Charlie Christie has launched a vigorous defence of son Ryan’s Celtic departure after he left for Bournemouth.
Ryan departed for the Championship club on transfer deadline day. It was a move that had many Celtic supporters questioning the player’s ambition.
The truth is that Christie will have his sights set on becoming an English Premier League player. But even so, he turned down the opportunity to be part of the Ange Postecoglou revolution in order to play Championship football.
But his father Charlie, who also played for Celtic, has slammed his son’s critics as he took aim at those having a dig at the move.
As quoted by Football Scotland, Christie Sr said: “That’s been particularly frustrating for me, from afar, some of the nonsense you read. That’s the trouble with social media, people can say what they want. It’s terrible, just disappointing. Ryan has had set-backs with his loans and then not being part of Celtic’s squad when he returned.
“Some of the absolute piffle I’ve read since is disappointing but there’s nothing I can really do. I would’ve loved Ryan to have played for Barcelona but if there’s no bid it’s not going to happen! Ryan thought Bournemouth was a good fit, he liked what Scott Parker said on the phone, the way he wants to play.
“I know he’s gone for the right reasons which are football, the financial thing is frustrating. Ryan was literally minutes away from joining Aberdeen or Hibs in 2017/18 when Celtic changed their minds. I just don’t get it, it’s just not true.”
Ryan Christie will have his reasons for Celtic departure
Christie will have his own reasons for leaving Celtic. At the end of the day it’s his career and all decisions made by him are final. But that doesn’t mean the logic of them cannot be questioned.
For many Celtic fans, it’s disappointing that Christie wanted to leave before winning back the Premiership title. He was a key operator under Postecoglou and looked set for a major role this season. This year means a lot to Celtic supporters, and it’s a shame Christie didn’t want to play any part in it.
Sure, you could say he’s targeting the EPL with his move. He likely is. But couldn’t that also have been an opportunity for him if he’d stayed at Celtic for another year? If he shone over the next 12 months, there would’ve been a list of interested buyers.
His chance to go to England would still have come up regardless. It’s frustrating that that’s not an avenue Christie wanted to go down.
From a Celtic perspective, it’s a big loss. You can understand why there was an anger to the deal from Hoops fans. After all, it’s not as if we banked eight figures or anywhere near it from the move either.
But what’s done is done. Charlie has a right to stick up for his son whilst the Celtic support are entitled to feel a bit dismayed by the whole saga.
In other news, John Hartson urges Ange Postecoglou to come up with Celtic defensive plan
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