Just thinking about it makes Celtic fans giddy with joy. Kieran Tierney back in the Hoops, back in front of the Green Brigade on the loudspeaker, again tearing up that left flank like old times.
Rumors have been buzzing about the Scotland international’s return since he was spotted chatting with manager Brendan Rodgers at a gala event for the club’s charitable foundation in London in October, and the chances of that happening appear to be increasing over time. . day.
Rodgers didn’t exactly deny his interest when questioned Friday. Nowadays it is common for the possibility of reaching an agreement to be actively investigated. It seems all parties are ready to get down to business now that Arsenal have confirmed they will not trigger a one-year contract extension for the defender in the summer.
It’s a great story, all right. An exciting one. However, the prospect of a generational talent like Tierney returning to Celtic at the age of 27 is more a matter of sadness than celebration.
Indeed, the idea of him returning to effectively finish his career at Celtic Park alongside fellow academy graduate Callum McGregor seems nothing short of tragic.
Kieran Tierney and Callum McGregor could reunite at Celtic next season
McGregor lifts League Cup after last weekend’s penalty shootout victory over Rangers
Both men are extremely talented players. Both, particularly if Tierney re-signs, will go down in history as truly important figures in the team’s recent history. But looking beyond the partisan and parochial nature of Scottish football, the feeling remains that both should do more with their careers than live as bigwigs in the stagnant, smelly pond of the SPFL.
That ship sailed for McGregor, of course. He had the chance to go when Rodgers finished his first stay at Paradise to head south to Leicester City in 2019 and was clearly happy with his lot in Glasgow.
His reward, at some point over the next season or two, will come in the form of being crowned Celtic’s most decorated player of all time.
It will be a special achievement, for sure. Something to dine on through the decades. A matter of justifiable personal pride.
McGregor has been a wonderful servant of Celtic, a fantastic ambassador and face of the club, and you have to understand him for putting personal satisfaction before chasing dreams in England or abroad.
However, it is absolutely impossible to reflect on the 31-year-old’s time in football and not wonder how far he could In fact they are gone.
Rodgers wanted to take him to Leicester, to have him as a general on the field imposing his style of play on the rest of the team. He has since expressed his belief that McGregor, such an intelligent player with such tactical and positional sense, had everything in his locker to continue playing for one of the English Premier League’s big six teams.
Tierney’s time at Arsenal has been interrupted by physical problems
The Scottish defender made an impact last season on loan at Real Sociedad
That’s open to debate, of course, but it would have been nice to see him try it. Instead, despite all his medals and memorabilia, the big question of how far he could have gone will always linger.
In that summer of 2019, everything seemed possible for him and Tierney. The world was at his feet.
At 26 years old, McGregor was at the perfect stage in his career to take the big leap forward. As it was, Tierney ended up being the one to open the door to the promised land of the English top flight with a £25 million move to Arsenal.
That’s where the story of the two players differs. Tierney *tried* it. In the end, largely due to injuries, things did not go as planned. The move south also gave him a different experience going on loan to Real Sociedad last season, although fitness issues also disrupted that.
It’s easy to see why Tierney would be keen to return to Parkhead. He has stated in the past that leaving the club he supports to go to Arsenal was a decision that kept him up at night.
He is convinced that playing for Celtic is “the best.” He misses the place. He loves it. He has You’ve challenged yourself at a high level, you’ve satisfied that drive, and you may feel like the time is right (with or without a pay cut) to return to the place you feel and call home.
He’s still only 27 years old, for God’s sake. There will surely be interest from other clubs when he is free to agree a pre-contract in January.
If he can get into good physical shape and find a way to put aside the injury problems that have plagued him, there could well be other special adventures in store for him. Celta will always be there. Perhaps a stopping point after further investigation into what might exist in other worlds. One more chance to see where his talent could take him.
Returning to Glasgow would simply be a kind of admission of defeat, an acceptance that he tried his luck at the highest level and it didn’t work out, that his body was perhaps not up to the task and he needs a less demanding environment. in which to operate.
But who knows what else could be offered? Maybe nothing will excite you as much as Celtic would, but shouldn’t you wait and see?
It’s just that the background music indicates that maybe not. The rock is already moving down the hill and quickly gaining speed. The fact that Greg Taylor has not yet agreed a new contract and that Alex Valle has only arrived from Barcelona on a one-season contract suggests that Tierney was always being considered as a long-term solution for that left-back role, depending on how Arsenal saw it. your future.
Listen, the idea of a guy like Tierney returning to the Scottish top flight in his prime will be seen by many as a real boost for the domestic game here. Getting the chance to see players like him and McGregor come together again in that Celtic team should be a treat.
And it certainly will be. Up to a point. However, for those who understand the potential these two guys possessed and can look at the world without the green and white glasses, it will be a spectacle indelibly colored by regrets and questions about what really could have been.
For all the applause, shouting and domination over inferior opposition, it is something of a tragedy, indeed.
Collum criticized the VAR team that failed to detect a Rangers penalty in the League Cup final
Collum has his work cut out for him… and people like Maxwell make his job even harder.
Scottish FA chief executive Ian Maxwell’s behavior this week really raises more serious questions than ever about his suitability for the role.
What was he thinking when he dismissed a clear penalty miss by VAR in a domestic cup final as “human nature”, nothing to worry about?
He made some comments about 20 fans in a room and they came up with 25 opinions. Jeezy peeks out. It’s not about 20 bettors in a room. This is three top referees in a video room who can’t see that Liam Scales taking Vaclav Cerny’s jumper into the box is a penalty.
Maxwell, of course, is the guy who introduced VAR saying it was going to be a nightmare. He also told us that Hampden could end up looking like the Mercedes Benz stadium in Stuttgart. And that’s just the beginning.
In reality, he just comes across as a former Partick Thistle general manager who can barely believe how lucky he is to earn six figures a year. Just like the rest of us.
But by trying to ignore that penalty Rangers should have received in the Premier Sports Cup final, he simply added fuel to the fire. And now we have to wonder where all that apparent ambivalence leaves him when his refereeing boss admits that it’s not enough to accept that a mistake was made, that the whole episode was ‘unacceptable’.
SFA chief executive Ian Maxwell said refereeing errors are inevitable
Maxwell surely knew that Willie Collum would come out on official SFA channels to take responsibility for a disaster after his appearance at the launch of a grassroots initiative. It is unthinkable that he did not do it.
So why did he say the things he said? Why show such a lack of understanding of the subject? Why downplay it? It demonstrates a complete inability to handle situations seriously.
We are talking about a crisis situation, in which any faith in the system (from the coaches to the players to the fans) has almost completely evaporated.
Collum has put in a lot of effort in his new role, but when his chief executive dismisses a cup final catastrophe and insists that people simply have to accept that mistakes happen, it becomes clear that his mission is impossible.
The level of refereeing in this country is terrible. Collum is working with poor staff.
And after this week’s disaster, simply admitting mistakes isn’t enough either. Collum needs to explain in an open forum what the repercussions of such ineptitude should be. How exactly do you approach the long-term project of reversing years of incompetence?
It should also explain why Alan Muir was appointed VAR for a final when he somehow failed to award a penalty to Celtic’s Daizen Maeda at Motherwell.
In truth, Collum hides in nothingness. Despite all his work, he should not have been given this job. The SFA needed someone new, someone different, with no baggage. How does Collum, for example, lay down the law with his history of high-profile mistakes as a referee?
What is really needed is an independent look at how the Old Boys’ Club refereeing works.
But when the chief executive modus operandi seems to revolve around simply trying to manage the next day’s news schedule and playing it cool rather than looking for long-term solutions, only to have your cod explode in your face anyway, what chance do you have?