Right-back a seamless transition for Tierney
THE application of a simple test rather succinctly sums up Kieran Tierney’s performance in the unfamiliar territory of right-back against Slovenia.
Had someone been blissfully unaware of the player’s regular deployment on the opposite side of defence for Celtic and unwittingly stumbled into Hampden on Sunday evening, would they honestly have batted an eyelid?
Ever the perfectionist, the 19-year-old claimed in the aftermath of the single-goal victory that he was not entirely comfortable as he found his feet in his new-found role. It was a view completely at odds with that of every paying customer.
In a display which again belied his tender years, Tierney amply showed he has the game and the temperament for this level.
When Roman Bezjak, the permanently animated Slovenian midfielder, blatantly provoked the young Scot by sending him flying into the direction of a TV cameraman, he was clearly banking on Tierney’s dander being raised to the point where a yellow card would be inevitable. He will know better next time.
The calmness displayed in that incident was replicated throughout a keenly-fought contest which might just prove to be a turning point on the road to Russia.
In a throwback to the days when Sandy Jardine and Danny McGrain were stationed at right and left-back for the national team, the displays of Tierney and Andrew Robertson were a timely reminder that exceptional players can, indeed, play anywhere.
So impressive was the performance of a man supposedly cast as a square peg in a round hole, a reprisal of the unfamiliar role for the visit of England and each game thereafter now seems inevitable.
‘I don’t know about that!’ Tierney said with typical self-deprecation when asked if he was there to stay. ‘I was asked to do a job in there and I worked hard all night, that’s all I could do.
‘It’s just defending. It’s a bit harder for me on my weaker side but I worked hard all week in training to get used to it.
‘The gaffer and the coaching staff were giving me a lot of tips and pointers all week. He spoke to me in training and said he wanted me to go over to the right side so I’d get used to it.
‘The coaches were just telling me tips, trying to mirror what the left side is like. It’s obviously different being on your weaker side but you just need to try to get the principles right, and I worked my hardest all night. ‘It’s not completely natural as you’re on the opposite side but, hopefully, I did my bit for the team. ‘I think I was 13 or 14 when I played one or two games there but, other than that, I’ve not really played or even trained there at all. ‘There was a lot of pressure on the team, maybe even more so with me playing out of position. But everybody was great with me. I did my best and worked my hardest. ‘It doesn’t really matter where I play, whether it’s left or right-back or in midfield. I’ll just do my best. ‘I’ve not really had a chance to speak to Danny McGrain about it yet but I’m sure he’ll have a few things to tell me when I get back to Lennoxtown.’ The gamble of playing Tierney out of position was just one part of a six-fold accumulator that came up trumps for the manager. With his back to the wall, Strachan opted to flood his side with Celtic players in international arena. History offered no guarantee of success. Andy Roxburgh tried the same with five Rangers players in Portugal in 1993 and was left to reflect upon the night a team died.
Far from sounding the death knell for our hopes of yet reaching Russia, the performance Strachan’s strategy delivered has breathed life into the qualifying campaign. There is now hope where there previously was none.
‘I’m glad we got the win for him,’ Tierney added. ‘The gaffer’s been brilliant and I have a lot to thank him for. He’s trusted me at a young age, and he trusted me again on Sunday to play out of position. I’m grateful to him.
‘We’ve had a good season so far (at Celtic) and been rewarded with playing against Slovenia.
‘It gives us a great confidence going in to the next game and, hopefully, we can show the same spirit.
‘We always have the belief. Going in to the game, we had a lot of pressure on us but I thought we dealt with it.
‘It wasn’t really a 1-0 game with a last-minute winner. I thought we were the better side for the 90 minutes.’ With hindsight, it all seemed so simple. Stuart Armstrong, a player whose development over the past seven months has been nothing short of staggering, did not forget to bring his club form with him.
His perpetual motion and game-intelligence elevated the team’s performance to a level not witnessed against a comparable nation in long enough. That Chris Martin’s winning goal emanated from him surprised no one.
‘I don’t know how many bottles of champagne he’s got now,’ Tierney smiled. ‘He just slotted in. It was his debut but he looked as if he had been playing international football for years and got many caps. I’m sure there are going to be many more to come.’
Mercifully, those are now likely to be accrued in meaningful qualifiers as opposed to the string of dead-rubbers we faced before Martin struck. Seven points at the midway point in the campaign cannot in any way be construed as being satisfactory. Yet, rather than being the end of something, Sunday evening felt like it might just be a new beginning. The narrative has changed.