Kieran Tierney

In terms of bursting onto the scene at a young age how does he compare to our other academy players from the last 15 years?

Since O'Neil took over the main players who've broke through off the top of my head are David Marshall, Liam Miller, John Kennedy, Shaun Maloney, Aiden Mcgeady, Stephen McManus and James Forrest. What's his impact been like in comparison to them?

I'm not saying he'll ever turn out as good (or bad) as any of them but I'm a bit younger than a lot of people on here and whilst I can remember all these players coming through I was too young at the time to properly analyse the impact of them other than Mcgeady, McManus and Forrest.

 

I think he is no nonsense when he has it in the defensive third and often hoofs it clear. However when he is attacking i think he looks very handy with the ball at his feet and can find a pass and deliver a telling cross.

No doubt his best attributes is his defensive tracking and tackling though .

 

He's a very, very promising player. Defensively he's barely put a foot wrong and his tackling is good, and he makes sure of it. Hard as nails at times. As a couple of people he said, he does have a tendency to just hump it out the park or up the pitch but he'll hopefully do that less the more he plays.

Offensively he looks good as well. He can put in some cracking crosses and he's direct. Although I feel like it's been a while since we've seen him do much attacking.

 

WHEN Kieran Tierney met one of his Hoops idols, Shunsuke Nakamura back in 2006, little did he know that he would eventually go on to start his own magical Celtic career at Paradise.
Aged just 10, Tierney was invited to Celtic Park alongside his Under-11s team-mates to take part in a special training session with the Japanese playmaker as he prepared to head off to Germany with his national team for the 2006 World Cup.
The starstruck youngster ended up dazzling the former Hoops star with his skills and close-control in a series of possession games and was rewarded with Nakamura’s boots when the exercise was over.
Those boots still sit with pride of place atop Tierney’s chest of drawers in his bedroom at home and he told the Celtic View he still struggles to believe that he is now part of the Celtic first-team, like Nakamura once was.
The young Celt said: “The World Cup was coming up that summer and Japan were going so we got asked to be in this video with him. We were all buzzing to be training at Celtic Park and after the warm-up, Naka came out.
“We did passing and possession games and he was part of it. The experience of training with him was brilliant and it was after the training we were all sitting in the dugout and he took his boots off and when we saw that, all the boys got really excited.
“He came and handed them to me and I was delighted because he was one of my heroes at the time. To train with him and for him to give me his boots was great.
“He actually said it was because I was the best in the possession games but it was just a brilliant day.”
Coming face-to-face with such a fans’ favourite was a rare occurrence for Tierney and his team-mates at the time, including fellow Celts, Aidan Nesbitt and Aidan McIlduff, and the encounter left a lasting impression on the full-back, who has since blossomed into one of the Bhoys’ most promising prospects in recent months.
“I looked up to Naka,” he said. “All the Celtic fans and players loved him because he was such a good player. His technique was great whether he was scoring free-kicks or dinking the keeper. You could always rely on him at any time. He was a world-class player.
“I remember beforehand that I told all my friends about how I was going to train at Celtic Park and they were all Celtic fans so they were a bit jealous. I had played at Celtic Park before, aged nine or 10, so to do it again was brilliant and to do it with Nakamura was special.
“I know he was playing against 10-year-olds but his touch on the ball was unbelievable. It was just the same as what Scott Brown said about him. If he had to pick a player he’d have back at Celtic it would be Nakamura.
“I asked Scott about him and he said that he can’t remember Nakamura ever being in the middle for a possession box. He just never gave the ball away and that showed on the pitch as well.”
The remarkable turn of events that has seen Tierney go from starry-eyed fan to first-team player with Celtic is something that the 18-year-old still struggles to get his head around, and he said he sees his journey as something more akin to the plot of a film or a book.
Meeting Nakamura as a youngster and winning his praise, only to go on and become a Celtic player in his own right, is just one of the many twists and turns in the Kieran Tierney story that he’ll never forget.
“It’s crazy,” he said. “It’s just a story. It’s some story to tell. You see it with guys like Jesse Lingard at Manchester United who’s come all the way up too and Celtic fans are saying it’s the same situation.
“There’s a picture of me aged six or seven with a Celtic strip on and my shinnies in, and I put that on Instagram and the fans have seen that and put it next to one of the pictures where I’m playing with the first-team in my kit.
“There’s obviously the one with Emilio Izaguirre from when I was younger and they’ve used the picture where I’m coming on as a sub for him as well so it’s brilliant.
“You look at Nakamura and he left as a hero. He’s a legend and all the fans love him. He came back not long ago and came on at half-time and the reception he got was brilliant. If I can have half the impact he had I’ll be happy.”

 

Most of the time he holds the ball well in his own half and plays quick passes to feet. All FB's float it down the line to an extent but he's not bad for it.

Was a pet peev for me when it came to Paul Telfer back in the day. He was revered as "solid" yet 4/5 times he'd lob it down be line to no one, due to a lack of awareness/composure, losing us the ball - but because it wasn't a suicide ball in his own half no one seemed to mind.

So I hate when full backs do that, but I don't believe Tierney is bad for it and he's prob told to keep it simple for now.

 

Another issue is that his left winger is usually... well, not one. Someone who is there because we have nobody else.

 

Yeap. Completely agree - great post.

 

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8vp8iIo47M"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8vp8iIo47M[/ame]

 

that's cracking hahaha

 

theyre brilliant, so they are.

 

Thats fantastic, Kieran Tierney is a right good Tim!

 

That's cracking. The TT never fail to cheer me up, ye just know KT is the type of player to appreciate it.

Love the one they done for Scott Allan too; "he's leaving the blues behind."

 

Is that the tune to Inter Milan by CATB?

 

Hope it's no too serious with the wee man's shoulder. Took a heavy hit on Stranraer's pitch early door's and looks to be still feeling it. Unless it has been troubling him before Sunday?

 

'ard as nails mate.

 

Good to see..

 

Time and time again this boy continues to perform like a player far more experienced than his age.

Melts yer heart to see one of your own produce performing to such high standards at a young age.

Love this kid