Ryan Christie on life at Celtic compared to Bournemouth

Making over 150 appearances for the club after joining from Inverness Caledonian Thistle, the versatile midfielder became a key player, winning seven major honours during his six-year spell at the Scottish Premiership champions.

Ryan Christie on media narratives, catching-up on Scottish football with his team-mates and the difference in lifestyle since moving to Bournemouth.

An excerpt from my new book/audiobook A LONG TIME COMING: The Inside Story of Scotland's Journey Through the 2026 World Cup… pic.twitter.com/EWBddbiGpv

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Now, in an excerpt from 'A LONG TIME COMING: The Inside Story of Scotland's Journey Through the 2026 World Cup qualifiers', Christie has opened up on life south of the border, compared to his Glasgow days.

"As a squad, we rarely look at the media narrative. We have to just focus on the game. When you do press after a game, it's hard to avoid it, but beforehand, we like to keep ourselves in a bubble.

"We did speak among ourselves about the situation in the Scottish league, but that was about it. I'm glad I have Ben (Gannon-Doak) at Bournemouth now because until then, I had nobody to speak to about Scottish football. I could have mentioned what was happening with Hearts, and the lads would say, 'Who're they?'

"One of the nice things about meeting up with the boys is chatting about Scottish football. I still keep an eye on Inverness. It's only when you step away that you realise how mad it is. It's a really strange aspect of life; the better you are for Celtic, the worse your life is because you can't do as much away from football. It's a huge sacrifice if you want to be successful.

"Bournemouth is the total opposite. I could walk through the town centre in my full kit, and nobody would stop me - it starts at 3pm on a Saturday and ends a few hours later."