labelled Christie the ‘most tactically intuitive player’ he has ever worked with, high praise indeed from a man widely touted as a potential successor to Carlo Ancelotti at Real Madrid.
Bournemouth boss Andoni Iraola has utilised Christie as a defensive midfielder
Heck, should that career switch come to pass, who’s to say the Spaniard won’t return to the Vitality Stadium to plunder some of his most trusted performers and whisk them off to the Bernabeu with him?
Of course, such speculation can wait until silly season begins. Bournemouth have serious aims to attend to first, such as securing European football for the first time in their history. That Sunday’s draw at Spurs, having been 2-1 ahead when Christie was removed for the last 20 minutes or so, was viewed as a disappointment shows how far expectations have come down in Dorset.
The idea of Christie as a midfield enforcer still takes some getting used to for those who witnessed him breaking through as a skinny teen with Inverness Caledonian Thistle in 2013/14. A classic old-school winger if ever there was one, Christie’s slight frame and fleetness of foot had him destined to torture full-backs for years to come.
Quickly snapped up by Celtic, the club where his dad Charlie had both trained with as a reserve player and tormented as the star of Super Caley’s finest hour, Christie jnr looked set to go the same way as so many other young talents who headed for Parkhead and failed to unlock the door to regular first team action.
Two loan spells at Aberdeen brought two second-place Premiership finishes but the prospect of breaking through at Celtic still appeared slim. Those hopes bulked out though as the player himself metamorphosed in pursuit of his dream.
Bournemouth midfielder Christie tackles Wilson Odobert during Sunday's draw with Spurs
Ryan Christie was a regular goalscorer in green and white after a slow start to his Celtic career
Christie’s appearance after that pre-season under Brendan Rodgers was noticibly different as his extra hours in the gym became clear to see. His determination to not let slip his opportunity with Celtic saw him literally muscle his way into Rodgers’ plans for what would be his final season in charge of the player.
As former Celtic goalkeeper Pat Bonner said at the time: ‘He’s filled out, much stronger than we saw as a young boy coming in. I always thought he was too lightweight to get into a Celtic team. Going out on loan, working with the first team, probably in the gym on a constant basis, he’s filling out into a young man that can handle himself physically at that level.
‘He’s got all the ability, but the physical strength, that strength has helped his quickness around the pitch.’
Still though, it’s a bit of a leap from all-action attacker to midfield enforcer. And his game was still very much forward-thinking until the arrival of the relatively unknown Iraola at Bournemouth.
As Christie explained in a recent interview with The Times, an eagerness to please his new boss coupled with a fire being lit under his footballing philosophy has led to a transformation few would have predicted.
‘We were doing a pressing drill, he was trying to get across the message of how we were going to press,’ said Christie. ‘And he said, “OK, you try No 8. Do you think you can play there?” He was a new manager so I was nodding my head like a dog and saying yes to anything, basically. And that was it. A couple of matches into that season, there were a couple of injuries in midfield, he turned to me and I’ve never really looked back.
‘The way we play, in terms of wanting to press, be aggressive, definitely suits me. It wasn’t completely alien to me; I played there when I was younger. But the way he coaches us, lets you know what’s expected of you, is very clear. I know where I need to be in each phase of play.
Christie could be paired with Napoli midfielder Billy Gilmour against Greece
‘For the first few weeks, you found yourself kind of second-guessing [yourself], or just being a second too late [to press], which at this level kills you. You need to be all in or not at all. I love that side of the game, the tactical element.
‘I really enjoy listening to the manager. Understanding is one thing; teaching it in a clear manner, especially in your second language, is another. It’s an incredible skill to have.’
Arguably, Christie should have been in a deeper role for Scotland at last summer’s Euros, such was the success he enjoyed at Bournemouth last season. But the presence of Callum McGregor and the clamour for Billy Gilmour meant that Clarke was never likely to deviate from his standard deployment habits when it came to Christie.
With McGregor now off the scene, Clarke opted for Gilmour and Kenny McLean for the recent Nations League campaign. As admirably as the Norwich City man played at the tail end of a campaign that finished on a high note with victory in Poland, he is simply not performing at the same rarefied level as Christie. There is surely only so far the national coach’s enduring loyalty to McLean can go.
Christie scored the opening goal for Scotland in their 2020 play-off final with Serbia
The central role HAS to now go to Christie. He’s earned it and then some.
At times it feels like there is a mythical air about Gilmour, like those breakthrough appearances for Chelsea and that performance in that 0-0 draw with England at Wembley immortalised his reputation for all time.
He is an incredibly gifted footballer, a unique figure in the Scotland set-up with his desire to receive the ball and set the tempo. But he doesn’t possess the X-factor of Christie, the inherent threat that comes with a back catalogue of attacking highlights.
Gilmour may well end the season with a Serie A winners’ medal alongside Scott McTominay. It is a remarkable story. Yet the truth is he is an effective squad man with Napoli. Granted, he was impressive playing the entire 90 minutes as Antonio Conte’s men ran out 2-1 winners over Fiorentina on Sunday, but prior to that he’d endured a 14-match spell as a substitute, unused on nine occasions and totalling 20 minutes across the five times he was called upon.
It could be that Clarke will opt to pair Christie and Gilmour in a deeper role, with John McGinn and McTominay playing further forward in support of Che Adams. The discipline and ball-winning ability of Gilmour and Christie would allow the full-backs to get forward and provide the width. It sounds like a winning formula, particularly with Ben Doak out injured.
But the first name on the teamsheet has to be Christie’s. Not for the first time in his career, he’s proven his talent cannot be ignored.
BournemouthCeltic