I’ve had the season of my dreams but I’ll have to do it all again to impress the new manager

SAYS KIERAN TIERNEY

FOR Kieran Tierney, it took a post on social media to emphasise just how rapidly the teenage full-back’s star has risen. As if facing Holland superstar Robin van Persie on only his fourth start for Celtic was not daunting enough, it was a message on Twitter about another famous former Manchester United attacker that really caught the teenager’s eye.

‘My third game of the season was against Fenerbahce in the Europa League at Celtic Park,’ said Tierney.

‘I knew beforehand I would be up against players like van Persie and Nani.

‘But then someone on social media told me that, at that time, Nani had won more English Premier League titles than I had made league appearances for Celtic.

‘You can’t think about that stuff. You can’t allow yourself to get nervous.

‘It’s a big jump from Under-20s to the first team and you have to adapt quickly. I remember thinking during that Fenerbahce game: “Wow, this is hard”.

‘It was a really big game but those are the matches you want to be involved in.

‘And I think after that, the manager and the fans thought I’d done OK, so it would be OK to play me in the league games as well. I think I showed that night I could handle it.’

Since facing Nani and van Persie, Tierney has made the Celtic left-back position his own, displacing Honduran international Emilio Izaguirre.

He made his full Scotland debut against Denmark in March and is the hot favourite to win PFA Scotland’s Young Player of the Year prize after being named this week on the fourman shortlist with Rangers attacker Barrie McKay and Hibs pair Jason Cummings and John McGinn.

There could also be a first league winners’ medal for Tierney to celebrate this weekend, when victory at Hearts will effectively seal a fifth consecutive championship crown for the club.

When the 18-year-old’s maiden title arrives, though, it will be a somewhat bittersweet experience as Ronny Deila — the manager who gave him his big chance at Parkhead — will be departing at the end of the season.

Tierney would love to repay his debt of gratitude to the Norwegian, who has hailed the defender as potentially Scotland’s first world-class player since Kenny Dalglish, by clinching five in a row at Tynecastle tomorrow.

Once that is done and dusted, the switched-on youngster knows that this season of his wildest dreams will count for nothing if he doesn’t then impress Deila’s successor.

‘It’s gone better than I had hoped,’ smiled Tierney. ‘I never thought I would be in this position. I’ve played more games than expected this season and it’s great to be nominated for Young Player of the Year.

‘I can’t thank the manager enough for everything he has said about me. It gives you a lot of confidence.

‘He has been great with me and I will forever be thankful because if it wasn’t for him I wouldn’t be sitting here now.

‘I was sitting on the bench, but he watched me in training and gave me my chance.

‘We want to give the manager a good send-off by winning the title. We want to wrap it up as soon as possible.

‘But I know I will definitely have to impress the new manager as well.

‘It’s the same for the older guys, too, though. The new manager will come in and we all have to impress him.

‘It won’t matter what we have done in the last season. It will be all about the new season.’ A former traveller on the Wishaw Emerald Celtic supporters’ bus, Tierney’s background has seen him avoid much of the vitriol aimed at Deila’s team by fans during the season. The aftermath of the club’s dramatic Scottish Cup exit to Rangers saw the unfurling of a banner accusing Celtic’s players of lacking heart and talent. Notably, the young left-back was exonerated in the message. ‘The fans have been great with me,’ said Tierney. ‘They give me plenty of support and confidence. You can hear it. ‘You just need to block out all the other stuff going into the games. All we can think about is winning the matches. ‘Tynecastle is always a difficult place to go. You saw that last time when we were a bit unlucky to concede a last-minute goal from a deflection (in a 2-2 draw in December). ‘We’re hoping to go there and get the win.’ A down-to-earth sort, Tierney’s rise to prominence at Celtic has not impacted much on his life outside of football.

It has earned him an inclusion in his favourite football computer game, FIFA 2016, even if he is not as highly rated in the gaming world as he is in real life.

‘If I go walking I get recognised more now and again,’ he smiled. ‘But off the park, I just do my usual stuff, like playing my PlayStation.

‘I’ve seen myself on the PlayStation (on FIFA) but I’m not too good on there.

‘I don’t even sign myself. It’s a waste of money! I’m not sure it’s that great a likeness of me, apart from the hair.

‘It’s weird. When you are a wee guy you make your own player (on FIFA) and call him Kieran Tierney — but now it really is Kieran Tierney!’

This is a young man whose season has already surpassed all expectations.

Could he possibly even bring down the curtain on his breakthrough campaign by being included in Gordon Strachan’s end-of-term friendlies against Italy in Malta and France in Metz?

‘That would be great,’ he said. ‘I made my debut in March and there is only one squad being picked this time. It would be the perfect end to the season.’