Ryan Christie last week spoke about his reasons for leaving Celtic to join Championship side Bournemouth in a £2.5m transfer. The midfielder became known for his wayward shooting with last season being especially bad. Neil Lennon had apparently given him a licence to shoot on sight and ballboys everywhere in the Scottish game were glad of the rest when the transfer to the English south coast side eventually went through.
“I was ready for something different,” said the Cherries number 10, as reported by Dorset Live. “I was at Celtic for six years, I’d played in Scotland for all of my career and I wanted to go and try something new.
“It had got to the point that going into the season we [Celtic] were thinking that if we don’t win the treble then it’s not a success, which is a crazy bar to set yourself. When it did eventually go the other way, it was so shocking to everybody – fans and players. We weren’t used to it and it hit us hard,” Christie continued.
“You learn more from defeat. I learned about me as a person and how I could deal with my emotions outside of football, how do I turn myself off [from the pressure]. I realise now how important that side of things can be.
“At a club like Celtic it’s near impossible to turn off from football, but I had to learn how to do that and sometimes you have to learn the hard way.”
Christie has settled into the Bournemouth side and is their playmaker but as we’ll look at in a minute, he’s not yet scored a goal for the Cherries. He has though he admits had a new lease of life on the English south coast.
“Last season was definitely tough at times and it took its toll. Your not the first person to say that [I look less stressed]. People closer to me, family members were noticing on me a lot more. It is nice now to be out of that on the other side and enjoying everything again. Long may it continue. They were noticing that I was getting caught up in the whole thing and they felt it too. My dad being a football fan, he’s all over it as well.
“It affects everyone around you. Everyone is just desperate to see you do well and when it goes the other way they feel for you. Now the tables have turned. Everyone has their Bournemouth tops on and supporting from back in Scotland,” Christie said.
BiRInsights, providing their usual football stats and facts, today mentioned the former Celtic midfielder now at Bournemouth and noted this: “Ryan Christie has had the most shots of all players in the Championship who are yet to score this season. He has had 35 shots in the league without finding the net. Could today finally be the day at QPR?”
We’ve mentioned this in an earlier article but thought it worthy of closer look as some of the replies are amusing. Please note this is light-hearted and hopefully funny but not to be taken too seriously, especially by Charlie up in Inverness!
The account added: “Celtic fans seem to be enjoying this tweet, that’s for sure”…
Celtic fans seem to be enjoying this tweet, that’s for sure. https://t.co/GBeTItQQE3
— BiRInsights (@BiRInsights) December 27, 2021
….. where a few of those 35 shots landed. pic.twitter.com/RTMGi7Mh9T
— stewie (@kenthehorse) December 27, 2021
— Boud90MC (@Boud90MC) December 27, 2021
“You’ll find majority on Bournemouth beach”…”You’ll find majority in France”….”He’s good at rugby”…”If you have a greenhouse in the Bournemouth area ….”…”Aiming for the moon”…”Ryan continuing to terrify the guys 20 rows behind the goals.”…”how many people in row z has he hospitalised?”…”I brought a headguard”…”Thats about right decent player but couldn’t hit a barn door”…”He’s just missed my house a couple of times and I’m 480 miles away!”…”Probably all 35 in the English Channel”…”Most of those shots will eventually wash up somewhere in France”…”If the crossbar is 20ft high, no problem”…”35 baws in folks gardens then”…and on it goes.
Where most of Ryan Christie’s shots have probably ended up this season pic.twitter.com/6emHn0Xe0Z
— Ciaran 🍀 (@CiaranM88) December 27, 2021
WE’VE GOT SOMETHING TWICE AS GOOD…
Thanks to everyone who ordered Harry Hood – Twice as Good for Christmas presents. If you got an Ange jumper instead then why not order this brilliant book by Matt Corr, or indeed David Potter’s biography of another Celtic legend Alec McNair – born on this day incidentally – from Celtic Star Books or from the official Celtic stores?
