Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Celtic star Ryan Christie thought SFA charge was nothing more than a wind-up

© Craig Williamson / SNS GroupRyan Christie
Ryan Christie

Ryan Christie is back playing with the freedom of a man who’s been given a second chance this season.

It’s not just overcoming injury woes that delights the Celtic midfielder.

He’s pleased to have left behind him a disciplinary process that made him feel as if he was going to jail!

Christie suffered a double blow after his side’s 2-1 defeat to Rangers on December 29.

He was surprised that he required immediate surgery after the game – then absolutely gobsmacked that a charge of violent conduct came his way.

The SFA decided the 24-year-old had grabbed Rangers striker Alfredo Morelos in the groin during the Old Firm clash at Parkhead.

Referee Kevin Clancy and his assistants hadn’t seen the incident and the player thought nothing of it.

Christie said: “When I first heard about it – a mate had sent me a screenshot – and I thought it was a joke. I thought it was a wind-up.

“I couldn’t even remember the incident – I said that to the panel during the hearing. I didn’t even realise where I had grabbed at the time.

“It wasn’t until I watched the footage back that I even realised my hand had gone there.

“It was pretty bizarre to me, and I’ve had plenty of people from across the football map get in touch to express their feelings about it as well.”

He admits that putting a hand out was just an instinctive reaction as he battled for the ball.

“That’s what I said, that was my defence,” Christie went on.

“It was so serious, it felt like I was in a proper court case, like I was going away to jail if I was found guilty!

“But that’s what I said in my defence. As soon as a player goes past you, your first reaction is to try to get your body, or something, between them and the ball.

“It just so happened my hand went there.”

If there’s a crumb of comfort for Christie, it’s that he would have missed games anyway because of his injury.

He said: “It was a wee groin problem, and I had to go straight in after the match to get an operation.

“It was all a bit panicky, I was gutted with the way the game had gone anyway.

“So last thing I needed was being rushed to the hospital and going straight under the knife.

“But it was quite handy how quickly we got it done, because we had the winter break and the trip to Dubai to let it heal without any games.

“I’m not saying the suspension was a good thing. But it meant I couldn’t play in those games anyway so, technically, I didn’t miss out on much.”

Christie scored his first goal of the year when he came off the bench during Celtic’s 5-0 thrashing of Hearts in midweek.

He continued: “I’ve almost had another pre-season and I’m ready to get going again.

“We played a lot of games, especially during December, and towards the end of the month you’re warming up for games thinking: ‘I don’t feel anywhere near 100% here’.

“So when the break comes, you feel you need it.”

Christie knows Celtic face a tough match at Aberdeen today, with Dons’ under-pressure boss Derek McInnes determined to build on their win over Hamilton last Tuesday.

He said: “I really enjoyed my time under him and I have a lot to thank him for in terms of how my career has gone.

“He has taken Aberdeen to a new level.

“Playing at Pittodrie, you do get that sense of history. The fact it is a one-club city helps, too. I would say they are the third biggest team in Scotland.

“We got a very good result up there earlier in the season.

“I’m sure they will be changing things so we don’t do that again. They will make it tough.”