DJ Tierney has the music bug on top of his playing talents

FOR a player whose extraordinary rise would fit with the golden era of football comic strips, Kieran Tierney has an appropriately old-school taste in music. Hampden reverberated to its sound last month. In the wake of a Betfred Cup semi-final victory over Hibs, those in the vicinity of Celtic’s dressing room exchanged puzzled glances. No one could quite work out who might be responsible for the high-decibel 80s revival taking place inside. The track list conjured memories of the Now That’s

What I Call Music cassettes kids once unwrapped at Christmas alongside shiny new ZX Spectrums. ‘It was my CD, Whitney Houston and things like that,’ confessed a grinning Tierney. ‘The boys love it, they always ask me to do the tunes after games, so I must be doing something right. I wasn’t born when the stuff was out but my musical taste is brilliant, to be fair.’ Dressing-room DJ now joins Scotland captain on the lengthy list of responsibilities Tierney has taken on during 2017. His fame has risen accordingly. And taken the 20-year-old into situations he still struggles to comprehend. At Jake Bugg’s Edinburgh show this week, the singer invited Tierney backstage and received a signed Celtic jersey in return (pictured). A love of the Nottingham-born songwriter seems to be one of the left-back’s few musical concessions to the 21st century. ‘Around five or six years ago, I properly got into him and went to see him about three or four times,’ reflected the Ladbrokes Premiership Player of the Month for October. ‘I put pictures of him on my Instagram and for him to invite me backstage was surreal. I can’t really get over it. I know how lucky I am. ‘We got in touch through Twitter. I’ve followed him for years and he’s a big football fan. He said I was doing well and we’ve kept in contact for the last year or so. He’s a big Notts County fan, so he’s grateful for what Callum McGregor did down there! ‘I did ask him about coming to Celtic Park. I said to him it’s an unbelievable place because everyone knows the atmosphere. ‘He asked for a signed top and we gave him that, so hopefully he’s a Celtic fan now. He was brilliant. So down to earth. It was the first time I’d met him, having spoken to him a few times. He was brilliant with me and my friends.’ Tierney also idolises fight superstar Conor McGregor, meeting him in Belfast last year. He was there when the UFC show came to Glasgow during the summer. ‘Rhona (Macdonald, Celtic press officer) sorted me out with passes,’ he smiled. ‘It’s brilliant to go to stuff like that. My friends are all buzzing for front-row seats. Anything I can do for them and my family is great. Making everyone around me proud is the best thing. ‘My dad talks about football all the time but with my friends it’s different. We speak about normal stuff — what you’re up to, where you’re going for food, what you’ve got on the PlayStation. Stuff like that takes your mind away from football. ‘You need a wee thing to get away from it and when I’m with my friends, I do that. Obviously, I’ll meet new people along the way but I’m conscious of keeping a core of my old friends. ‘I’m texting my pals at half three or four o’clock asking if anyone’s ready for Call of Duty (on PlayStation). But they’ll all be working until five! I can go for a wee nap before they come home.’ A ferocious work rate has been instrumental to Tierney’s progression. Now under the wing of the same agency who guided Gareth Bale’s move to Real Madrid, he will make his 100th Celtic appearance against Ross County today. From Dingwall, it will be on to Paris and a Champions League meeting with Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and Co. While Tierney can still feel star-struck meeting the likes of Bugg or McGregor, that sensation never transfers on to a football pitch. ‘It’s different when you’re up against someone,’ he says. ‘You respect what they’ve done but it can’t be too much respect where you end up not playing your game.’