Charlie Christie believes the English FA won't want Celtic or Rangers in their Premier League any time soon - because within five years they'd be challenging for the title.
The former Hoops attacker reckons both sides of the Glasgow divide are massive clubs with huge reputations. Hampered, in Scotland, only by the finance they receive from TV deals and sponsorship. Neither outfit would have any such problem should they move south to play in the world's richest league, though, and Christie is sure top players from around the globe would want to sign for Celtic and Gers.
He said: "There are several players up here who could easily do well in the Premier League. Brendan Rodgers has shown that with showing interest in a few Celtic boys already. I've said it for years, if Celtic and Rangers got to the Premier League - and it's one of the reasons I don't think they'd want us in - within four or five years I'm convinced they'd be up there challenging for the title.
"The TV money is huge and the fan base of Celtic is colossal. You look at the TV money they get in Scotland compared to down south it's just a world of difference. It would take time but I think within five years they would be up there, they are that big a club."
Charlie's son Ryan has been a top player for the Hoops over the past few seasons and Charlie is sure eventually his son will want to move on and test himself against the best in the game down south. And Christie Snr is adamant there will be scouts already keeping a close eye on his boy. "Ryan is very ambitious and he loves playing for Celtic, but I have no doubt there will be other clubs looking at him," he added. "To score 20 goals from midfield by March, it would be mad for scouts not to have him on their radar, and I mean at the very top level.
"I would temper that by saying that he's having the time of his life at Celtic. He's got a nice flat in a nice area of Glasgow and he says there's a real bond in the changing room and he's very close friends with a lot of guys in there.
"I think Ryan could play at that level, there are a lot of Celtic players who could. They have an abundance of talent. We watch the English Premiership and see how John McGinn has thrived, how Stuart Armstrong is doing so well. I just don't think we give our players enough credit."
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel