Former Scotland winger Pat Nevin believes Kieran Tierney can dominate Scottish football this season – if he can stay fit.
The ex-Chelsea and Everton man was hugely impressed by the returning Celtic left-back’s display on his competitive comeback at the weekend, describing his performance in the opening hour as “dynamite”.
Nevin is convinced Tierney’s link-up with Daizen Maeda could prove unplayable for opposition defences.
“If Kieran Tierney stays fit, will he be the player of the season. I mean, he looked that for 45, 55 minutes at home, and he was fully fit for the first hour of the game,” Nevin told football betting site BetVictor. “He was dynamite, down the left-hand side. was a left winger, he was a left back, left midfield. He had a brilliant understanding of last year’s best player.
“With Daizen Maeda, if they play on the left-hand side together, in terms of Scottish football, they will be unstoppable if he stays fit. No one will stop them. They will put in cross after cross after cross, they will get into brilliant positions with great game awareness and intelligence.
“They’ve already set up a brilliant partnership on that left-hand side and I know what it’s like if you’re a wide player, the most important player on the pitch for the guy behind you.
“You have to have an understanding of it and you hope he’s good, I played with some good ones over here, Stevie Clark being one of them. When you have that, you can destroy teams. You absolutely destroy teams. They will do that.
“If Kieran stays fit, it’s not a matter of if he could be the player of the year, it’s that he will be.”
Tierney lasted 67 minutes in the 2-0 win at Pittodrie after playing a similar amount of time the week before against St Mirren, when he came off with cramp. But on Sunday, Brendan Rodgers said that the left-back had a sickness bug, and was actually unwell at halftime, and that again, there were no injury concerns.
Kieran Tierney looks a level above since he’s been back, and his signing is a real coup. He’s a top-level player who could easily be at a big team in one of Europe’s top leagues.
Speaking on his return, the Celtic academy graduate said that he signed a long-term deal so that he could spend the rest of his playing days with the club. He told CeltsAreHere,
“You don’t come back to your home at 28 and think about going somewhere else again. Obviously in football, you never know — I learned that the first time around.
“I grew up never thinking I’d leave Celtic. But things happen. For me, I’ve signed a long-term deal, so I definitely see myself being here for the rest of my career.
“To be successful here is to keep Celtic at the top. That’s the ambition — plain and simple. Keep Celtic at the top, that’s what matters most to me.
“I don’t know if I had solid plans. Like I said, in football anything can happen. But you’re always thinking, “Can it happen?” or “When’s the right time?” This time just felt perfect.”
It’s quite an exciting future on Celtic’s left-wing, with Jota still to come back and link up with Tierney.
