Life is treating Ryan Christie pretty well after leaving Celtic.
It’s never easy leaving a club like Celtic, because of the sheer size of the club and the fact that you are leaving behind winning trophy after trophy.
Christie picked up plenty of medals during his time in Glasgow, but in 2021, he felt it was the right time to head for the Celtic Park exit door and join Bournemouth.
At the time, the South Coast club were in England’s second-tier, so it came as a surprise, but it’s now paying off because he is pushing for Champions League football with the Cherries.
On top of that, the much-improved Christie is a regular for Scotland and is aiming to help Steve Clarke’s side book that much-wanted and long-awaited golden ticket to the 2026 World Cup.
The Scotlnd manager spoke about Christie’s role for his country, compared to how he started his career and what he does for Bournemouth.
Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images
Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images
Steve Clarke on the start of Celtic hero Ryan Christie’s career
When you watch Christie now, he starts as a number six for Bournemouth and pushes up the field from there.
But, when he first came through at Inverness Caledonian Thistle and then started to shine at Celtic, he used to and was playing in more attacking roles.
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It’s where Clarke is using the versatile star now for Scotland, but the former Kilmarnock boss told BBC One Scotland that Christie ‘disagrees’ with starting his career as a wide player.
“Ryan started his career as a winger, if you like,” said Clarke. “He would disagree with that. But he always played off the wide.
“For me, by in large, for the national team, he has always played off the wide. Although, we have in certain games played him inside as one of the number eights, if you like, to get forward.
“He is playing that role at Bournemouth. He plays a number eight. Everyone says he played a bit deeper, but if you actually watch him play for Bournemouth, he is very involved in the higher press up the pitch. He gets after the game and he does everything that Ryan is good at.”
Christie’s numbers at Celtic and now Bournemouth
Christie raised his bat, hit 151 and then bowed out of the Celtic scene to try something new in his career and now he is nearing that same milestone for Bournemouth.
It’s 148 appearances and counting for the English side and you presume he won’t be going anywhere anytime soon, especially Andoni Iraola guides them to Europe.
But whilst those numbers are similar, there has been a drop in Christie’s attacking returns by a significant way from his Celtic days to what he is producing now.
Club Apps Goals Assists
Celtic 151 42 44
Bournemouth 148 8 17