Jamesy (Forrest)<\/a> were sitting on the bench having a recovery shake afterwards, thinking, \u2018how hot was that?\u2019 And Daizen was down there doing press-ups! He’s a machine, a total machine!<\/p>\n\u201cYou think ‘how can he run like that all the time?’ But he’s like that in training as well. I\u2019ve never seen anyone who can sprint like that, consistently sprint and press.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a full-back, the amount of times that he helps you defensively as well, it’s a joy to play with.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1752910457_361_0_Celtic-FC-Media-Access.jpg\")
Kieran Tierney(Image: SNS Group)<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s not surprised me because I watched him for years, but the fact that he’s so consistent in his sprints is incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tierney is convinced he can form a formidable link with Maeda \u2013 because he\u2019s watched him so much on the television it feels like he\u2019s played alongside him for years.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cYou want any winger that you play with, you want to build a connection on and off the park with them, so we’ll get there. But I’ve also watched him play, so I know, even though he might never have seen me, but I know how he plays.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know how him and Greg (Taylor) worked, so I can take from that and learn well. If I’m in this position, I’ve seen Greg and stuff do this kind of move. So it’s not, it’s not a brand new system to me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWatching them for the last few years under the gaffer, I kind of know what he expects from his left-back as well.<\/p>\n
“And when you play with somebody like that and you know their strengths as well, it is easy to play with.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tierney and Maeda hit it off right away in Portugal \u2013 even though it meant a slight tweak to the way he played in his first spell with Celts.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cI played probably like a winger at times. But if you’ve got someone like Maeda, there’s maybe no need to do that because that’s his biggest strength and you’ve got so many goals and assists and chances.<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1752910457_335_0_Celtic-FC-Media-Access.jpg\")
(Image: SNS Group)<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, it’s just adapting to the players around you and trying to get the best out of everyone.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s just so many different variations that I’ve played before, whether it’s been here or Sociedad or Arsenal, even Scotland as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s stuff that I’ve done before as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tierney is well up for the challenge \u2013 and he can\u2019t hide his delight at being back home.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s always been a feeling he would return one day and he\u2019s just thrilled the chance has come when he\u2019s still in his prime rather than winding down his career.<\/p>\n
Tierney said: \u201cI thought this will be now or never, kind of time.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I don’t come back now and I end up signing somewhere else, I wouldn’t want to come back at 33 or that and maybe I’m slowing down.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel good just now. I’m in a good place and I’m obviously still young just now, so it’s good.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve still got a lot to achieve, a lot to give.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think honestly since I left, every summer or every time I started not to play, it was always the rumour that I would be back.<\/p>\n
“But it was something that was obviously hard to do at the time, but this time it was right and it was easy to do as a free agent, so it was perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tierney is back with six years of experience at the top level in England with Arsenal and Spain with Real Sociedad \u2013 and he\u2019s also returned as a leader in the dressing room.<\/p>\n
He said: “I’ll bring everything I can. I’ll try and help the younger boys who maybe haven’t had as much experience as that.<\/p>\n
\u201cLike when I was here, it was like (Scott) Broony and (Michel) Lustig, Charlie Mulgrew, and people like that. And now the older ones are, I probably fall into that category because it is quite a young squad.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I’m always there if anybody needs any help or any questions, like anything at all, whether it’s on the park, off the park. I feel like I’m more mature and I’ve learned a lot, so I’d be able to help people as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tierney will complete his emotional Parkhead return against Newcastle United today after admitting he hadn\u2019t even set foot in Celtic Park during his time away.<\/p>\n
There were plenty who expected to spot him in the standing section on occasion but the chance never came up.<\/p>\n
But Tierney joked: “Well, you never know, I might have! No, I didn’t get back up because we never had a weekend off where I could come.<\/p>\n
\u201cI went to Hampden for one of the semi-finals, but no, never back here.<\/p>\n
“It’ll be very special. It will be a very special day. It’ll be the first time I’ve been on the park for six years, so it’s a long time. That will be amazing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’ll be a wee bit nervous, but excited and buzzing for it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The returning hero tuned into Celtic games every week during his six years away from the clubKieran Tierney…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":274150,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4100],"tags":[2628,15304,94,4152,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-274149","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-football","8":"tag-celtic-fc","9":"tag-charlie-mulgrew","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-kieran-tierney","12":"tag-sports","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114878747474556077","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274149","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=274149"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/274149\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/274150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=274149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=274149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=274149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0_JS374691036.jpg\")
Kieran Tierney and Adam Idah train in Cork<\/p>\n