Caley Thistle kids can follow World Cup-bound Scotland star Ryan Christie’s lead

Caley Thistle’s stars of tomorrow can only be inspired by Inverness-born Ryan Christie playing for Scotland in the World Cup this month, according to a former ICT striker.

David Bingham’s 14 goals in 42 games helped Caley Thistle reach the Scottish Premier League (SPL) for the first time in 2003-04.

Christie is a proud born and bred Invernessian, who came through the ranks, following in the footsteps of his dad, now club chief executive Charlie.

Bournemouth midfielder Christie, 31, played in the Inverness first-team from 2013 until 2015, winning the Scottish Cup final in his final season.

He has since racked up 67 Scotland caps during an international career spanning almost a decade.

Christie left the Highlands in 2015 to join Celtic, where he won three Premiership crowns, two Scottish Cups and two League Cups.

After being an EFL Championship runner-up with Bournemouth in 2022, at the end of his first season with the Cherries, he has gone on to make 177 appearances for the team who finished sixth in the English Premier League in May.

He will now be playing for his club in their first venture into European football next season, competing in the league phase of the Europa League.

Before then, at the World Cup, Scotland and Christie face Haiti on June 14 (at 2am), Morocco on June 19 (at 11pm) and Brazil on June 24 (at 11pm) in Group C.

This is the country’s ninth World Cup finals appearance, but their first in 28 years as Steve Clarke and his players look to make history by getting beyond the group stage for the first time.

On Saturday, Christie scored his 10th Scotland goal in the 4-1 friendly win over Curacao at Hampden on his 67th appearance.

‘Younger players need exposure in games’

Meanwhile, with Inverness winning League One last season, they are now gearing up for a return to the Championship in August after a two-year absence.

With Scott Kellacher’s squad expected to include a fair share of under-21s, Bingham believes all managers have to give younger players competitive minutes.

And he is confident that Christie’s first club can benefit having a local icon.

He said: “We need to do more to make the game more attractive generally. That’s incumbent of all coaches and managers.

“I think we could be starting with developing more of our own younger players. That’s sadly missing due to the pressure that managers face.

“That’s easy to say as I’m not a manager, but when I was involved the lion’s share of my squad would be made up of younger players.

“My job didn’t depend on results like Scott Kellacher’s will, so I’m not trying to compare them, but young players need exposure in games, whether that’s in Leagues One or Two, the Championship or the Premiership.

“Hopefully we will get a boost from Scotland competing in the World Cup.

“Even the current Scotland squad is getting older, so we’re looking for the next generation.

‘Ryan’s a high-profile player, but at 31, even he can’t go on forever’

“Ryan Christie has made it, so there could maybe be another lad waiting to come through and follow his path at Inverness.

“Ryan’s a great inspiration, who has never forgotten his roots and his dad Charlie is still there (as chief executive). The family connection still remains, which is great.

“I don’t know Ryan, but I know Charlie from my time in Inverness and Ryan’s been raised well, that’s for sure.

“He’s a Scottish international, who has played in the English Premier League for a good number of years, as well as having great success under Brendan Rodgers at Celtic.

“He’s a high-profile player, but at 31, even he can’t go on forever. We need the next generation to come through.

“We can only get that if players, if they’re good enough, the chance to play in our top leagues, then who knows if they can then follow Ryan’s path down to England’s Premier League, or like Scott McTominay in Europe.

“If we don’t give them opportunities in Scotland, that won’t happen.”

‘You have to take your hat off to Scott Kellacher and his team’

Caley Thistle have been through administration over the past 19 months and responded by coming through last season’s five-point deduction to see off main rivals Stenhousemuir to win League One.

And Bingham reckons Kellacher deserves all the praise he gets and the club prepare for tougher tests in the second tier.

He added: “Given the five-point deduction, it makes Caley Thistle’s achievement even greater.

“They have shown an amazing amount of consistency and resilience, firstly to avoid going down again, but then to continue that consistency to a level of not just going for promotion but winning the league, was fantastic.

“You have to take your hat off to Scott and his team.

“It’s a fantastic achievement to win any league, but when you’ve been doing it with one hand behind your back from the start of the season yet still prevail shows an enormous amount of consistency from the team. I am delighted to see them go back up.

“I don’t know Scott personally, but I know people who speak highly of him, and it’s great he’s been given the chance to manage the club, albeit under what was difficult circumstances to say the least two years ago.

“You can’t do any more than win a league and it will get tougher for him in the Championship, but he will be fully aware of that. He’s been in the game long enough.”

[Source: Press and Journal]