RYAN CHRISTIE probably wanted the winter break less than the rest of the Celtic players. He’s had to show remarkable patience before bursting onto centre-stage for Celtic in the second half of that Betfred Cup semi-final at Murrayfield last October.
Remember that, the SFA sent us to Murrayfield after they changed their initial plan to play both semi-finals at Hampden on the same day, with their favoured team playing first. How did all that work out?
Christie grabbed his chance and fairly lit up that match and hasn’t looked back since. He seemed to pick up a bad injury against Salzburg in the Europa League last month but recovered quickly and was back in the team from the last few games before the winter shut-down kicked in.
The former Inverness Caley midfielder of course scored the only goal in the final against Aberdeen – they won that other semi- and that experience has left Christie hungry for more glory.
After a week with family, it’s now back to training at the Celtic training base in Dubai and Christie is relishing the return to action as he eyes up winning more trophies for Celtic. Speaking to the official website in Dubai, Christie outlined his thoughts where he’s at at the moment.
“The break was nice, but it’s only after so long that you want to get back in training, get back in with the boys and get back to full fitness.
“The facilities we’ve got at the training camp are amazing, and it’s been brilliant so far.
“After the disappointment on the 29th, we took a second to recap and realised – we’re in the last 32 of a European competition, we’ve won a cup, we’re top of the league and with a game in hand.
“We’re still in a very good position, but there’s obviously plenty of work to do coming up. We want to make this a really good season, and we need to keep working hard to achieve that.
“There’s a bit more of everything at the winter training camp. At Lennoxtown in December, it was a case of maintaining things. There wasn’t always the time to have full training sessions when you factor in games and recovery time, whereas out here, we need to be back to top fitness.
“The gaffer also wants to enforce all the tactical elements he wants us to work on, and to get us up to speed tactically for the rest of the season.
“Ollie (Burke) did his first session with us yesterday. I’d never met him before, but I think a few of the boys had played at Scotland Under-21s with him.
“He was showing his quality already, he’s got the ability to become a fantastic player, and I’m sure the move here will only improve him.
“You can see the way that he runs, he’s positive on the ball and I’ve no doubt he’ll settle in well with the squad.”
Also on The Celtic Star…
Timothy Weah and how Celtic fans media embarrassed the MSM….See HERE.
‘I had options, but the only choice in my head was Celtic,’ Oliver Burke…See HERE.
Jim Craig – Celtic were on a roll towards a sixth title…See HERE.
It’s Official! Weah is a Tim as PSG man joins the Hoops!…See HERE.
