Kieran Tierney

Appearances 98

Starts 97

Goals 5

Assists 24

Trophies 4

Individual Awards 4

https://mobile.twitter.com/FocusOnCeltic/status/926186584944398336

 

Genuinely could be one of the all time Celtic greats if he ever decided to stay his entire career here.

Still think he could go after 10IAR but as each day passes the less I'm starting to think that will happen.

 

EVEN now, the best part of a decade on, Kieran Tierney can remember the buzz. It was a Thursday night at Barrowfield and Tommy Burns was coming down to take the training.

You can read elsewhere in this section about how everything didn’t always progress so serenely for the young Tierney as he progressed through the Parkhead youth ranks, but the chance to learn from Burns was something which is indelibly marked on his memory. No wonder then that Tierney appreciated it when Brendan Rodgers said in midweek that he sees the same love for the club in the 20-year-old that he once saw in the eyes of Burns, with whom he worked for a spell at Reading.

“It is special [to be compared by Rodgers to him] because I know how special Tommy is to the club,” said Tierney. “It wouldn’t be what it is today without him. So for me to be mentioned in the same sentence as the gaffer said is brilliant. But I’ve got a very, very long way to go to even get near what Tommy did for this club.

“When I was younger, maybe about 10 or 12, he would come down to Barrowfield and train us,” Tierney added. “There was maybe only once or twice that he trained us, but even then the lads were all buzzing, really nervous before training. I think it was a Thursday, maybe every Thursday for a while, that he came down. And it shows you how special he was, coming down to take our Under-10s or Under-11s. That just shows you the kind of character he was.

Burns would surely have been proud in midweek if he had seen this 20-year-old dealing manfully with the veteran smarts of Arjen Robben, as Celtic largely gave as good as they got against an illustrious Bayern Munich side. From the moment he left the much vaunted Chilean Arturo Vidal on his backside as Celtic swept upfield in the early minutes, this was a performance in a left wing back role for supporters and perhaps scouts to purr over.

It can’t be easy for a member of the PlayStation generation like Tierney to be star-struck when facing the likes of Arjen Robben but he does his best to block it out. The really good news is the dividends it should pay in years to come if he can play at this level at such tender years.

“You can’t give them too much respect,” said the 20-year-old, “where you start sitting off them and not playing your game. Okay so you have to respect everything he has done in the game and that but you have to play your game and try not to let it faze you at all. I tried to make it hard for him, get close to him and I gave it my best.

“You learn a lot in these games,” he added. “Even just from their fitness – it is hard to keep up to their tempo because they are playing at that tempo every week. For years they have been playing like that and for me being so young to play against the top players can only benefit me.”

Part of chief executive Peter Lawwell’s equation, of course, is insuring the club should any of Europe’s mega rich sides eventually arrive to turn this down-to-earth youngster’s head. These clubs, of course, can offer him riches way beyond what Celtic can offer. But all the speculation surrounding Tierney didn’t seem to affect him too much against Bayern.

“There are no negatives about it,” said Tierney. “It’s a compliment if there are big teams watching you. It’s not something that I need to block out. It’s there. It’s a good thing. I’m flattered by the names you hear but I’m loving it at Celtic and enjoying every minute.”

Perhaps one day Tierney will even take stock on what he is achieving. “I don’t really have any time - it’s just game after game after game just now.,” he said. “It’s high pressure, it’s mentally and physically hard. You don’t get too much time to think about anything other than your next day’s training or game. That’s all I’m really concentrating on right now.”

 

WHEN Kieran Tierney says he is a homeboy who is in no hurry to fly the nest, that applies as much to his personal life as his professional existence. When the 20-year-old – who would be forgiven these days if he started to regard bumper new contracts at Celtic as a bounty which comes around on an annual basis – signed his last improved deal, shortly after Brendan Rodgers’ arrival at the club, he made good on a long-held promise and bought his mum and dad a new house in Motherwell.

While the move facilitated his elder sister getting the run of their old council house in which he was brought up in Muirhead, it was anything but an excuse for Tierney to up sticks for a fancy footballers’ pad in the city centre. Forget about the imperative to keep on the right side of his club gaffer; when Tierney returns home to Lanarkshire he has to remember to take his dirty laundry downstairs and not leave dishes up in his room.

“As soon as I got my deal the last time, I bought a house for my mum and dad,” says Tierney. “That was the one thing I always wanted to do. But I still live at home with them too – I don’t plan on moving out for a good few years yet! I can’t do anything for myself yet!

“We still live in Motherwell, a couple of minutes from where we lived before,” he added. “It keeps me grounded in some ways, living under the same roof as your mum and dad. They are still in charge.

“My mum still says I leave my dishes in the room or don’t bring my washing down,” he added. “It’s just always been like that. Nothing has changed with my family. It’s all good. I don’t need to DO the dishes. I just need to bring them down the stairs.

“But I try not to get big-headed anyway, so hopefully they don’t have to ever bring me back down to earth. I’ve got them, as well as a lot of good friends, who would tell me if I ever got out of line or too big-time. Most of my friends are apprentices and still living at home. It’s quite hard for young people these days to get a house or a flat so young. It’s a lot of money.”

When you see Tierney looking every bit the polished, ready-made Champions League player he appeared against the likes of Bayern Munich’s Arjen Robben in midweek you have to remind yourself that there have been stages in his journey where contracts weren’t so forthcoming. Along with Aaron Comrie, the young St Johnstone full back whom he may come in close contact with against the Perth side in midweek, Tierney was struggling for game time and being left to sweat over his future. While both were eventually offered an 11th hour, one-year contract, some of his team-mates got three-year ones. The morale of the story for any young player is to stick in there.

“There was a time when I wasn’t getting a game,” said Tierney. “At 14 or 15, we went to the school that Celtic sent you to [St Ninian’s in Lennoxtown]. It was at the stage when Scotland starts coming about and I never got picked for Scotland. And a lot of times when you’re not in the Scotland squad, you’re not really playing club football either. “Times like that were very hard,” he added. “It was getting near the end of the school term and a lot of them had heard about their contracts. Me and a couple of others hadn’t. It was me and Aaron Comrie, who I will hopefully be playing against on Saturday. Neither of us heard anything till very, very late on. We got a deal in the end but the others got a longer-term deal. They got three-year deals at the start and we got one year. At times like that, you are looking at other options, whether it is to go away working or try and find another team. So youth football wasn’t all plain sailing for me.”

 

* in the media need put up against the wall. ....all they talk about is good players like KT leaving for England.. I hope when he goes ...he *'s them off ans goes to a big club abroad.
He's here for at least 4 years though so they should just shut the * up and enjoy him being here in Scotland.

 

I think that is entirely possible and I think teams we face in Europe will notice him too, like Bayern the other night. I doubt it wasn't noticed by them how well he did up against Robben and Coman.
That is why I said even before he got the 6 year deal that we should go all out with him and reward him and not maybe take advantage of his roots and support of Celtic. * love him man!

 

JUST 24 hours before Celtic faced Bayern Munich in the UEFA Champions League, the Hoops received a massive boost with the news that Kieran Tierney had signed a new six-year contract with the club. It means that the talented 20-year-old will be at Celtic until at least the summer of 2023.

Assistant manager Chris Davies, like everyone else, is a big fan of the player, and he sees the qualities that Tierney brings to the squad through working with him on a daily basis.

Having worked with Brendan Rodgers for many years now – initially as a youth player at Reading but more recently in a coaching capacity with Swansea, Liverpool and now Celtic – Davies knows that Tierney is developing under the perfect manager in order to realise his full potential as a footballer.

“Kieran’s a fantastic young player and he’s everything you want in a left-back,” said Davies. “He’s got an energy and enthusiasm which you can’t miss. You see it in games and you see it in training. To me, it was instant you could see the way he moved and pressed the ball at training. All the fundamental qualities were there. He’s got such an energy and determination in the game that he even inspires older players to perform.

“He loves the club and the club have done very well to secure a player of that level on such a long contract. He’s happy here, and he loves working with the manager. He’s happy with his role in the team.

“He’s playing at the top level now and performing. He’s played in the Champions League against one of the best wingers in the world. There’s not a lot higher you can go in terms of status in game.

“He has to improve and he knows with the manager that’s going to happen. He’s got an open mind to improve, a hunger and desire and a manager that’s been proving year after year the players he’s developed are playing at the top level. Kieran’s in a good place.”

Tierney was one of several Youth Academy stars who performed so impressively in the Champions League against Bayern Munich, with James Forrest and Callum McGregor combining well for Celtic’s equaliser.

And Davies believes that Brendan Rodgers’ belief in bringing young players through will continue to prove beneficial to Celtic.

“Brendan does a lot with the Academy here and tries to talk about his footballing beliefs,” the assistant manager explained. “He tries to develop the whole club.

“And a lot of the guys that played really well on Tuesday were Scottish players as well. Obviously Broony wasn’t part of the Academy here but he’s played at Celtic for a very long time. Six or seven of those involved by the end of the night were Scottish, so that’s important for Scotland in general. “

 

KIERAN TIERNEY admits he would love to stay at Celtic for LIFE.

The ink is still drying on his new six-year deal but that hasn’t stopped the 20-year-old dreaming of following in the footsteps of the likes of Billy McNeill and Paul McStay.

The iconic Parkhead figures were one-club men and despite being linked with Manchester United and Spurs, when asked if he could do the same, Tierney admitted: “Yeah there is every chance — I hope.

“I’ve been here 13 years already and that is a long time. We will see what happens. I am in no rush to leave, everybody can see that from signing a long-term deal.

“I am very happy at Celtic but it’s football, you never know where a career is going to take you.”

Tierney penned a new deal last summer but after a sensational start to the season, that was extended to 2023 this week amid strong links with a move to England’s top flight.

He smiled: “Like any other deal, if you do well, they reward you with a new one. So I’m very happy.

“They don’t need to give you another one, especially when you’ve got almost four years left on the one you’ve got.

“Fair play, it’s good for both parties. Everyone is happy.

“I had no doubts about signing a long-term deal — I wish it was longer.

“It’s brilliant for me and my family. I’m buzzing. It’s a great feeling, the same as it was when I signed last year.”

Tierney is rated among the best left-backs in Europe.

His displays for club and country have seen a staggering 17 scouts check-in to Celtic Park for Tuesday’s Champions League clash with Bayern Munich.

Tierney added: “That kind of thing doesn’t affect me.

“It’s a compliment if there are big teams watching you. It’s not something that I need to block out.

“It’s good. There are no negatives about it. I’m flattered by the names you hear but I’m loving it at Celtic and enjoying every minute.”

Tierney’s new deal pushes him among the top earners at Celtic.

But he insists he’s in no rush to splash his cash and move out of the family home in Motherwell.

He revealed: “As soon as I got my deal the last time, I bought a house for my mum and dad.

“That was the one thing I always wanted to do. I still live at home with them — I’ll be there for a few years yet as I can’t do anything for myself!

“It keeps me grounded in some ways. They are still in charge.

“I try not to get big-headed, so hopefully they don’t have to ever bring me back down to earth.

“I’ve got them, as well as a lot of good friends, who’d tell me if I ever got out of line or too big-time.”

Tierney has become the poster boy for Celtic’s academy players, being part of last season’s Treble winning Invincibles and even captaining the side in the absence of Scott Brown.

But he admits there was a time when he feared he would never make it.

He recalled: “There was a time when I wasn’t getting a game at 14 or 15.

“A lot of the boys had heard about their contracts but me and a couple of others didn’t hear anything until very, very late on.

“We got a one-year deal in the end but the others got longer-term deals”.

 

#63

 

Went down their right side like there was no one else there..

 

guy was the standout again today for me...He just ran at them everytime.

 

Performances, contract negotiations, press releases and interviews. He just goes it!

After both kids have now grown up and moved out. If the Mrs unexpectedly tells me she's pregnant, I'm insisting on Kieran as the babies name. Boy or girl!

 

Imo I'd rest him for these Scotland games coming up no point in him trudging around in pointless friendlies

 

I mind when Izzy left I was hoping KT would take the number 3. Now I hope he sticks with 63 for his whole stay here, and I’m sure he’s been offered a lower number by now so he clearly wants to.

 

What an idol