Celtic Bhoy Tierney Bolts, Euro Dreams Dashed

The Full Scottish with Brian P. Dunleavy

We admit to being a bit of a dinosaur in this age of 24/7 news and instant “hot takes.”

However, that is why we decided to wait a week to share our thoughts on Kieran Tierney’s departure from Celtic to Arsenal, which went down just as last week’s issue of First Touch went to press. We had our first-blush reactions, of course, but wanted to hold our thoughts until the heat of the moment had passed.

We didn’t know more bad news, as it concerned Celtic anyway, would rise up in the intervening days. That being the Hoops’ embarrassing 4-3 loss to Cluj at Celtic Park, which means no Champions’ League football in the East End for 2019-20.

Then again, we shouldn’t have been surprised. For the two events—Tierney’s departure and Celtic’s Euro failure—are undoubtedly related. And not just because the Bhoys’ best midfielder, Callum McGregor was inexplicably asked to replace the departed left back against Cluj on Tuesday night.

Really, that’s only a symptom of the larger problem. Because, if media reports are to be believed, Tierney, who had somehow already become a folk hero around Parkhead at the ripe old age of 22 (after 170 appearances), wanted away. And the hierarchy at Celtic knew that. Despite being on a long-term contract, the player had hired an agent known as a wheeler-dealer. 

Last summer, Everton were circling around the star left back, and in hindsight it was likely only a failure to agree on a transfer fee that kept the former Celtic Park ball boy in green and white for another season.

Enter Arsenal and the London club’s £25 million in summer 2019. Celtic manager Neil Lennon said in July that the club “didn’t want to sell” its most valuable commodity. And that may have been true. But knowing that Tierney’s ambitions trumped his much-trumpeted love for the Hoops, the saga surrounding his move stretched on for weeks.

And yet… Lennon et al only brought in one left back—Boli Bolingoli—prior to the qualifying tie against Cluj. Bolingoli had a rough time of it during the away leg last week in Romania, and didn’t look much better against Motherwell on Saturday. Hence, Lennon opted to leave him on the bench for the home leg against Cluj—and start McGregor out of position instead. 

Despite having a healthy left back and another player (Jonny Hayes) has played well there at times.

That decision effectively weakened Celtic at two positions—left back and central midfield—against the Romanians on Tuesday night. That the Hoops have made two high-value signings (by Scotland standards) this summer—Bolingoli and Christopher Jullien—and Lennon didn’t feel comfortable starting either of them, we think, says it all.

We know it’s difficult to do, but take the emotions out of the Tierney transfer for a second. £25 million is a good bit of business for Celtic, and that doesn’t even account for the reported sell-on fees the club may recoup when/if the left back leaves Arsenal. 

But while you can be disappointed that a young player who routinely proclaimed his love for the Hoops was willing to set aside those feelings for money and fame, you have to be galled that the adults in the room—namely, Lennon and club chief Peter Lawwell—failed to prepare the squad for the player’s ultimate departure. It’s not about spending the £25 million after the fact, it’s about investing to protect your larger holdings should a deal materialize.

Because, that’s £30 million—minimum—lost by not qualifying for the Champions’ League group stages. Which would more than pay for a new left back—in Scotland anyway. Even if that player would have ultimately been surplus to requirements had the Tierney-to-Arsenal move fallen through.

You can’t blame a 22-year-old lad for thinking about his and his family’s future. But you can blame a club worth hundreds of millions of pounds for not thinking about theirs.