According to the Express, Ryan Christie has returned to Celtic for treatment on his knee - he is apparently out for ~4 weeks. The article implies that he's returned to his parent club early - have we seen the last of Ryan Christie in a Caley Thistle shirt?

If so, it is a shame we didn't get a chance to give him a proper send-off and I wish him the very best of luck in his career - hopefully, he'll make it to the very top for club and country!

I'd be surprised if he's not with us for the whole season.  I can't see how it benefits Celtic for him to be hanging about waiting to get an opportunity in the first team when he could be playing 1st team football. I think its fairly routine for players to return to parent clubs for treatment during loan deals.  Celtic also have Lennoxtown which I dare say is slightly better than our training/medical facilities.

I'd be disappointed if we've seen the last of Ryan and it would be a big loss...but it could benefit Sutherland! With Ryan gone, he surely would go into the line up and it's going to give him time to get into the swing of things! With hopefully draper and Roberts back in the next couple of weeks then it might just give us the chance to move on from Ryan! 

And at the end of the day I think he'd have gone in the new year anyway. By February Celtic could and should've established a big points gap between them and hearts/Aberdeen! So Christie will get heaps of chances in the premiership when Celtic are changing the team about! 

All this said, it doesn't mean I'm happy to see him go or that he has finished with us, I'm sure with one or two players back and give Sutherland a good run in the team that we'll be fine!...maybe even Lopez and storey could form a good partnership 

Here's the article - as usual, more guesswork than substance...

http://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/618826/Ryan-Christie-Celtic-knee-injury-Inverness-Scottish-Premier-League

Looking at the article it appears Celtic had planned to take him back inJanuary anyway:-

Deila wants to make sure Christie is fit by the turn of the year, so he can decide if the youngster is ready to kick off his Hoops career.

The Norwegian had already planned to bring his £500,000 signing down from the Highlands to train with his squad, get to know his new team-mates and bed him in before the end of the season.

If thats the case then I wish him every success for the future

This move by Celtic doesn't surprise me in the slightest and they are quite right to do so - given that he is a Celtic player. End of the day, they will give him rehabilitation which maybe better for him in the long run. 

The best way to look at it is that he is in good care and we may get him back before January. It will be gutting if he doesn't play for us again but that's life - we move on. 

Aberdeen's rapid and dramatic loss of form means that the title is a good as won for Celtic.  Celtic's focus will be to use the rest of the domestic season to experiment a bit with a view to finding a mix and style of play which will be more suited to Europe.  Their failures in Europe this season will have been costly and they will be looking to improve on that next year.  There seems little point in them buying Christie if he is not going to be part of the forward plans.  Personally I would be surprised if he plays for us again this season unless he is fit before the end of December.

Looks pretty certain we won't be seeing Ryan in an ICT shirt again.  The Times is quoting Delia saying "We've taken him in now."  Referring to his injury he says "He'll be out for about six to eight weeks, so he'll start training with us and working with the medical department now."  He goes on to say "I think he will have played his last game for Inverness".

If he has played his last game for us, it would be fitting if he was given the opportunity of coming on to the pitch before the game next week.  It would be a goodbye from us and an introduction to the travelling Celtic support.  Not only that, but it was his superb and very brave performance against Celtic at Hampden last year that was such a key contribution to us winning the Scottish Cup.

Goodbye, thank you and good luck, Ryan.

The comment from Delia "covers" or shields Ryan up until Xmas. Celtic are never going to risk him now and Ryan's farewell was Noel in Hell,No well in Well.

Seems like that's the last we'll see of him in an ICT shirt.  Celtic have confirmed that they are exercising their recall option.  

More nervous about the 2nd half of the season now.

A top six finish looks beyond us now .

Too early yet to rule it out. (top 6)
We've 2 difficult away games coming up - then the Highland derby, followed by our Cup defence, early in the New Year.
For me, that's a good 'check point', and a time to re-evaluate our hopes for the rest of the season. It'll also be during the transfer window...much can happen yet.
But we also need to remember that we've only 4 players signed for next season, so off-the-field activity is also crucial for us in the coming months.

Was always likely to happen especially with Celtic's lapse of form. We should have been more savvy in our negotiations and agreed a season's long loan back.

The assumption being that the club didn't think of, or try for, that?

5 hours ago, CaleyD said:

The assumption being that the club didn't think of, or try for, that?

No, am assuming that they tried and failed.

9 minutes ago, Kingsmills said:

No, am assuming that they tried and failed.

Which wouldn't be any indication of a lack of savvy.

I think, on that one, we may have to agree to disagree.

Sounds like a panic move on Delia's part. Hopefully he doesn't end up spending most of his time on the bench.