Kieran Tierney

Iconic.

 

My new phone wallpaper.

 

IF one player in modern football epitomises Jock Stein’s famous saying ‘Football is nothing without fans” it is Kieran Tierney. The Celtic star admits winning silverware is always special but added celebrating with the fans afterwards are the moments he cherishes most.

Tierney won his ninth major trophy with Celtic on Sunday as Brendan Rodgers’ side defeated Aberdeen 1-0 in the League Cup final.

At the final whistle the Hoops defender received his winner's medal before holding the trophy aloft with his team-mates as they celebrated in front of the Hoops supporters.

Such occasions have become something of a tradition for Tierney and it wasn’t long before he was in the midst of another post-match tradition.

“It’s routine for me to go over to the fans afterwards and I absolutely love doing it,” he said. “I know the boys who have the megaphone so I always go over to them afterwards. I love interacting with the fans, it’s the least I can do for all they give us.

“It’s expensive following Celtic with all these games we have and they deserve to celebrate these moments. It’s special to have that connection with them. When I’m bouncing about I’m thinking in my head this is crazy.

“I just feel like one of the fans at that moment. It bridges the gap between the players and the fans. It’s brilliant for me and I’ll always cherish those moments. There aren’t any words for how you feel in those moments. You just live in the moment and enjoy every minute of it."

To win as many trophies as Tierney has would be an impressive feat in the span of an entire career but to do so at the age of 21 is nothing short of incredible. Even though lifting silverware is something Tierney has done so often, he said the euphoria will never wear off.

“It’s always special to win a trophy,” he said. “I don’t take anything for granted. Winning this trophy is up there with the others I’ve won. I never take anything for granted, especially with the way the game went.

“It was a tough game - it wasn’t a walk in the park where we knew we had won by 70 minutes. We had to keep fighting right to the final whistle, so I appreciate this one as much as the others because it required a lot of hard work to get there.”

 

Kieran Tierney would have loved nothing more than a Chinese takeaway and a night on the couch on Sunday evening.

But as Celtic celebrated their League Cup win over Aberdeen, their seventh successive trophy under Brendan Rodgers, there was nothing particularly exotic about the after party.

With a gruelling run of games in December and a match tonight at Fir Park against Motherwell, Tierney was wary of any drop in professionalism.

“You don’t get too much time to celebrate,” he said.


In the changing room after the game at Hampden, it was brilliant. The scenes were amazing and will live with me forever.

“But when you go home on the Sunday, you can’t even eat unhealthily.

“I wish it could have been a Chinese! But you have to keep doing the right things because there’s another game coming right away and that’s what you have to do to try and be successful.

“Myself and the family have a small celebration, spend time together and that is what’s important.


“My family and friends keep me going and spur me on.

“These are the great times, but even when we’ve had times, they are there for me. We are in it together.”

There has not much deviation either in terms of the core of players that Rodgers has assembled at Celtic.

The Parkhead side have been over the course over the last two-and-half seasons with a similar spine to the team but for the first time since Rodgers took over at the club, they find themselves going into a game playing catch up with Rangers.

The Ibrox side moved to the top of the table with their win over Hearts as Celtic were preparing for Sunday’s final. Rodgers’ side have a game in hand to play but will look to get back on it against Motherwell, with Tierney in particular always relishing the games against his local club.

“There was nothing we could do with dropping the second in the league,” said Tierney.

“It was a cup weekend and we had to miss our game so that we could win that trophy.



That was the most important thing on Sunday and now the focus turns to Fir Park and that is a tough game because Motherwell always make it tough.

“Motherwell will now be thinking the same way as I’m sure Aberdeen would have been thinking in terms of: right, Celtic have just come off a hard game, let’s try and make it tough for them.

“To be honest, that’s probably the way every team is going to be thinking these days.”

Celtic have had a stranglehold on the domestic landscape since the arrival of Rodgers and Tierney sees no let-up.

Sunday’s triumph opens the door to the possibility of a third successive treble, something that has never been done before in the Scottish game.

And with a glut of games between now and the end of December, this month could be definitive in shaping Celtic’s season.

“We need to be on it every single week and we are playing 60 games a season where we are, basically, expected to win 60 games a season,” said Tierney.

“That is a crazy situation, but that is what gives us the hunger.

“We know the expectation is there and we don’t want to let anyone, especially not anyone in our own changing room or the fans.

“We gave the fans a great night in Norway and another one at Hampden and that’s our thank you for the way they support us.”

And despite the manner in which Celtic have become so accustomed to success under Rodgers, Tierney believes that there is no time at the minute to truly appreciate the magnitude of the achievements.


Rodgers has repeatedly created history at the club as have the players he is in charge of but in the midst of it all, there is no time to truly acknowledge the heights that have been scaled.

“It’s just crazy what we have achieved,” said Tierney.

“I don’t think you can say too much about it right now. It’ll be later when you appreciate what you have done.

“Also when times start to get tougher, that might be a time when you really start to understand it.

“That’s the thing, though. Everyone inside the changing room really does appreciate in some way and the fans know that as well.

“That’s why they support us through thick and thin and days like Hampden are why do work so hard.

“To deal with that and to get a clean sheet and a victory made it special.

“Some people say we should be always winning because of the players we have, but you need to be driven and have the desire to keep going when things aren’t simple or you are being asked serious questions.

“The biggest part of what happened at Hampden was the hunger of the boys.

“It’s hard to play your best after having a big European game and Aberdeen were going into the game with a full week of rest.

“They were fresh with training, rest and recovery and we knew what we’d be up against, but the heart and the passion we showed was brilliant and you need that to get you through sometimes.

 

KT has a Spotify playlist named ‘Absolute Scott Broons’

 

What a career he's going to have. I think I saw him say he wants to be here for the 10 recently. When Lustig and Broony wind down, he would be be club captain. Assuming we actually do it, which is obviously not a given, there's no way Lustig will make it to the 10 (sadly) and unlikely (but not impossible) that Broony will, so he is very likely to be club captain at some point!

At his age, he can literally be club captain for the 10 and then join a mega club in a bigger league to challenge for European trophies before he even hits his prime. Amazing.

Kieran, if you can just win us a cheeky wee EL title before you go, mate...

 

He’s staying his full career ok

 

No one happier than me if he does, mate.

 

Should have saved that ffs

 

I think we put too much expectation on Tierney

 

Injured or rested?

 

BR: "
@kierantierney1
should be fine and ready for Thursday. He had a slight issue around his groin area and we didn't want to risk it. He wants to play every second of every game but you need to be sensible about it.

 

Nah I stand by my point!

 

Wheres the izzy thread? Quite refreshing having kt out today izzy stepped up and actually gave us something different today

 

Izzy was * after about 55 minutes, mate. It's a big reason why we weren't as effective second half. We cant afford that on Thursday.

Hopefully KT is back fine for that.