‘Inspirational’ Tierney can lead Scotland
Brendan Rodgers has backed “inspirational” Kieran Tierney to succeed his Celtic team-mate and mentor Scott Brown as Scotland captain.
Brown announced his retirement from international football for a second time yesterday, a decision which his club manager Rodgers does not expect to be reversed as it was previously.
While 32-year-old Brown now focuses on continuing his Celtic career for as long as possible, Rodgers believes Tierney is a strong candidate to be handed the captain’s armband by new Scotland manager Alex Mcleish.
The 20-year-old left-back has already captained Celtic twice this season in Brown’s absence and led Scotland for the first time in last November’s friendly against the Netherlands under interim boss Malky Mackay.
Although Tierney is just nine matches into his Scotland career, Rodgers has no doubts about his ability to fill the captain’s role on a permanent basis.
“If you are asking whether Kieran could do it, then yeah, he could,” said Rodgers. “There’s no question about that.
“He is a great ambassador for Scotland already, because of how he prepares himself, how he
works every day. He’s a selfless kid as well.
“He has availability and it’s very important that your captain is always available. I know Kieran would be very proud to be Scotland captain, but Alex will have a few candidates he will look at.
“Malky made Kieran captain in the last game, which was a very proud moment for him, and he’s already captained Celtic for me.
“He’s an experienced young player now. I had a chat with him the other day. This is the next stage in his development now. He’s played over 100 games for Celtic and you start to grow as a young man and take on that responsibility.
“He’s one that has those qualities because he’s very inspirational. He’s been in the shadow of Scott Brown since he broke into the squad and he’s learned some terrific traits, I’m sure, off him.
“Because of the type of personality Kieran is, it wouldn’t be a concern but, of course, there is a big responsibility in captaining Celtic and captaining your national team. If it isn’t this time, I’m sure at some point it will happen in the future.”
Brown previously quit Scotland duty in August 2016 but changed his mind two months later to return for the ultimately failed bid to reach this year’s World Cup Finals in Russia. “I can’t see him being lured back into it this time,” added Rodgers as he welcomed the 55-times capped midfielder’s choice to concentrate solely on club football.
“I think it’s a great decision for Celtic but also for Scott, personally,” he added. “It was something he obviously had to think about at this stage of his career. The demands at club level and international level could have affected the longevity of that. He had that break before but he had a big loyalty to Gordon, who brought him to Celtic.
“At that time last year, Scotland were missing players through injury and Gordon needed someone and, being the type of man he is, Scott showed that loyalty to Gordon and to Scotland by coming back to help.
“But, after reflection–and he’ s had quite a bit of time to think about it – this is the right decision for Scott and Celtic. Also, Scotland can now plan for the future, in terms of who the next captain should be.”