I met Jake Bugg, picked up a prize and I’m about to hit 100 games... this monthhasbeen
KIERAN Tierney might be responsible for some dubious music choices in the Celtic dressing room – an 80s remix blasted out of the Hampden dressing room last season was deemed to be his handiwork – but on the pitch he could hardly be any more in key.
The 20-year collected the Ladbroked Player of the Month award this week, surprisingly the first time he has taken the accolade, to cap a month in which he also captained his country for the first time.
This afternoon in Dingwall the defender will make his 100th senior appearance for Celtic, a remarkable achievement given the fact he is barely out of his teens.
To put the landmark in context, it was put to Tierney that Hoops legend Danny McGrain, who went on to make 679 appearances for Celtic, was twoand-a-half years older than Tierney when he made his debut for the club. “That’s mad,” he grinned. To be fair to Tierney, much of his life seems mad these days.
Invited backstage this week by singer Jake Bugg, whom the youngster has been a fan of his since childhood, was a further indication of the status he has given the manner in which he has risen to prominence at Celtic.
And yet despite the bright lights and the off-field allure of what comes with his recently discovered celebratory status in Glasgow, Tierney retains a boy-next-door manner.
Childhood pals and haunts remain a key feature of his life away from Celtic with the usual exploits of PlayStation contests and dinners out with mates keeping him grounded.
“My parents and my sister have always been there for me and every time I’ve been injured and come out of hospital my friend Jamie has come round to stay with me, keep me company and take my mind off it,” he said.
“We’ve been pals since nursery school, which is why he’s in so many photographs with me. I’ve had the same friends since the very start and I think that’s important.
“Obviously, I’ll meet new people along the way but I’m conscious of keeping a core of my old friends.
“Things have happened so fast.
“It’s everything I have always wanted, to play with Celtic and be known. It is what I have always worked for.
“The first couple of times people ask you for pictures outside you are buzzing. But other than that, things have gone so fast.
“I’ve not really been told I don’t have to pay for meals or the like. I would like some freebies! But no, nothing is for free in life. I have worked that one out.”
There is one downside of being a footballer, when everyone else is at their work.
“I’m texting my pals at half three or four o’clock asking if anyone is ready for Call of Duty,” laughed Tierney.
“But they are all working until five! I am home earlier than them. I can go for a wee nap before they come home.”
FRONT-ROW seats and tickets to the big events are just one of the perks of Tierney’s job and he has enjoyed sharing the love with those around him.
I’m still texting my pals at four asking if anyone is ready for Call of Duty
“I’ve followed Jake Bugg for years and he is a big football fan,” said Tierney, who presented the singer with a signed Celtic top. “He said I was doing well and we’ve kept in contact for the last year or so, he’s a big Notts County fan, so he was grateful for what Callum McGregor did when he went down there.
“I did ask him [to come to Celtic Park]. I said to him that it is an unbelievable place because everyone knows the atmosphere. He asked for a signed top and we gave him that, so hopefully he is a Celtic fan now.
“Honestly, he was brilliant. So down to earth. It was the first time I had met him, having spoken to him a few times. He was brilliant with my friends.
“My mates are all buzzing for front-row seats, free seats, free tickets. It’s brilliant for them and anything I can do for my family is great, it’s changed everybody’s life and making everyone around me proud is the best thing.
“My dad talks about football all the time, but with my friends it’s different, we speak about normal stuff, what you are doing, what you are up to, where you are going for food, what you’ve got on the PlayStation. Stuff like that takes your mind away from football.
“You need that, you need a wee thing to get away from it