Poor Alan Smith. A razor sharp finisher in the 1990s, the Arsenal old boy passed up an open goal during the 1-1 draw with Brentford.
Addressing Kieran Tierney’s first Gunners start for two years, Amazon Prime’s co-commentator fired an effort straight into row Z.
“You would think Tierney would leave Arsenal in the summer,” he mused, blissfully unaware of a pre-contract agreement with Celtic. Oh to be a fly on the wall when somebody breaks the news that the Beatles have split up and Trump is back in the White House.
To cut the big guy some slack few expected the Scotland defender to return to Glasgow as soon as this.
Not when he is back playing for an Arsenal team sitting second in the English Premier League. By 10pm Wednesday night he could be a Champions League semi-finalist. And most players at that level would think twice before giving the SPFL the gum off their shoe.
That £80 million burning a hole in Celtic’s bank account might be a king’s ransom in Scotland. In England it wouldn’t purchase Bukayo Saka’s right leg.
Read more:
-
Rangers’ late equaliser at Aberdeen delays Celtic’s title coronation — for now
-
Spoils shared between Rangers and Celtic as Glasgow City go top of SWPL
And, while Tierney will be well rewarded for returning to his boyhood team there is no question that he could have earned more money elsewhere. Bayer Leverkusen, Sevilla, Juventus and Everton offered him the chance to spend the peak years of his career playing in Germany, Spain, Italy or England. By choosing games against Falkirk and Ross County, he is clearly allowing the pull of the heart to overrule the head.
That said, those accusing him of a lack of ambition, should try to understand his motivation for returning this summer. A wealthy young man after five years in London, the left-back never lost sight of his working-class roots. When he turned up for a game against Sheffield United carrying his toiletries in a Tesco bag it was never an affectation for the cameras. It is who he is.
His mother remains his inspiration. Irene Tierney worked multiple jobs to support her boy’s career, while dad Michael drove him all over the country to play football.
Earning more in a year than his parents can realistically hope to make in a lifetime, a return to Scotland offers the chance to repay his folks for all that hard work and sacrifice. It’s time to give them something back.
The seeds of the move were planted at Celtic’s annual charity gala in London in October. When images emerged of Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers chatting to the full-back it hardly required the powers of Nostradamus to work out what happened next. So long as he was under contract at Arsenal, talks had to wait until January. By then the London giants had passed up the option of another year on his contract.
His Emirates career, like his time at Euro 2024, had been cursed by mishap. Knee surgery – followed by the arrival of Oleksandr Zinchenko and Miles Lewis Skelly – curtailed his Gunners ambitions and triggered a painful slide down the pecking order under Mikel Arteta.
His Indian Summer under Arteta, meanwhile, is a reward for quietly playing the game. Shipped out on loan to Real Sociedad, there were no complaints, no public histrionics. When a season long loan ended he returned to London, knuckled down and did enough to persuade the Spaniard that letting him leave for Celtic in January would be a bad idea.
Saturday marked his first start since 2023 and he almost marked the occasion with his first goal in the English Premier League in four years. The moment was ruined – as so many are – by semi-automated VAR technology. Where offside lines in Scotland are unconvincing and drawn by crayon, the process was mercifully quick and conclusive.
Few expect Tierney to start against Real Madrid in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final on Wednesday. As Arsenal seek to protect their stunning three- goal lead, however, he will play a part. And, by the end he could be one of those most endangered of species; Scots in the last four of the Champions League.
Paul Lambert was the last player from these parts to lift the trophy then join Celtic. Then, as now, family circumstances carried more currency than the money. Rodgers also knows how that feels after he made a choice to return to Glasgow in the summer of last year.
It is too soon for fans to start fretting over Terminado: The Sequel. Yet one or two of the manager’s recent statements have heightened the suspicion that the summer transfer window will have a bearing on just how long he hangs around.
Remarks at the pre-match press conference before Saturday’s 5-1 win over Kilmarnock were widely construed as a warning to directors that if the team weren’t renewed, then the manager might be.
While he expressed surprise at the way his remarks were reported Rodgers must know, by now, that every word and every gesture by a Celtic manager is picked apart with a forensic attention to detail Hercule Poirot might find excessive.
While supporters welcomed the clarification that he plans to hang around until the end of his contract in the summer next year, no one doubted that he would. What happens after that is the question.
Far from silencing the speculation a 13th title in 14 years and another domestic treble will only make it louder.
Read more:
-
Kris Boyd winds up Celtic hero as Rangers deny title party with Pittodrie comeback
-
Rangers star Ianis Hagi explains 'fake news' jibe at media outlet
If Tierney is the calibre of player the Celtic board aspire to sign this summer then Rodgers might be persuaded to hang around beyond May 2026.
It’s now clear, however, that keeping Rangers at arm’s length doesn’t really cut it anymore. His horizons stretch further than the other side of Glasgow.
The Champions League is where it’s at. And, after reaching the play-off round and running Bayern Munich close in the Allianz Arena the arrival of Tierney is the first sign of the manager’s determination to keep moving forward. It won’t be the last.
He shouldn’t need to use questions over his future as leverage to secure the cash he needs to make Celtic better.
The money is there. And if the Parkhead board drag their heels so long that they allow an elite manager to walk out the door a second time the din will be so loud even Alan Smith might hear it.
