Tierney pictures a bright future with his boyhood hero
KIERAN TIERNEY enjoyed a picture-perfect moment with Neil Lennon as the Celtic manager celebrated his return to the dugout. As full-time sounded at Tynecastle on a dramatic match settled by Odsonne Edouard’s late winner against Hearts, the pair embraced then raised their hands to celebrate in front of the away support that had been bruised by Brendan Rodgers’ sudden departure.
‘That was brilliant, a class moment,’ beams Tierney. ‘The way the game ended, it was written in the stars after the previous couple of days.
‘It was crazy. One of the best feelings I’ve had on a football pitch.’
Had Tierney not recently returned from injury, he might well have been one of the punters roaring their appreciation from the Roseburn Stand. Indeed, he remembers the days when he would ask Lennon for his photograph.
‘When I was coming through the academy, it was his first spell as manager,’ recalls Tierney. ‘I was dead nervous around him and I’d ask for pictures with him.
‘He won’t remember me from those days and I won’t bring it up either... I’d just embarrass myself.’
As one of the players who excelled under Rodgers, Tierney has no bad words to say about the man who made such a swift exit for Leicester City as Celtic chase down an unprecedented third consecutive Treble.
He does, however, have an acute insight into how the supporters are feeling.
‘The fans are hurting, that’s quite clear to see,’ he admits. ‘But what’s done is done. It’s gone now.
‘We thank him for all he has done as he’s helped me become a much better player and professional. The standards he set changed football up here and we wish him all the best.
‘What we achieved over the last two-and-a-half years was crazy but we have a big end to the season now. We have nine league games left and, hopefully, two in the Scottish Cup.’
The subject of firm transfer interest from Everton last summer, Tierney knows there was an inevitability that he would immediately be linked with Leicester following Rodgers’ switch.
‘There are going to be rumours like that — I’ve seen them too,’ he says. ‘I’ve been on the end of speculation for a few transfer windows, so it’s nothing different for me.
‘It doesn’t take my mind off Celtic. It’s natural that he will be linked with players from his old club but it’s nothing I know of.’
With Lennon still resident in Glasgow and available following his own abrupt exit from Hibs, the transition was as seamless as could have been expected.
Asked to sum up Tierney’s importance during the transition period, Lennon is gushing: ‘He’s a brilliant player. When he plays, he makes us better.
‘The thing is, he will improve. He’s still at a young age but he’s already achieved so much in his career.
‘He’s a physical kind of player. He doesn’t shirk tackles and, going forward, he’s a Rolls-Royce.’
That said, Tierney admits he only knows how to play in one gear. Recently returned from a two-month absence with a pelvic problem, the full-back concedes he has paid the price for three years of relentless top-team football.
Still only 21, he made his 150th appearance for Celtic against a Hibs team under Lennon’s management back in October. He played another 11 games for his club before succumbing to injury in December and admits his all-or-nothing approach to the game has probably contributed to the wear and tear that forced him on to the sidelines.
‘The reason I got my injury was my loading,’ he says. ‘Over the last three seasons, I played 170-odd games.
‘The demands of my position mean you are up and down for 90 minutes.
‘People don’t realise that. They say: “You are a professional footballer, you should always be fit and ready”. But eventually it will take its toll.
‘The way I train is the exact same way I play, everything is at 100 per cent. That has got me where I am, so I’m not going to stop doing that.’
Tierney brings the same ardour to his performances for Scotland and it is no surprise when he declares himself ready, fit and available to throw himself into Scotland’s Euro 2020 qualifying campaign.
This week, national coach Alex McLeish will name his squad for the opening away double-header against Kazakhstan and San Marino. Tierney is in line to add to his 12 caps.
‘If I’m fit, I want to play every game for club and country,’ he says. ‘If I’m chosen for Scotland, it is two games in a week but I’ll be ready for it.’