The first time I saw Kieran, he wasn’t even first- choice for the you team. Look at him now Find a way to make KT and Andy work
John Collins knew Kieran Tierney was destined to go to the very top after just one training session with the Celtic first-team.
Collins was at Parkhead as assistant boss to Ronny Deila.
When they first arrived, Tierney had just turned 17, and wasn’t even first- choice left- back for the youth team.
But the pair quickly spotted something in the teenager, and wanted to run the rule over him in training against the likes of Scott Brown, Virgil van Dijk, James Forrest and Kris Commons.
Tierney passed with flying colours. So much so, Deila and Collins knew they had to get him into the first- team, even though they knew they’d face criticism for doing it at the expense of regular full- back, Emilio Izaguirre.
Fast forward five seasons, and Tierney played a significant role in the capture of the treble Treble.
And his consistency and talent eventually led to him signing for Arsenal for £25 million to become the most- expensive Scottish footballer of all time.
Collins is delighted for the 22-yearold, and recalled: “Kieran’s talent was very obvious to Ronny and I, and we could tell that after just one training session.
Trust me, wingers – even the very best of them – will not enjoy enjoy playing against Tierney
“At the time, he wasn’t even getting a regular game with the youth team, but you could see he had qualities.
“We wanted to get him in with us to get a closer look.
“After that initial session, we had the coaches debrief and we all said: ‘ Wow, he’s a player’.
“He could run, he could tackle, he could sprint, had a great attitude, he was good on the ball and wasn’t fazed.
“He treated a game of five- a- sides during that session like it was a World Cup Final.
“We knew he was worthy of an opportunity, and we wanted to get him in to see how he coped in the first- team environment on a match day.
“Emilio Izaguirre was the first- choice left- back, and was a fans’ favourite.
“So we took a little bit of stick for putting Kieran in.
“He didn’t let anyone down, however, and it didn’t take long for the fans to see that the kid was going to have an excellent future.
“Well, he has certainly gone on to do just that.
“I’m not surprised to see his progression, and the contribution he has made to Celtic in the past four years.
“When he was with us, he just wanted to get better and better and had a great attitude.
“He was out on the training ground doing extra sessions, and working on developing his game when he was in possession. “Frankly, he is a coach’s dream. “I have no doubt that he is more than ready to make the step- up to the demands of the domestic game in England.
“He will absolutely be able to cope at the highest level there.
“He will thrive on it all, and excel.” Collins hit back at pundits who have questioned Tierney’s ability to defend at the highest level.
Some have even suggested he may struggle against top-class wingers in England.
The former Celtic, Ever ton, Fulham, Hibs, Monaco and Scotland star dismissed that notion, and stressed: “Being able to defend properly is an art, and Kieran knows how to do it.
“He gets his distances perfect when he is facing a winger. He never lets the winger turn and get at him.
“He closes down quickly, and loves contact with a winger.
“I’ve seen it close- hand, against some top, top players.
“Trust me, wingers – yes, the very best of them – will not enjoy playing against Kieran.
“He can defend and he can also go forward and join in on the attack. His overlapping runs are first- class, and his deliveries are mouthwatering.
“He has gone for £ 25m, and that is a very good transfer fee for Celtic.
“But it also an excellent piece of business for Arsenal. When you look at the market in England some of the fees players are bought and sold for, there is no doubt in my mind that
Graham Alexander argues he is proof a way can be found to play Kieran Tierney with Andy Robertson for Scotland.
The confirmation of Tierney’s long-awaited switch from Celtic to Arsenal was a reminder of the conundrum Steve Clarke inherited with the national side.
What to do when your two best players both want to operate in the same position?
One was famously rejected by Celtic as a 15- year- old for being too small, only to become a Champions League winner with Liverpool a decade later.
The other was so precocious, that by the age of 21, he had captained both club and country.
“They are two tremendous talents,” said Alexander, who won 40 caps for Scotland between 2002 and 2009 and is now working in England as manager of Salford City.
“Everyone knows what Andy is capable of. He is one of the most exciting footballers, not just in the UK, but in Europe.
“He took a little time to settle at Liverpool – time which Jurgen Klopp gave him – but now he is excelling at the top level.
“You see him up against the likes of Lionel Messi, Eden Hazard or Sergio Aguero, and he more than holds his own.
“You can see that he loves the challenge, and he makes opponents worry about what he is doing, rather than the other way around.
“Kieran isn’t so well known in England. But I am sure that will change when he’s playing there.
“I have followed him since he first broke through to the Celtic side as a teenager. I’m a big admirer.
“Like Andy, he is powerful, pacy and has amazing stamina, which allows him to bomb up and down the pitch from first whistle to last.
“Again, he seems to have the perfect attitude to be a success in the game.
“I was up in Scotland at a dinner a couple of years back when Kieran picked up a young player of the year award. I was really impressed by his acceptance speech.
“He was polite and humble, yet at the same time there was no mistaking that here was a kid who was focused and very ambitious to go as far as he could in the game.
“His record at Celtic was really impressive for someone his age. He has won all the domestic honours a number of times over and has lots of European club and international experience.
“This will be a step up for him. You really get punished for any errors in the EPL, especially when you are up against the biggest clubs.
“There is so much money about that all the sides have clinical finishers, who are ready to pounce on any chances that come their way.
“At the same time, there is no reason to doubt he can make the same adjustment Virgil did, and revel in the opportunity that has been presented to him.
“You add it all up, and Steve Clarke is going to have a big decision to make.
“You can’t have eithertierney or Robertson sitting on the substitutes’ bench.
“They are two of the best assets Scotland have, and they need to be out there on the park where they can have an impact on the outcome of the game.
“Both can’t play at left-back. So you have to be pragmatic and say: ‘Right, where else can I get a turn out of one of them?’.
“This is playing for your country, so guys are going to go anywhere they are put.
“I was 30 when I won my first cap and it was such an honour for me, it was unreal. I had achieved my lifelong ambition.
“If you had suggested even a year earlier I would run out in that jersey, I would have said you were dreaming.
“I would have settled for just the one cap. But in the seven years that followed I got 40 – and played in five different positions for four different managers!
“I played on both flanks, in central midfield and, for
Be r t i Vo g t s on one wet night in Portugal, I even ended up in the middle of defence!
“You do what the manager wants you to do. Different guys deploy different systems, so they have varying requirements from their players.
“Steve Clarke is a brilliant manager, and I am sure he will already have run through all the varying possibilities open to him with these two guys.
“I have heard all the arguments that Kieran didn’t look comfortable on the right when he was switched across.
“Also the suggestion that the two guys kept bumping into each other when played together at left- back and left midfield.
“There will be ways to make it work, and I am sure Steve is the man to make it work.
“Kieran’s move is exciting for him. But it is also, I am sure, good for the long-term future of the Scottish national team.
“Players at the academies up and down the country will see this as another example of what is possible, and it will serve as an inspiration to them to be the very best they can be.”
■ Graham Alexander (below) and his club will feature on Sky’s fly-on-thewall documentary, Class Of ’92, which returns tonight.