Don Hutchison heaped praise on Celtic defender Kieran Tierney and claimed he was just as good as Liverpool’s Andy Robertson.
The BBC pundit, regularly heard on BBC Radio 5 Live, shared that he thought Scotland would miss having the Reds’ left-back to call upon against Kazakhstan but that Tierney was a ready-made replacement.
Hutchison noted that while Robertson may be playing a better standard of football on a regular basis, Tierney was an unbelievable player.
“It’ll be a massive loss, he has been in unbelievable form for Liverpool this season but if, depending on the shape, there’s a ready-made replacement in the form of Kieran Tierney who is just as good as a player,” said Hutchison on BBC Radio 5 Live (Tuesday March 19th, 19:37).
“He’s probably not at same level in terms of standard of football Andy Robertson is playing, Champions League football, regular football, competing for titles but Kieran Tierney is an unbelievable player.”
OPINION
Celtic fans will appreciate Hutchison comparing Tierney with fellow Scot Robertson is such a positive light, but probably won’t appreciate the dig at Scottish football. While the pundit didn’t mean any harm by the remarks, to claim that Robertson is playing a better standard of football isn’t going to be appreciated. Yet if you just focus on the fact that the pundit is confident that Tierney is as good as Robertson, who earns £50,000-a-week (Source: Spotrac) then it’s easy to agree with him. With Robertson out of the clash between Scotland and Kazakhstan then it seems like an obvious decision for Alex McLeish to make by calling in Tierney to replace him. Hopefully the Hoops left-back is ready to deliver the goods for his nation and will come out of the clash unscathed. The 21-year-old hasn’t been back from injury for that long and it will be hugely frustrating if he gets injured on the break.