Christie backed by former coach to thrive at Celtic

Just like his growing reputation, the praise Ryan Christie receives is increasing all the time and this time it’s from his former assistant manager Russell Latapy.

Christie signed from Inverness Caledonian Thistle in August for a fee of £500,000 and immediately returned to the Highland club to aid his growth and maximise his first-team opportunities.

A clause in the deal allowed Ronny Deila to recall the 20-year-old this month, but he returned much sooner to receive treatment for a knee injury he suffered in a game against Motherwell in mid-November.

Now that the midfielder is on the mend and has begun training, it will only be a matter of time before he makes his debut in the green and white Hoops and steps onto the field at Paradise.

One person who played a role in his development is former Inverness assistant manager Latapy, who watched Christie development in front of his own eyes.

As quoted by the Scotsman, he spoke highly about Christie, saying:

He is still young and learning his trade but there has been an enormous improvement in his all-round game and his physicality in the past 12 months.

The Celtic management – Ronny Deila, John Collins and John Kennedy – are willing to sign young Scottish players and play them.

He is one of the rising stars in Scottish football and I have absolutely no doubt that he will do well and go on to have a fine career at Celtic.

He has the ability to make an impact. The way he floats from wide areas and into the middle of the park causes defenders all sorts of problems.

His ability to come in from a wide position is something Kris Commons has perfected under Ronny Deila as he becomes a mismatch in attacking positions.

Latapy pointed to Commons as a player he can learn a lot from on the training ground at Lennoxtown.

It’s only a matter of time before he gets an opportunity in the first team and he’ll get better from seeing someone such as Kris Commons every day in training.

Ryan can also pick a pass for a team-mate and he’ll do that for Leigh Griffiths because of the intelligent runs Griffiths makes.

But, of course, it’s the same for Ryan as it is for any other footballer – it’s going to be all down to him.