Ryan Christie – On our way to make it 10

I wanna be Edouard

Odsonne Edouard has been questioned a lot recently. Many have said he is lazy and not worth the supposed nine million pounds paid for him. I personally feel that both of these statements are entirely false. Edouard has proven many times that he is worth said transfer fee and so much more. I believe the problem is that some people cannot get their heads around the fact that a modern day striker does so much more than simply score goals. They need to be able to hold up the ball and bring other players into the game, as well as creating goals themselves.

His class was on show in yesterdays game against Motherwell as he scored two goals. Celtic went into the game trying to make it nine wins on the bounce domestically. With Rangers winning early on, the pressure was on for them to keep the gap at the top to eight points. From the beginning, Celtic dominated possession, with free-flowing football and looking likely to score at any minute. The opening came when a returning Kieran Tierney sprinted down the left hand-side and played the ball to Ryan Christie who whipped in a cross which was met by Scott Sinclair. The second goal came a mere six minutes later when Ewan Henderson put in a cross which was headed in by Edouard.

Into the second half and a bizarre situation unfolded when a Motherwell player, instead of playing the ball back to the Celtic goalkeeper after Celtic kicked the ball out of play due to Ryan Christie going down injured, decided to keep playing. This led to Motherwell scoring from a re-bound which caused the Celts to lose their perfect clean sheet record domestically in 2019.

This seemed to fire up Celtic as they would go onto score two excellent goals, one a sensational free-kick from Edouard and another a smart finish from substitute Oliver Burke.

It’s cold at the top

A freezing cold game against St Johnstone on a Wednesday night, it is the stuff dreams are made of. It is games like these in which you begin to question your sanity for sitting outside for ninety minutes. But then Ryan Christie scores a goal like he did the other night and you remember why you love to do it.

Celtic went into the game against St Johnstone knowing it was a must win. The chance to go six points clear at the top of the table was an opportunity that could not be passed up. The team remained much the same as Saturdays win over Hamilton with the only change being Oliver Burke coming in to replace Timothy Weah.

As expected Celtic dominated most of the possession in the first half, but unlike recent games the saints provided a much sterner challenge defensively. The majority of the half was played in front of the St Johnstone back line and Celtic struggled to break the Perth side down with best chance coming when the goalkeeper made an excellent save from a Scott Sinclair header.

Into the second half and Celtic came out with a sense of urgency about their play. This urgency and quickness was personified in the two goals they would go onto score. The first came from a excellent shot from outside the box by Callum Mcgregor. Then two minutes later Ryan Christie scored a phenomenal goal, curling it right into the top left hand corner, to take Celtic six points clear at the top of the table.

Results like that one on Wednesday are so important in Celtic’s bid to win eight titles in a row and they make the risk of hypothermia very much worth it.

Project management

Celtic are a club that in recent years have always felt like a project when realistically they should have been well on their way to be becoming the finished article. The most recent example of this is the clubs failure to properly invest in the last couple of transfer windows and the lack of backing given to the manager in signing players in key positions such as at right back.

The fans frustration was clear to see on Saturday.

Frustration aside, Celtic looked to make it three wins on the bounce when they played Hamilton on Saturday. Much like the previous two games they dominated possession from the start. They had plenty of chances with the Hamilton goalkeeper pulling off a string of terrific saves including in an excellent one on one with Weah, who really should of scored. Despite his terrific first half performance it was his own mistake that gifted Celtic the lead when he allowed a Callum McGregor shot to slip through his legs just before half time.

Into the second half and Celtic continued to dominate but there was an air of sluggishness about their play. Despite the high rates of possession, a lot of the passing was poor and the ball was consistently being played back. However Celtic would go on to score two more with Christie getting a lucky rebound after the keeper spilled the ball and Sinclair scoring a header after not being picked up at the back post. It was a good result even though the performance was quite average. They will need to be better however when coming up against better opposition.

Saturday was a reminder from fans that the clubs bid for ten titles in a row is not a project and that it is something they cannot allow to slip away.

Wanting what you cannot have

I have always been fascinated by the men who sign for Celtic that I know the club can’t keep. Players such as Robbie Keane and Patrick Roberts are amongst the talent who I have grown to love most in my time watching football. After Wednesdays game against St Mirren I can now add Timothy Weah and Oliver Burke to the list of players whose departures I won’t ever get over.

Putting the future emotional damage to one side, it was back to basics for Celtic on Wednesday, as they returned to league action for the first time since losing the title to Rangers on the 29th of December. Brendan Rodgers made one change from Saturdays victory against Airdrie, with Kristoffer Ajer replacing Dedryck Boyata. Almost identical to the weekends performance, Celtic dominated possession from the outset. The ball was moving fast and the opening came on the 11th minute when Burke scored his first goal for the club with a header from a Ryan Christie free kick. Celtic continued to pile on the pressure in the first half and the Paisley side were opened up again when Scott Sinclair was fouled inside the box. Just like on Saturday Sinclair stepped up but this time he converted the spot kick.

Into the second half and Celtic continued to dominate. It was only a matter of time before the next goal came and it arrived on the 55th minute when Burke scored his second. Ten minutes later he was replaced by Weah who himself would go on to score four minutes from time. It was another instinctive finish from the American, who similarly to the weekend, ran in behind and finished with one touch.

Even though both Weah and Burke have just arrived it is fair to say that I am already upset at their future goodbye posts on Instagram.