GOOD things come to this who wait. Just ask Neil Lennon about this in terms of Ryan Christie.
Back in August, when Lennon was Hibernian manager, he wanted Christie at Easter Road as part of the deal which would have seen John McGinn moving to Celtic. That, of course, didn’t happen.
But isn’t it funny how things can work out.
Christie stay at Celtic, broke into the team, got a new contract, a Scotland cap and scored on his return from injury against St Mirren in midweek.
And now he, at long last, has Lennon for his manager.
Lennon said: “I’m delighted to get Ryan back on the pitch. I’ve really enjoyed working with him. He gave us all a lift when he got on for the last 20 minutes on Wednesday night at St Mirren. He had good energy about him. I think he’s a quality player.
“I tried to get Ryan to Hibs at the start of the season before he’s made his impact here. There was talk of John signing for Celtic and we were very keen to take Ryan to Hibs. It’s obviously worked out well for him and I’m looking forward to see more of him on the pitch.
“Ryan was a real catalyst, once he got into the Celtic team, for a lot of good performances. The one which sticks out is the semi-final against Hearts when his second-half performance was superb and the team went on to have a great win that day. He’s not looked back.”
Christie almost joined Aberdeen at the start of the season having enjoyed two successful spells at Pittodrie. It did seem that his Celtic career wasn’t going anywhere and yet this season the popular Highlander became one of the key men for the champions-elect.
Lennon said: “Players, when they join such a big club, can be written off very quickly. Maybe that was the case for Ryan but he’s improved in a physical sense, his professionalism is good and he’s good talent. Ryan is a real talent.
“I do think Scotland missed him in the two games there. I think he would have been ideal for what Alex McLeish is trying to do. He is a good, young Scottish player and hopefully there is a lot more to come from him.
“Ryan has great enthusiasm for the game. His appetite from training is excellent and he’s come back from the injury quicker than expected, and that speaks volumes for his desire to get back in the team.
“He has a good football family. I have spoken to Charlie (his dad) on a few occasions, he’s a great guy, which means Ryan comes from a settled background. He has good values and a very, very good professional.”
Lennon has enjoyed getting to know the likes of Christie and Odsonne Edouard who the manager admitted is not an easy young man to work out.
He said: “Odsonne is just very quiet. He’s really laid-back. I think he’s quite cute. He’s smart. He knows more than he lets on. He’s a mercurial talent. Very laid-back and quietly confident.
“I like him as a kid and his performance last weekend was spectacular to say the least. What I’ve got in the building is a big-game player.
When you first come in you want to give him a bit of a jag but I did everything softly-softly and then you see all the good traits of his personality coming out—not just on the training field but on the pitch and away from it.
“He’s just quite quiet. Not everyone’s as straight forward as Browny. You get to know them and enjoy them. He has a good sense of humour and every now and again it prevails itself.”
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