Tierney is just like Danny says Celtic legend
NEW Scotland coach Peter Grant believes Kieran Tierney deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as his hero Danny McGrain and can go on to emulate the Celtic great’s achievements.
National team manager Alex McLeish has appointed former Celtic midfielder Grant, who he worked with at Birmingham, Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest, to his backroom team.
Grant admitted he is looking forward to working with Tierney, who is a contender to succeed Scott Brown as his country’s captain.
The man who spent 13 years as a player at Parkhead counts McGrain as a former team mate and feels the 20-year-old can enjoy an equally accomplished career for Celtic and Scotland.
“Tierney is a top, top player,” he said. “He has been playing exceptionally well for Celtic in big, big games for many years now. That tells you enough about him.
“Gordon (former Scotland boss Strachan) played him on the right side of defence – the only one I can remember doing that before was Danny McGrain when he and Sandy Jardine played. What top players both of them were.
“But Kieran is more than capable of doing that. He knows he can play left back comfortably and he can also play centre back.
“In the modern day game, especially at European level and international level, there are not a hell of a lot of crosses come into your box. It is all about positional play and his positional play has been outstanding.
“Andy Robertson has also been on top of his game playing at a top-class club with a lot of pressure on him. We are very fortunate. There will always be places for those boys in the team never mind the squad as long as they are fit.”
Grant added: “Danny was my hero – he still is to this day. I was very fortunate that when I made my debut Danny was playing alongside me. I know how good a player he is. I didn’t just work with him as a youngster.
“He was the first guy I saw going to a gym. The gym at Celtic Park was in the old stand and you needed a coat on to go there, it was that cold. But Danny was up there every day working on his body, he was so strong.
“Danny was up at the club every day, working on his body and was physically so strong. But he was one of the best defenders who has ever been. He wasn’t just one of the best players in Scotland in his day he was one of the best in Europe. He was voted one of the best in the world at that time.
“He is a wonderful man and is a wonderful professional. I think Kieran deserves to be mentioned in the same breath as him. He knows he is going to win a lot more caps for Scotland and get up there with Danny. He has the potential to go that distance and be ranked alongside him, that’s for sure.”