‘How can you’: Kieran Tierney makes Ronny Deila-Celtic claim after Scotland question

Add as preferred source on Google

From Ronny Deila at Celtic to Mikel Arteta at Arsenal. Kieran Tierney is grateful for the managers and coaches who have made him the player he is today.

That fresh-faced teenager who made his Celtic debut in 2015 under Ronny Deila’s stewardship hasn’t only become a force on the domestic scene, but on the international circuit for Scotland too.

Ahead of Scotland’s Euro 2024 qualifiers against Spain and France, Kieran Tierney, who is on-loan at Real Sociedad this season, was asked about where Steve Clarke ranks amongst the managers who have coached him in his career.

The 26-year-old refused to list those managers or pluck out a single name, but he did offer his flowers to ex-manager Ronny Deila for giving him his debut and ‘how can you look past that?’, as he told The Scottish Football Podcast.

It was pretty clear early on that Kieran Tierney was going to go right to the top because Scottish football was just a bar that was too low for his quality.

That’s why he headed for the exit door and secured a big-money transfer to Arsenal, where he had an up-and-down time, with injuries affecting him. 

Kieran Tierney on his managers

“He is up there,” said Tierney on where Steve Clarke ranks amongst the managers who have coached him.

“I don’t think I have got an order of who has been best for me or who has been my favourite. Every manager who I have played for, I am so grateful.

“You look at the start, it would be Ronny Deila. He gave me my debut, so how can you look past that? Every one of the managers who I have played for, they are special for different reasons.

“Steve Clarke for his loyalty and for picking me last season when I wasn’t playing so often and coming on as a sub. I would go away and he would start me. He gives me this belief, as well you can see throughout the team. He is important to me and I will be forever grateful for that.”

Celtic return for Tierney

There was talk this summer about the all-action left-back possibly returning to the place where it all started.

But, for one reason or another, it didn’t happen. Although, that doesn’t mean it will never happen.

The hope is one day that Tierney dons the colours again, perhaps with the likes of boyhood fans John McGinn and Andy Robertson, because that would be something.