A huge win on Saturday against rivals Rangers for Brendan Rodgers and Celtic but have they got a future star?
Celtic’s Kieran Tierney celebrates
All the headlines will be about the scoreline in the Old Firm as Celtic inflicted a 5-1 defeat on their rivals Rangers in the first league meeting between the two sides in four years. However, the emergence of Celtic academy product Kieran Tierney will not have gone unnoticed by the Parkhead crowd.
Tierney has been part of the Celtic first team set-up since last season where he made 23 appearances, with all of them as starts, scoring one goal. This term his development has continued and he has been recognised as a key player under Brendan Rodgers.
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers with Rangers manager Mark Warburton before the game
A tenacious left-back who is equally as good going forward as he is in his defensive duties, Tierney has received a number of plaudits but his Old Firm performance on Saturday lunchtime was one which showed that he has a long future at the club.
The 19-year-old didn’t give anything away defensively and bombed forward as the creator down the left-hand side for Celtic, giving them width. He played a crucial role for the Hoops’ fifth goal by cutting the ball back for Stuart Armstrong.
He’s started all 10 of the club’s competitive games, including six qualifying Champions League games as Celtic progressed into the group stages of the Europe’s elite club competition.
Celtic’s Kieran Tierney celebrates winning the Ladbrokes Scottish Premiership at the end of the game
Rodgers will hope to develop Tierney in the same way he did with one of his former Liverpool players in Jon Flanagan. Similar to Tierney, Flanagan came through the youth ranks at the club and broke into the the Reds’ side, becoming a crucial part of the club nearly winning the title.
He certainly has all the ingredients to be a star at Celtic Park, with a trip to the Nou Camp on Tuesday night, can he put another stellar performance together against Messi, Neymar and Suarez?
Celtic’s Leigh Griffiths celebrates scoring their third goal with Kieran Tierney
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