HE made the back page headlines yesterday for being the victim of a crude heat butt by Dolly Menga in the first-half of Celtic’s game against Livingston on Sunday rather than the excellence of his own play.
But James McFadden believes Ryan Christie is more than capable of helping Scotland deliver knockout blows to Albania and Israel in their forthcoming Nations League matches given the outstanding form he is in at the moment.
Christie appears to have, after three difficult years and three different loan spells, finally established himself at Parkhead in recent weeks.
He was outstanding in the Betfred Cup semi-final triumph over Hearts at Murrayfield last month and set up the winner in the Europa League triumph over RB Leipzig of Germany last week.
The 23-year-old was rewarded for his lively displays with a new three year contract yesterday.
There is, despite all of the injuries and call-offs which have disrupted Alex McLeish’s preparations for this vital double header, stiff competition for a place in midfield in the national team. Stuart Armstrong, James Forrest, Ryan Fraser, Gary Mackay-Steven, John McGinn, Callum McGregor and Callum Paterson are all vying for starts.
Scotland coach McFadden, though, appreciates what a naturally-gifted talent can bring to a side; the former Motherwell, Everton and Birmingham City man was very much in the same mould during his own playing career and did alright at international level.
He feels that Christie currently has a lot to offer his country, either as a starter or as a substitute coming off the bench, in Group C1 matches they have to do well in in order to secure a Euro 2020 play-off spot.
“He’s made the most of it and fair play to him,” said McFadden. “We had him in early squads because we knew how good a player he was and he’s finally got his chance at Celtic. He’s waited a long time for it, but he’s taken it.
“I said after the semi-final that he looked like the Ryan Christie who played for Aberdeen, and by that I meant he looked comfortable, he looked as if he deserved to be there and I think that was great to see. That’s the most important thing.
“He was coming off the bench before and maybe not having the impact he did against Hearts. He played well in the European game in midweek before it (against Leipzig away) as well.
“I’m glad he’s got his chance because everybody knows I’m a big fan of young Scottish players and I want to see every one of them doing well. It’s great that he’s stuck it out at Celtic and he’s getting a lot of praise recently. That’s great for us as well.”
Christie has bulked up considerably during the summer and developed a far more combative playing style this season and McFadden feels that has enabled him to finally make the breakthrough under Brendan Rodgers.
“That’s what you want,” he said. “You need players to have an edge. I think the thing is he believes he should be there, and that’s great, he’s going to fight to keep his place. Brilliant!
“I’m delighted for him. He’s a great kid off the pitch and he’s added that wee bit of aggression. I was the world’s worst when I was on the pitch, couldn’t be bothered when I was off it. That’s just the way I was. That’s what you need, you need a wee bit of devilment.
“He’s a player who is technical, he’s going to get kicked, people are going to try to ruffle him up. He’s standing up to it and that’s great.”
McFadden added: “He’s a technical Scottish player. I think we need to realise we can produce players who are technical. Going through that squad there are players who are technical. And we’re grateful that he has that kind of technical ability.
"We do produce them, we have done over the years going back to when football started. We have produced them. He is a good, Scottish player, a hard worker, great technically, he can score goals from the outside of the box, outside of his left, stepping on to it with his left foot.”
McFadden, though, appreciates that Scotland must, first and foremost, defend well and create a platform for the creative players, like Christie, to perform on.
“Stuart Armstrong, Callum McGregor, Gary Mackay-Steven, Ryan Christie are all creative players and that’s what we need - people who are going to be brave and take the opportunity to play the killer pass,” he said.
“We’ve seen Ryan Christie scoring goals from outside the box recently as well. It’s not just about the wide areas or guys like that creating, it’s throughout the team. Even in the full-back areas we have guys who can create there as well.
“We need a strong base to go and do that, to allow these players to create. That is what we need, it’s what we’ve been needing since we came in. It’s what the top teams need, guys who can unlock defences and create things. I think we have enough players who can do that it’s just about giving them the platform to go and do that.”
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