Ronny Deila opens up on Kieran Tierney decision

Add as preferred source on Google

Former Celtic manager Ronny Deila has opened up on the big decision he made to convert Kieran Tierney from a winger to a full-back.

The Norwegian cult hero gave Tierney his debut while in charge of the club between 2014 and 2016. The Scotland international has gone on to play 170 for Celtic but there is a fear that he may not add to that impressive tally.

Arsenal have already had two bids rejected for the 22-year-old and Unai Emery’s side are expected to return to the table in the coming weeks.

And if they do manage to secure a deal for Tierney then they may be thanking former Hoops boss Deila. The 43-year-old has been speaking to the Scottish Sun about the big decision he made – converting Tierney from a winger to a full-back.

Deila said: “I saw him as an old-fashioned defender because a lot of full-backs these days are very good offensively but not so good defensively.

“But Kieran was fantastic one-v-one in defence and at the same time could get up and down the touchline, so we saw early that he had something special.

“He was playing left wing in the second team but we felt that he was always going to play full-back. I felt that was his position, not a winger.

“The second team played Kieran as a winger because they had an okay left full back.

“The team was better when the two boys played.

“But I said that it was stupid and that I didn’t care about whether the second team was winning or losing. That wasn’t the most important thing.”

Deila played a big role in the development of Tierney

Celtic fans certainly owe a debt of gratitude to Deila for the part he played in Tierney’s development. The Norwegian gave the youngster a chance when it would have been easy to select the more experienced Emilio Izaguirre.

Tierney is such a good full-back that it is hard to imagine him playing anywhere else. Given his immense talent, he could probably have been a world-class winger too. However, there’s no doubting that the full-back position compliments his attributes perfectly.

If and when we do rake in a windfall for Tierney’s departure, the club may also want to thank their former manager. Without him, it may all not have been possible.