JUST when you think it can’t get any better for Kieran Tierney, up he comes with the kind of performance against Kilmarnock that you can only marvel at.

I know a run in the Betfred Cup might not have been high on the list of priorities for Killie this early in the season, but Celtic just completely ripped them apart them on Tuesday night, and the main man in so many ways was Kieran.

I say man – sometimes you forget he is only 20. But it seems that anything that is thrown at him, or whatever hurdle is put in his way, he just appears to fly over it.

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At first it was his early introduction into the Celtic first-team, then being thrust in to Champions League football, then being selected for the 
international team, becoming a right-back for Scotland because as a nation we don’t have one.

Then in midweek, he is made captain of Celtic for the League Cup tie against Kilmarnock. It just gets better and better for him – and then, when you are sitting there, marvelling at how well he is doing, he comes up with a contender for goal of the season. What a finish that was. And all this, and we are only just in to August.

Right now, there appears to be no limit to what he can achieve – and the great thing is, that at present, he just gets on with it – and he wants to do that with Celtic. There is no indication, and there appears to be no desire either, that he’d want to play his football elsewhere. That augurs well for the future.

He has maturity beyond his years, and it would appear, is a natural leader. I can’t see Scott Brown giving up the captaincy without a fight. But what a great position for Celtic and Brendan Rodgers to be in, with a ready-made captain waiting in the wings.

IT REALLY does just typify the feel-good factor around the club just now, helped by two major results in the last week since the Rosenborg tie, firstly in the Premiership opener with Hearts, and then against Kilmarnock.

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It has been a tough time for Hearts in the past week or so. But, I’m not sure it would have mattered if their preparations had been untroubled, Celtic would still have been too good for them.

There were signs – weighing up the performance level from the first game against the Norwegians in Glasgow, against the second half in Trondheim – that the team was nearly there, fitness and sharpness wise. And they really started to motor on Saturday, with a display that did round off a great afternoon after the unfurling of the championship flag.

THAT must have been really pleasing for the manager, that, despite a bit of adversity, with a couple of players missing through injury, that his side can just step up a gear again within a few days and pummel Hearts.
Nir Bitton seemed to drop in to defence quite comfortably. It isn’t the ideal solution, but when you’ve lost the likes of Eric Svaitchenko, and he chose to leave Kristoffer Ajer on the bench, Bitton wasn’t the worst deputy. 

And what a difference it was to see Leigh Griffiths starting in the last two games. Straight out the box after injury, back in the goals. 

And that can only help with the game against Astana on the horizon.
Those injuries aside, Rodgers must be delighted with the  start to the season, when really, the only things he needs to be thinking about are those Champions League qualifiers, and whether he wants to bring Patrick Roberts back for another season, or, maybe even on a permanent basis.

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For coverage out wide, Jonny Hayes has started well, and you know what you will get from James Forrest. I just think Roberts would be a great alternative, and, give you an option as a third striker.

You know what you’d be getting. He performed brilliantly at times for Celtic last term, he knows the set-up and the balance of the team, and he looks to be a good guy to have in the dressing room.

With a few tweaks and adjustments here and there, and maybe one or two more, it looks as if Celtic and Rodgers are right on the pace again from the off.

I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but this has been a magic start for Celtic to this campaign.