I’M NOT EXEMPT FROM BLAME, SAYS TIERNEY
AS the teenage prodigy taking his first steps as a Celtic player, Kieran Tierney was immune from prosecution as the Parkhead support delivered a resounding vote of no confidence last season.
If there was no outright hostility towards Ronny Deila and his players, then dwindling crowds and a muted atmosphere made for a cold courtroom environment in which a guilty verdict was the only logical outcome at the end of a campaign blighted by defeats in Europe and domestic cup competitions.
Only two players emerged with their reputations enhanced — top-scorer Leigh Griffiths for completing a 40-goal season and the tough tackling Tierney, whose consistently excellent performances at left-back provided a welcome source of hope for the future.
As he commences his first full season as a first-team regular, Tierney not only expects to be judged on an equal footing to his team-mates, he demands it. And that is why the midweek defeat to the part-timers of Lincoln Red Imps hurt him so much.
If last season’s low point was the Scottish Cup semi-final loss to Rangers, Tierney admits losing to the Gibraltarians in the second qualifying round of the Champions League stung just as much.
And when Celtic Park rises to acclaim new manager Brendan Rodgers for his first competitive home fixture, the 19-year-old admits he will feel a responsibility to reward the fans with a big performance.
Already publicly acclaimed by Rodgers as having the potential to go to the very top, Scotland’s reigning Young Player of the Year is steeled for the pitfalls of second-season syndrome.
‘I probably have more to prove this season than last because I was new,’ said the 19-year-old.
‘This time, people will be expecting us to be on top again and it will be difficult for me.
‘Am I ready for that? Definitely. It’s a challenge every footballer faces in their second season.
‘Hopefully, I can go out there and prove myself again.
‘The first thing we need to do is put Tuesday’s result right. It’s still hard to take in what happened over there. It was not ideal, not what we wanted and we are now focusing on the next leg and going through.
‘We had to find our way back in and although it just wasn’t our night whatsoever, there are no excuses for us. The surface was definitely the worst I have played on but, again, we should still be winning.
‘I was just so gutted after it. It was the lowest I’ve felt. Was it worse than losing to Rangers? Neck and neck, I would say. You can’t lose either of those games. You hate to be beaten in either of these matches. It was who we lost to as well.
‘Hopefully, this feeling that I have right now is over next week. We need to beat them.’
Few would expect any other outcome. Lee Casciaro took his goal well in midweek, but the Ministry of Defence police officer admits his career may have peaked the moment he flicked the ball past Efe
Ambrose to set himself up for the goal that gives his team a 1-0 lead going into the second leg.
Given that the Gibraltarians are not used to operating on grass — each of the Gibraltar Premier Division’s 12 clubs plays its home fixtures on the same sub-standard synthetic surface on which Celtic toiled — even the most basic advantages should be with the home team on Wednesday.
The wider concern for Rodgers will have been that having injected some badly needed optimism into the group during a two-week training camp in Slovenia, the side reverted to type when the competitive stuff began.
The former Liverpool manager may have inherited a team mired in mediocrity, but he is not entirely blameless in that regard.
Having experimented with formations and tactics across the four games in central Europe, he sent his players out in a team shape that mirrored Deila’s 4-2-3-1, with the performance also reverting to miserable type.
Few doubt that Rodgers has progressive ideas about how to improve Celtic but, on such a bad surface and against limited opposition, he might well have been rewarded with a more industrial, direct approach even if for one night only.
Griffiths, deployed wide left to accommodate new signing Moussa Dembele, offered the greatest threat and Wednesday should provide both an opportunity to open their accounts for the season.
‘The manager has been focusing on team unity, which is a good thing,’ said Tierney. ‘After a defeat like that, it is easy to blame others or go in a mood, but he is looking for us to be positive and stay as a team.
‘It didn’t happen for us in Gibraltar. It was weird but we can put it right. It is half-time and we had a bad half out there.’