Summer Celtic departee still raving over what he witnessed under Ange Postecoglou

By David Walton

November 14, 2021

Former Celtic attacker Ryan Christie has admitted to being left wowed by what he saw from Ange Postecoglou in the early stages of the campaign.

Christie left Parkhead on the final day of the summer transfer to join Championship outfit Bournemouth. So far, he’ll feel as though the move is paying off with the Cherries sitting top of the league and already on course for promotion to the EPL.

However, the move came after Christie appeared to return to Celtic a new man in pre-season. After a poor individual and collective campaign for Christie last year, he was a bright spark under Ange in his 9 appearances under the Greek-Australian.

Celtic have continued to progress without Ryan. Yet even after leaving, it clearly wasn’t down to being unimpressed with the new manager. He’s been touching on Ange in the Glasgow Times today, and said the following on the former Yokohama Marinos boss:

“Yes, definitely [asked whether he was impressed with Celtic’s progress]. Before I left I was able to get a wee taste of Ange’s training. I tried to be quite vocal about how much I enjoyed it and how good he was.

“The longer he stays in the job, the more successful Celtic will be. They have had some good results and performances, and some good results in Europe as well, to keep them in the hunt. I’m keeping an eye out for all the boys I am pally with up the road and hoping they do well.”

Ryan Christie could’ve been a big part of Celtic under Postecoglou

It’s always class to read comments like this about the Celtic manager. It only goes to reinforce how impressive he’s been not just in the eyes of supporters but also with his first-team players too.

However, you can’t help but wonder then why Christie didn’t feel as though he could commit to Celtic any longer. Especially when he considers himself to be such a big fan of how Postecoglou goes about things.

If he was so sure of success here in the coming years, it would’ve been nice if he could’ve committed to the club for a touch longer. After all, surely the prospect of being a key Celtic figure under Ange is more attractive than second-division football in England.

Who knows? Perhaps Christie doesn’t see it that way. It’s just a touch odd to see Celtic supporting players be satisfied in signing off their careers with what they produced last season. Christie especially. He had a glorious chance to reignite his Celtic career and potentially move directly to the EPL after a big season.

Instead, he jumped down to Bournemouth where he’s admittedly flying. You just would’ve hoped for a bit more ambition. He could very easily have joined an EPL club without having to take the scenic route through England’s second-tier.

Regardless, it’s clear Postecoglou left a big impact on Ryan. It’s just a shame it wasn’t big enough to keep him in Scotland.

In other news, Confirmed: Ex-Celtic striker joins Sport Australia Hall of Fame