The Celtic supporters aren’t happy after watching Kieran Tierney play 90 minutes for Arsenal against Manchester City last night.
Both Tierney and Celtic’s Ryan Christie were deemed to be close contacts of Southampton midfielder Stuart Armstrong on international duty. Therefore, after Armstrong tested positive for the virus, both Christie and Tierney were to isolate for 14 days.
Kieran Tierney vs Man City (Photo by Chloe Knott – Danehouse/Getty Images)
That meant that they would both miss their respective clubs’ meetings with Rangers and Man City respectively. Except that didn’t happen. Christie was forced to miss the Rangers game, but Tierney was allowed to play the entire duration of Arsenal’s Premier League match in Manchester.
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The Daily Record reported that this was down to Arsenal managing to persuade the English authorities whilst Celtic were rebuffed by their Scottish counterparts. And that hasn’t gone down too well with furious supporters after our 2-0 derby defeat yesterday:
Can someone explain why Tierney can play but Christie couldn’t? Both had to isolate for 14 days
— . (@French_Eddy22) October 17, 2020
Tierney and Christie were both in Scotland. Tierney took several tests proving he was negative and was allowed to travel to another country and play today. Christie took several proving he was negative and our government wouldn’t allow him to play. Take from that what you will.
— Joe (@weatherall67) October 17, 2020
Tierney playing for Arsenal today, didn't he start to self isolate the same time as Christie?? Are England's self isolation rules different??
— A MILLIGAN (@AndrewMgan) October 17, 2020
Its 14 for everyone,God knows we've all heard it often enough,put simply he should not be playing
— Ian Scobie (@scoblerone10) October 17, 2020
Tierney starting for arsenal , Christie not even allowed in our squad.
If that’s not showing you the agenda against us then a don’t know what is— 🇮🇪 JP Mckeever 🍀 (@JP_Mckeever) October 17, 2020
I would like to know how Tierney is playing and Christie was not and what our club are doing about it HH
— Francis Mcdonald (@FrancisMcdonal7) October 17, 2020
Celtic were poor today but can someone please explain to me how Keiran Tierney is starting for Arsenal tonight but Ryan Christie was denied being able to play today. Is it one law for the English Prem and different criteria up here !! What a complete mockery !!!
— John Lundie (@JohnLundie7) October 17, 2020
@CelticFC how is it that @kierantierney1 can start for @Arsenal today but #RyanChristie or @Oedouard22 couldn't be there for us? These two would have changed the game today!!!
Not good enough
— names mean nothing anymore 🤣 (@thebrokendino) October 17, 2020
The logic makes no sense
Let’s get this out of the way – nobody is saying that playing Christie would’ve won us the game. That would be going unnecessarily over the top.
However, the logic behind this decision from the Scottish government makes absolutely no sense. If Tierney was supposed to be self-isolating in Scotland, why on earth was he allowed to travel back down to England during that same isolation period? Leaving your area of residence isn’t allowed when having to self-isolate.
It’s also not as if the situation in England is any better than what it is in Scotland. The two governments should be focusing on a way to make equal decisions when it comes to sport. That couldn’t be further from what happened with Tierney and Christie.
Celtic’s Ryan Christie in action / (Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images)
Celtic yesterday accumulated zero shots on target. Had Christie played, he almost certainly would’ve changed that stat at least. He wouldn’t have won us the game on his own, but he would’ve been a fine option to have.
The Scottish government needs to give Celtic some answers here. Not just because of yesterday, but because of where we may stand further down the line should this happen again.
For now, we just need to crack on with things and try to bounce back against AC Milan on Thursday night. But there’s something about this Christie saga that just doesn’t sit right.