Although it's something we all dread, what do we all reckon would be the best outcome for club should Ryan Christie leave? What kind of sum should we realistically be looking for? And how, given we barely have money for anything, should we spend it? 

Wasn't Xausa heading towards the end of his contract so Livi nipped in with a small fee? (That they still couldn't afford in the long run.)

My goodness - a "dream come true"; "buzzing"; "incredible feeling"; "over the moon and just desperate to get it finished".  Could Christie have been any more disrespectful to Caley?  No wonder we struggle for fans.  Why support a club that its own players don't.

The boy is a Celtic fan, he always gave his all for ICT and contributed greatly to our success last season and am sure will continue to give 100 % until he leaves. His sale has put some much needed cash in our coffers.

Give the lad a break.....

Sometimes on here there's a bit of Weegiephobia related to the Old Firm. Fact is the dreaded twosome are probably the most popular teams in Inverness (as they are in Kilmarnock, Perth, Motherwell, Falkirk and, indeed, Kirkintilloch). And so even players, whose fathers are ex-players, and who are born-and-bred locals, are lifetime Cellick or Sevco supporters. Their market penetration, if that's what it is, is infuriating and difficult to counter. And bad for Scottish football, since many who identify with them never go to a fitba match, anywhere.

 

This isn't going anywhere. It's something I find distressing about Scotland and its fitba. If you have any solutions, glad to hear there.

My goodness - a "dream come true"; "buzzing"; "incredible feeling"; "over the moon and just desperate to get it finished".  Could Christie have been any more disrespectful to Caley?  No wonder we struggle for fans.  Why support a club that its own players don't.

Are you serious? What else is supposed to say? If he hadn't been saying those things he would be criticised by the celtic fans for not being keen enough. You also need to remember at that point he was no longer an ICT player but a player on loan from Celtic.

Yes of course I'm serious.  All that is required is a bit of humility and some expression of appreciation for what Caley helped him become.  The subtext of his comments is "Wow, I'm just so glad to get away from Inverness".  That is not far removed from simply bad-mouthing the place.  If we are to be pedantic, then at the point he was over the moon and just desperate to get it finished he was still a Caley player.

I know we are all disappointed that Ryan has been sold and that we didn't get more for him but that does not mean that Celtic have done anything wrong in the way they have gone about their business.  You may think Celtic paid too little for him but where were the better offers?  Why on earth should Celtic pay more for a player than the selling club is prepared to accept?  Our Board were under no obligation to accept any offer so if you are unhappy about the sale have a pop at the Board for accepting the offer and for not having Ryan on a longer contract, or have a pop at Ryan himself if he was unwilling to move anywhere other than Celtic.  Exactly what aspect of the deal (as much as we know of it) shows unfairness and a lack of respect on Celtic's part?

We may wish the league to be more even but it is what is and Celtic, quite rightly, will look after their own interests first and foremost.  They know they are going to win the league at a canter and their focus is on Europe.  But bear in mind that if Celtic are successful in Europe then we all benefit.  Had Celtic reached the group stages of the Champions league then there would have been a considerable payment to all the SPL clubs.  Let us hope that next season Ryan's contribution can help Celtic reach the Group stage and benefit comes to us and the rest of our league as a result.

My goodness - a "dream come true"; "buzzing"; "incredible feeling"; "over the moon and just desperate to get it finished".  Could Christie have been any more disrespectful to Caley?  No wonder we struggle for fans.  Why support a club that its own players don't.

I'm sure he is very excited by this move but his reported comments really do illustrate the problems we face.  We keep saying that one of the major factors in keeping gates down are the number of people who are local born and bred but who support the OF in preference to their local team.  One can understand folk who developed an allegiance years ago before ICT existed, but youngsters like Ryan have grown up knowing nothing other than their local team being in the Scottish League system.  

In Ryan's case it is much worse.  His Dad played for ICT, managed ICT and still works for ICT.  Ryan himself has come up through the junior ranks of ICT and it is ICT, right from the Chairman down to everyone else in the club, who has supported him, helped him and nurtured him in becoming the player he is today.  If anyone should be an ICT fan through and through it is Ryan Christie.  If he isn't first and foremost an ICT fan, then can we really complain at anyone else for not being one?

Maybe I am being a little unfair on the lad.  He is, after all, paid to play football and not to communicate and the media will encourage a Celtic fan story line.  But his sentiments as reported does the club no favours at all.  Hopefully some more considered comments will be reported and in future Ryan will declare to the world that whilst delighted to be a Celtic player, he is first and foremost a fan of the club that has made him what he is - Inverness Caledonian Thistle.

Some pretty harsh criticism of Christie here.

The subtext of his comments are that he's delighted to sign for Celtic. Given that he was giving those comments to the Celtic website it's not surprising that he is going to be overwhelmingly positive about the move. If he was to be asked by the Inverness Courier about the move I've no doubt he'd have plenty of good stuff to say about Inverness and ICT. He'll tailor his answers per his audience and the question asked.

Sometimes on here there's a bit of Weegiephobia related to the Old Firm. Fact is the dreaded twosome are probably the most popular teams in Inverness (as they are in Kilmarnock, Perth, Motherwell, Falkirk and, indeed, Kirkintilloch). And so even players, whose fathers are ex-players, and who are born-and-bred locals, are lifetime Cellick or Sevco supporters. Their market penetration, if that's what it is, is infuriating and difficult to counter. And bad for Scottish football, since many who identify with them never go to a fitba match, anywhere.

 

This isn't going anywhere. It's something I find distressing about Scotland and its fitba. If you have any solutions, glad to hear there.

Exactemundo

Yes of course I'm serious.  All that is required is a bit of humility and some expression of appreciation for what Caley helped him become.  The subtext of his comments is "Wow, I'm just so glad to get away from Inverness".  That is not far removed from simply bad-mouthing the place.  If we are to be pedantic, then at the point he was over the moon and just desperate to get it finished he was still a Caley player.

What are you on about. The subtext is pretty obvious. He's delighted to sign for the club he supports and who his father before did also. He's every right to be ecstatic about it. And he's showing no disrespect in doing so. 

Especially when he later states he's got to get his head down and hit the targets with us that have been set. That's showing an immense amount of professionalism and respect for one so young. 

Really hope that the move works out for him and he goes on to play for Scotland. I'd be more gutted to see him stagnate on the bench there. And unless something drastic happens he'd always be welcome back at The TCS. 

I believe in the past we received around £150 k for davide xausa and £125k for Barry Wilson going to livvy.

My recollection was that we got something pitiful like £15k for the pair, as their contracts were expiring and we were pretty desperate for money.  This was around the same era when Livi bought Raith's 3 best players (incl Marvin Andrews) in one swoop, for a pittance.

Edit to add: RIG's response below has jogged my memory and I recall that the figure bandied about for Wilson was £60k, with Xausa £15k. All speculation though, nothing was ever confirmed.

Edited September 2, 20159 yr by Yngwie

Wilson signed at the end of the 99/00 season but I'm not sure if it was under freedom of contract or if a fee was involved. Xausa then left halfway through the following season for a small fee (~ £10 - £15k). I recall the swoop for the Raith trio was well. If I mind right Livi were pumped by Raith then signed Alex Burns, Steve Tosh and Marvin Andrews for about £100k and that allowed them to ease away from Ayr United (who also signed big name players at that stage including one John Hughes) to secure the title.

Edited September 2, 20159 yr by RiG

Just some general observations on this sorry saga. The transfer windows do nothing but harm to football, especially for smaller selling clubs. The old system, while not perfect did not wreak as much havoc as this in my opinion. Celtic, although being cynical on this, have done nothing wrong and exploited the situation to their best advantage. Perhaps the board may have been able to get more money but as no other concrete bids at this time, could they risk losing Christie for nothing in January or at a reduced fee. For those suggesting we should have held out for nearer a million, or considerably more than 500k, it has to be remembered Christie, at this stage in his career, is an exciting prospect, no more. He is still learning his craft and plays in fits and starts for us. I do think this may not be the best move for him nor would joining an English Premier league club (assuming any wanted him). Only time will tell but he does need to play more games at this level.

I am however starting to have some concerns about the board. I do not think they are hard enough or ambitious enough to really drive the club forward. They need to be more dynamic/proactive and this should not be taken as being negative or not recognising their efforts we need more of a figurehead for the club in the boardroom.

Why is he going to claim to be an ICT fan when he is clearly a Celtic one, he never tried to hide that just look at his twitter feed. 

i am sure he has great affection for ICT and always will, he has shown nothing but respect for ICT and I am sure he will continue to give his best while here.

Good luck Ryan its been a pleasure watching your development.

 

If Le Rangers were paying him £7,000 per week, I'm sure he would be saying more or less the same.

Yes of course I'm serious.  All that is required is a bit of humility and some expression of appreciation for what Caley helped him become.  The subtext of his comments is "Wow, I'm just so glad to get away from Inverness".  That is not far removed from simply bad-mouthing the place.  If we are to be pedantic, then at the point he was over the moon and just desperate to get it finished he was still a Caley player.

Yes of course I'm serious.  All that is required is a bit of humility and some expression of appreciation for what Caley helped him become.  The subtext of his comments is "Wow, I'm just so glad to get away from Inverness".  That is not far removed from simply bad-mouthing the place.  If we are to be pedantic, then at the point he was over the moon and just desperate to get it finished he was still a Caley player.

I agree with your comments, it's been pretty poor from him but I did read somewhere that he said that he is happy to return to Inverness on load and to help hit the targets caley have set for the season so on some level he's not being totally disrespectful! 

I am still disappointed at his comments but at the end of the day there's no point slating him for it because it won't help anyone's cause .

Oh Lordy Lordy, give me the strength..................

I'm more dissapointed that he's a Celtic fan when he was born and raised in Inverness. Says a lot about how many glory hunters reside here and all over Scotland 

I think Ryan's comments highlight the problems a young club like ours have. A lot of kids grow up following their parents team and that in most cases Ithat seems to be an old firm one unfortunately. How we change this I don't know. In my case my boys grew up support ing my team ICT. 

Ryan is entitled to support whoever he wishes tho and I wish him  all the best. 

Yes of course I'm serious.  All that is required is a bit of humility and some expression of appreciation for what Caley helped him become.  The subtext of his comments is "Wow, I'm just so glad to get away from Inverness".  That is not far removed from simply bad-mouthing the place.  If we are to be pedantic, then at the point he was over the moon and just desperate to get it finished he was still a Caley player.

I think you're subtext is a bit dramatic. Going by your thinking, only a fan can play for their team...... Hmmm that would be interesting. 

Good on Ryan, he's done well, good luck in the future & I hope he gets some game time with Celtic. 

My word - what a heap of nonsense. It shows just how little the fans who post on here really know about the club.

Ryan Christie first and foremost is/was an ICT fan who has watched more ICT games than most posters. Due to his father having an( unsuccessful time) at Glasgow Celtic he obviously had a connection with that club and went to watch them on occasion. He obviously wants to test himself at the highest level and sees Celtic as a step in that direction. And who can deny him that chance? Would our fans prefer him to stay at ICT and walk out the door for nothing in a couple of years? (Shinnie/Ross/Rooney/Hayes etc.). We have gained the largest transfer fee in the clubs history - if the board have not had the foresight to spend this wisely then surely that is a worth more discussion than Christie saying he is a Celtic fan? Which I am not sure he is?

It should also be noted that Christie, Ross and Shinnie could potentially still be ICT players if the board/chairman did not take them for granted and put others in front of them when it came to contracts/financial offers in the past few seasons? Again something our fans know little of but would be astounded at.( I know Nick Ross's father well and know how disappointed he was at the club's offer to retain him).

Football is a fickle business and whilst I am unsure whether going to Celtic is the right move for  Christie I would thank him for his huge contribution to the club and will look forward to cheering him on next Friday against Hearts.

 

 

 

 

Doesn't put me up or down which team he supports as he shows 100% commitment wearing the ICT jersey. Even if he was 100% ICT (and hes probably 95%)what should he say when he gets a major pay rise with a new job.

He's a great advert for attracting the youth into local football. 

Presumably in Ryan's next game for us, he will become by a considerable margin the highest paid player ever to turn out for ICT?

I personally find this Celtic / ICT love in pretty repulsive, seeing Ryan in the various tabloids this morning decked out in a Celtic top giving it the the thumbs up was really disrespectful no matter which way some try to cover it up

Both clubs have handled this transfer badly, surely a better way would have been for him to have signed a pre contract that made him switch at the end of the season sparing us the pics of him decked out in the hoops of hate

Getting him loaned back is like a kick in the teeth in my opinion

Unfair singling out Ryan though as there appears to be an unhealthy problem within the ICT fanbase where a large number seem to support two SPFL clubs

Regardless  I wish him the best when he eventually heads down the A9 whenever that is, providing he is given the chance at Celtic I've no doubt he will hopefully use it as a stepping stone to the English Premiership

Dougal