Kieran Tierney

If you sign a player from the scottish league - you don't know how he will adapt to the P.L -BUT:
1) He looks head and shoulders above everyone else in that side
2) Quite a few times when I have watched Celtic, he has been their best attacking player.

Sign him and Sessegnon - and together with Shaw,we should be fine for many years to come.
 
Living in Glasgow and attending all Scotland games for past 3 years, I have seen a lot of Tierney. Good player? Yes. Very level headed as well. Good enough for Utd? No. Full back has become such a prominent position and you need that top level pace and quality to play for a team like Utd. He’s just a level below that. Very similar to Andy Robertson although I would say Tierney is slightly better. Celtic fans would likely disagree with me but from an objective stand point, he’s not got the qualities required for a top European side.

stick Ashley Young, Luke Shaw or Daley Blind in that Scotland team and have them play left back, you'd be saying the exact same things That's a terrible Scotland team and the fact a young lad like him has come in and done so well speaks volumes for him. I'm surprised you list pace as a weakness, that's one of his strengths. Not saying this move will happen, I think we have other areas we should be looking at, but I could see why Jose might like him.He can play right back also, can and has played in a back 3 and he is very physical. He puts in a great cross also. He has weaknesses no doubt, but put him in a team with top players and i think he'll blossom.
 
stick Ashley Young, Luke Shaw or Daley Blind in that Scotland team and have them play left back, you'd be saying the exact same things That's a terrible Scotland team and the fact a young lad like him has come in and done so well speaks volumes for him. I'm surprised you list pace as a weakness, that's one of his strengths. Not saying this move will happen, I think we have other areas we should be looking at, but I could see why Jose might like him.He can play right back also, can and has played in a back 3 and he is very physical. He puts in a great cross also. He has weaknesses no doubt, but put him in a team with top players and i think he'll blossom.

I didn't say it was a weakness - i said he didn't have top level pace. He doesn't. That doesn't mean he is slow, just that he does not have the acceleration of the top European full backs.

He's poor at right back and if you've watched him enough then you'll know that - that's not his fault, its by no means his position. People should not be using that as an additional quality/reason for buying him. As for crossing, yes he does put a good ball in albeit not as good as Robertson from the left.

I'm not saying he's a poor player - far from it. I'm just saying he doesn't have the qualities a top European side need in that particular position. If we're talking about someone "doing a job" then of course he could but we're not talking about that - we're talking about coming into Utd and making that position his own. He's a good player just not that level.
 
I didn't say it was a weakness - i said he didn't have top level pace. He doesn't. That doesn't mean he is slow, just that he does not have the acceleration of the top European full backs.

He's poor at right back and if you've watched him enough then you'll know that - that's not his fault, its by no means his position. People should not be using that as an additional quality/reason for buying him. As for crossing, yes he does put a good ball in albeit not as good as Robertson from the left.

I'm not saying he's a poor player - far from it. I'm just saying he doesn't have the qualities a top European side need in that particular position. If we're talking about someone "doing a job" then of course he could but we're not talking about that - we're talking about coming into Utd and making that position his own. He's a good player just not that level.
How would you rate his potential compared to Shaw's?
 
I don't really get this SPL criticism stuff. You can always employ the wait-and-see approach that proved so cost-effective for Liverpool with Van Dijk and Spurs with Wanyama. You judge these players on the big domestic games (the old firm), on European performances and in international games. That should be enough of an evidence base to come to a conclusion on the player.

Spending €70m on a fullback like Sandro when we already have Shaw who seems to be doing well again would be silly and it would hamper us in our pursuit for a CM and RW.

It would make sense signing someone who has been described as being the best Scottish talent since the 80's to battle it out with Shaw for the LB spot. The competition should bring out the best in both Shaw and Tierney and it would give credence to what Mourinho said in his presser about leaving a good team for his successor.
Nah, that's just the media up here getting carried away. It's hardly a stacked pool, but Barry Ferguson was consistently bossing Champions League and UEFA Cup games at the same age. To be honest, Alan Hutton probably showed more around 2007 in Europe and with Scotland than what Tierney has to date. That said, Hutton was 22/23, while Tierney is only 20 and has more scope for development. He'd easily be comfortable in the top half of the Premier League, has the requisite physical qualities and a good left peg. He's done pretty well on the whole in the CL, more so last season as I think he struggled at times this year. Don't think Rodgers helps him in that regard, as he regularly gets overloaded by flying right-backs that Sinclair can't be arsed tracking. Not actually having a great season, but he's been playing at a high level from a young age which means there will always be bumps along the road. As for United, don't see the rush to replace Young and Shaw. Really you want to see if Shaw realises his potential and allow him some decent time to get back from the break.
 
I don't really get this SPL criticism stuff. You can always employ the wait-and-see approach that proved so cost-effective for Liverpool with Van Dijk and Spurs with Wanyama. You judge these players on the big domestic games (the old firm), on European performances and in international games. That should be enough of an evidence base to come to a conclusion on the player.


Nah, that's just the media up here getting carried away. It's hardly a stacked pool, but Barry Ferguson was consistently bossing Champions League and UEFA Cup games at the same age. To be honest, Alan Hutton probably showed more around 2007 in Europe and with Scotland than what Tierney has to date. That said, Hutton was 22/23, while Tierney is only 20 and has more scope for development. He'd easily be comfortable in the top half of the Premier League, has the requisite physical qualities and a good left peg. He's done pretty well on the whole in the CL, more so last season as I think he struggled at times this year. Don't think Rodgers helps him in that regard, as he regularly gets overloaded by flying right-backs that Sinclair can't be arsed tracking. Not actually having a great season, but he's been playing at a high level from a young age which means there will always be bumps along the road. As for United, don't see the rush to replace Young and Shaw. Really you want to see if Shaw realises his potential and allow him some decent time to get back from the break.
With someone that is not exactly better.
 
Spending €70m on a fullback like Sandro when we already have Shaw who seems to be doing well again would be silly and it would hamper us in our pursuit for a CM and RW.

It would make sense signing someone who has been described as being the best Scottish talent since the 80's to battle it out with Shaw for the LB spot. The competition should bring out the best in both Shaw and Tierney and it would give credence to what Mourinho said in his presser about leaving a good team for his successor.
Surely it is better to sign an elite worldclass player to upgrade a position rather than signing a not-so-better 'competition'? Signing a competition will leave us with two above average LBs - bit harsh though.
Theoretically, do you think it is better to sign Rashford to provide competition for Martial rather than signing Neymar to upgrade Martial?
 
I didn't say it was a weakness - i said he didn't have top level pace. He doesn't. That doesn't mean he is slow, just that he does not have the acceleration of the top European full backs.

He's poor at right back and if you've watched him enough then you'll know that - that's not his fault, its by no means his position. People should not be using that as an additional quality/reason for buying him. As for crossing, yes he does put a good ball in albeit not as good as Robertson from the left.

I'm not saying he's a poor player - far from it. I'm just saying he doesn't have the qualities a top European side need in that particular position. If we're talking about someone "doing a job" then of course he could but we're not talking about that - we're talking about coming into Utd and making that position his own. He's a good player just not that level.

so a defender who has played in a back 4 and a back 3, you don't think a manager like Jose would see that as a strength, considering we have played both sets ups at different times in this very season. I disagree wholeheartedly re your concerns on his pace. He has top level pace needed for that position.Even if he didn't I don't see that as an issue. We need a good defender who can defend and get forward and whip in crosses, which he does. I think football has changed, people want instant players these days. Is Tierney the finished article, no, but who is really. I really like this kid, reminds me so much of Denis Irwin who was one of my fav players, coincidentally a player you wouldn't describe as having "acceleration of the top European full backs". Will this move happen, probably not, as I mentioned earlier I'd prefer we targeted other positions. But to use a few Scotland games as a barometer seems weak to me. In that same time he played extremely well against the likes of Sterling v City and Robben v Bayern in CL, for sure Celtic have taken a few pastings as well, but all part of his learning. He will go to a top club, no doubt about it, it's just when and who imo.
 
Difficult because they have different qualities. I think Tierney is a slightly better defender, however, no doubt who is better going forward - Shaw.
Fair enough. From the videos of Tierney, it looked like the opposite, in that he's better going forward and delivering dangerous crosses. The one real aspect of Shaw's game that can be improved is his mediocre crossing ability.
 
so a defender who has played in a back 4 and a back 3, you don't think a manager like Jose would see that as a strength, considering we have played both sets ups at different times in this very season. I disagree wholeheartedly re your concerns on his pace. He has top level pace needed for that position.Even if he didn't I don't see that as an issue. We need a good defender who can defend and get forward and whip in crosses, which he does. I think football has changed, people want instant players these days. Is Tierney the finished article, no, but who is really. I really like this kid, reminds me so much of Denis Irwin who was one of my fav players, coincidentally a player you wouldn't describe as having "acceleration of the top European full backs". Will this move happen, probably not, as I mentioned earlier I'd prefer we targeted other positions. But to use a few Scotland games as a barometer seems weak to me. In that same time he played extremely well against the likes of Sterling v City and Robben v Bayern in CL, for sure Celtic have taken a few pastings as well, but all part of his learning. He will go to a top club, no doubt about it, it's just when and who imo.

Again, at no point have I based my opinion on “a few Scotland games” so you can forget that. Denis Irwin was fantastic but he was never played in a team where he had to provide the natural width - under Mourinho the full back is expected to do that so the comparison is pointless.

Did I mention the back 3? No. I said he’s poor at right back - which he is. Aside from that, a player who can play multiple positions is not something Mourinho looks for - he’s always looked for “specialists” as he calls it.
 
Tierney gets the purist in me purring as he is a young lion from the Isles who can battle it out with another young lion in Shaw, like Martial and Rashford are doing.

However the reality is that we have no idea if Tierney is good enough despite being a specialist LB with exciting looking skills. He is young and playing in a secondary league and United might be too big a step for him.

The problem from what I can gather is that Sandro costs a staggering amount of money. I suppose thats what top left backs cost these days (sigh arab money sigh). We need proven players of his calibre but we also have much bigger concerns in midfield, right wing and perhaps even right back. If signing Sandro impacts our ability to solve these more important areas then we should keep our powder dry.... assuming that we actually sign top talent where we need it most.
 
Again, at no point have I based my opinion on “a few Scotland games” so you can forget that. Denis Irwin was fantastic but he was never played in a team where he had to provide the natural width - under Mourinho the full back is expected to do that so the comparison is pointless.

Did I mention the back 3? No. I said he’s poor at right back - which he is. Aside from that, a player who can play multiple positions is not something Mourinho looks for - he’s always looked for “specialists” as he calls it.

You said you've been watching Scotland for last 3 yrs. He made his debut in March 2016 for them. Between that time and now, not a lot of games in fairness to make a judgement on a young player playing in a woeful team. The comparison with Irwin was in their styles, both loved to get forward but both could defend.Jose made that specialist reference in regards to Rooney, he shut down asap any thoughts of him playing as a midfielder. In practice this season, he has had 2 wingers as full backs, 2 strikers as wide men, Miki in number 10 and on wing, same with Mata. Lukaku pushed out wide when Ibra has come on. You might say it isn't his team, but it's not going to be his team in this window and possibly not even in the summer, so versatility will be important to him, esp for a manger who is so pragmatic when it comes to tactics.This lad isn't an O'shea, in that he can play everywhere, he's a specialist left back, who if needed can play central defence, right back, or left side of back 3. His strongest position is left back.
 
I think he would be ideal for us. It's lazy to keep talking about Scotland as if they don't play actual football up there. I've heard the same shite in here about Van Dijk before he moved and about Wanyama before him. They looked like class players up there. Turned out they were actually class players.
Shaw has looked great of late, Tierney would be ideal back-up/ competition, whatever way you want to look at it.
The talk of Sandro or whoever elevating us to another level, a level we can't reach with a fit and motivated Shaw is bollocks. Let's put the real cash in to centre mid, a right winger or a 10.
 
You said you've been watching Scotland for last 3 yrs. He made his debut in March 2016 for them. Between that time and now, not a lot of games in fairness to make a judgement on a young player playing in a woeful team. The comparison with Irwin was in their styles, both loved to get forward but both could defend.Jose made that specialist reference in regards to Rooney, he shut down asap any thoughts of him playing as a midfielder. In practice this season, he has had 2 wingers as full backs, 2 strikers as wide men, Miki in number 10 and on wing, same with Mata. Lukaku pushed out wide when Ibra has come on. You might say it isn't his team, but it's not going to be his team in this window and possibly not even in the summer, so versatility will be important to him, esp for a manger who is so pragmatic when it comes to tactics.This lad isn't an O'shea, in that he can play everywhere, he's a specialist left back, who if needed can play central defence, right back, or left side of back 3. His strongest position is left back.

If you read my post again, i also said i live in Glasgow. Given many of my closest mates are Celtic fans, I've been fortunate to watch a lot of Tierney - both in the flesh and on TV. My thoughts on Tierney have been formed over watching him for a prolonged period of time.

While we're at it, I'm quite capable of forming an opinion on a player despite playing in a poor team so you can take that to the side as well.
 
If you read my post again, i also said i live in Glasgow. Given many of my closest mates are Celtic fans, I've been fortunate to watch a lot of Tierney - both in the flesh and on TV. My thoughts on Tierney have been formed over watching him for a prolonged period of time.

While we're at it, I'm quite capable of forming an opinion on a player despite playing in a poor team so you can take that to the side as well.

how convenient eh. All joking aside I respect your opinion, it's just your pace concerns you have re him that i don't agree with. Is he a Kyle Walker type speed merchant- NO, he's an exception. I tell you what he is as quick and as powerful as Sandro. Not saying he's better or worse than him.Maybe you have other concerns re him that you haven't expressed, but pace or lack of at any level for him isn't an issue. If anything he might be a bit suspect on a team with a high press, but then again who isn't.I know Celtic have had some hidings in the CL , but last season and this season he had 2 of his best games, one v Sterling in the City game and this season v Robben.
 
I can see Young and Valencia rotating at RB next season when we play 4 at the back. Keep them both fresh. Valencia for the games we need to be a little more solid. Young when we need more penetration from wide. Wouldn't be surprised to see Darmian move back to Italy. I can imagine us signing either Sessegnon or Tierney to compete with Shaw. Shouldn't be spending more than £30m on either of them though.
 
Surely it is better to sign an elite worldclass player to upgrade a position rather than signing a not-so-better 'competition'? Signing a competition will leave us with two above average LBs - bit harsh though.
Theoretically, do you think it is better to sign Rashford to provide competition for Martial rather than signing Neymar to upgrade Martial?
I would rather sign Tierney for £25m and have more than enough still left in the budget to sign someone like Dybala, Savic,Mahrez etc, than to spend around £70m on Sandro and look for cheaper alternatives in attack.
 
I would rather sign Tierney for £25m and have more than enough still left in the budget to sign someone like Dybala, Savic,Mahrez etc, than to spend around £70m on Sandro and look for cheaper alternatives in attack.

Or just not sign Tierney.
 
And sign who instead?

Not sure we need a left back. Not sure Tierney is better than Shaw. And I think your point about keeping cash back for a big attacking investment is a good one.
 
Not sure we need a left back. Not sure Tierney is better than Shaw. And I think your point about keeping cash back for a big attacking investment is a good one.

Do you think he (Tierney) is better than Blind/Darmian/Rojo at left back?
 
Spending €70m on a fullback like Sandro when we already have Shaw who seems to be doing well again would be silly and it would hamper us in our pursuit for a CM and RW.

It would make sense signing someone who has been described as being the best Scottish talent since the 80's to battle it out with Shaw for the LB spot. The competition should bring out the best in both Shaw and Tierney and it would give credence to what Mourinho said in his presser about leaving a good team for his successor.

Please explain to me how adding a top 3/4 LB in the world is 'silly'. United aren't in a position to be turning their noses up at the opportunity to add world-class players to their team, they don't have enough of them compared to the likes of City and there aren't many available these days - especially for a reasonable price. Unlike Tierney, he would instantly upgrade United's team and provide them a top quality addition to the starting XI.

You should be more than capable of spending ~£60m on Sandro and still have the money left to recruit top quality additions to CM and RW, especially if you can offload a few in the summer and recoup a bit of money. Sandro, Jorginho & Carrasco or Sandro, Milinkovic-Savic & Mahrez should only be around £180m for example, definitely within United's budget if they can offload 2 or 3 fringe players.
 
Please explain to me how adding a top 3/4 LB in the world is 'silly'. United aren't in a position to be turning their noses up at the opportunity to add world-class players to their team, they don't have enough of them compared to the likes of City and there aren't many available these days - especially for a reasonable price. Unlike Tierney, he would instantly upgrade United's team and provide them a top quality addition to the starting XI.

You should be more than capable of spending ~£60m on Sandro and still have the money left to recruit top quality additions to CM and RW, especially if you can offload a few in the summer and recoup a bit of money. Sandro, Jorginho & Carrasco or Sandro, Milinkovic-Savic & Mahrez should only be around £180m for example, definitely within United's budget if they can offload 2 or 3 fringe players.
Did I say signing Sandro would be 'silly'?:rolleyes:

Signing a LB for £70m doesn't make sense when we're in need of serious upgrades in attack. Dybala on his own some say would cost in the region of £150m. Savic right now is valued at a €100m by Lazio and that's without including the winger Mourinho reportedly wants.

How many times have you seen Tierney play?
 
Did I say signing Sandro would be 'silly'?:rolleyes:

Spending €70m on a fullback like Sandro when we already have Shaw who seems to be doing well again would be silly

Yes, you did.

Signing a LB for £70m doesn't make sense when we're in need of serious upgrades in attack. Dybala on his own some say would cost in the region of £150m. Savic right now is valued at a €100m by Lazio and that's without including the winger Mourinho reportedly wants.

How many times have you seen Tierney play?

Having a world-class attacking LB/LWB would make a massive difference to United offensively.

So you are going to turn down the chance to sign Sandro so you can continue the pipedream of signing Dybala? Isn't this what Moyes did when he missed out on top quality players because he spent all summer chasing Fabregas and Bale?

I'm going on the assumption that Lazio would probably take less, especially if Savic wanted the move, but even if it is €100, that's around £88m. Add £62m or so for Sandro, I'm convinced United still have plenty of money to play with for a RW if they wanted.

Which winger are we speaking about, out of interest? Lucas Moura? Joao Mario? Perisic still?

And I've seen him play enough. A few of those times it's been difficult to gauge him as a LB as he's been playing CB for Celtic or RB for Scotland a few of those times I've seen him, but I've seen a fair bit of their European games with him at LB.

I think he's a good player, don't get me wrong, and has a great attitude to the extent I think he will fulfill his potential, I'm just not sure how high his ceiling actually is, and he's nowhere near as proven or as good as Sandro right now.

If Sandro wasn't seemingly available for a good price, I would probably put Tierney near the top of potential LB's I would say United should get, but my point is that United simply need more world-class players to compete with the likes of City and can't turn down the opportunity to sign them if they are available, fit the team and fill a need, all of which Sandro does.
 
Do you think he (Tierney) is better than Blind/Darmian/Rojo at left back?

Yes but maybe not Young. Blind, Young and Shaw is good enough I think. Or if it isn't, because we want a big upgrade, then it actually makes more sense to buy Sandro.
 
Yes, you did.



Having a world-class attacking LB/LWB would make a massive difference to United offensively.

So you are going to turn down the chance to sign Sandro so you can continue the pipedream of signing Dybala? Isn't this what Moyes did when he missed out on top quality players because he spent all summer chasing Fabregas and Bale?

I'm going on the assumption that Lazio would probably take less, especially if Savic wanted the move, but even if it is €100, that's around £88m. Add £62m or so for Sandro, I'm convinced United still have plenty of money to play with for a RW if they wanted.

Which winger are we speaking about, out of interest? Lucas Moura? Joao Mario? Perisic still?

And I've seen him play enough. A few of those times it's been difficult to gauge him as a LB as he's been playing CB for Celtic or RB for Scotland a few of those times I've seen him, but I've seen a fair bit of their European games with him at LB.

I think he's a good player, don't get me wrong, and has a great attitude to the extent I think he will fulfill his potential, I'm just not sure how high his ceiling actually is, and he's nowhere near as proven or as good as Sandro right now.

If Sandro wasn't seemingly available for a good price, I would probably put Tierney near the top of potential LB's I would say United should get, but my point is that United simply need more world-class players to compete with the likes of City and can't turn down the opportunity to sign them if they are available, fit the team and fill a need, all of which Sandro does.
The idea of shelling out £70m on a LB when we already have Shaw at the club and other glaring weaknesses in our attack would be silly. Sandro is a very good fullback but spending £70m on him would have a impact on our other other potential recruits because we're owned by the Glazers and so have a budget in comparison to Sheikh Mansour and Qatar.

We absolutely need more world class players no question but we should be sensible about how we recruit and not just start throwing money about and look at the bigger picture.
Signing a hot prospect for the LB position would enable us to go that bit further in trying to recruit someone like Dybala who I believe Juve would sell if we put a big enough offer down. €150m and the decision would then rest on the player to decide if he wants to join. With Pogba reportedly a close friend I wouldn't be surprised to see him end up here regardless of wether you think that's a pipe dream or not..

I don't believe it's necessary for us to spend a fortune on a LB as things stand and would welcome a move for a hot prospect like Tierney so we can go all out for marquee signings in attack.
 
The idea of shelling out £70m on a LB when we already have Shaw at the club and other glaring weaknesses in our attack would be silly. Sandro is a very good fullback but spending £70m on him would have a impact on our other other potential recruits because we're owned by the Glazers and so have a budget in comparison to Sheikh Mansour and Qatar.

We absolutely need more world class players no question but we should be sensible about how we recruit and not just start throwing money about and look at the bigger picture.
Signing a hot prospect for the LB position would enable us to go that bit further in trying to recruit someone like Dybala who I believe Juve would sell if we put a big enough offer down. €150m and the decision would then rest on the player to decide if he wants to join. With Pogba reportedly a close friend I wouldn't be surprised to see him end up here regardless of wether you think that's a pipe dream or not..

I don't believe it's necessary for us to spend a fortune on a LB as things stand and would welcome a move for a hot prospect like Tierney so we can go all out for marquee signings in attack.
fabrizio romano on twitter just tweeted that Sando will be staying and will not be sold in the winter market. EDIT: he didnt tweet it but he wrote an article. http://www.calciomercato.com/en/new...-s-heir-but-won-t-make-an-offer-for-rom-55614
 
The idea of shelling out £70m on a LB when we already have Shaw at the club and other glaring weaknesses in our attack would be silly. Sandro is a very good fullback but spending £70m on him would have a impact on our other other potential recruits because we're owned by the Glazers and so have a budget in comparison to Sheikh Mansour and Qatar.

We absolutely need more world class players no question but we should be sensible about how we recruit and not just start throwing money about and look at the bigger picture.
Signing a hot prospect for the LB position would enable us to go that bit further in trying to recruit someone like Dybala who I believe Juve would sell if we put a big enough offer down. €150m and the decision would then rest on the player to decide if he wants to join. With Pogba reportedly a close friend I wouldn't be surprised to see him end up here regardless of wether you think that's a pipe dream or not..

I don't believe it's necessary for us to spend a fortune on a LB as things stand and would welcome a move for a hot prospect like Tierney so we can go all out for marquee signings in attack.

You've completely ignored my points about how a world-class attacking LB would improve United's attack.

You then go on to say 'yeah we need world-class players, but shouldn't just throw money about', before talking about spending £150m on one player.

I don't regard £60m on Sandro as 'throwing money about', it's getting a world-class player who's top 3 or 4 in his position at his market value.

You've also ignored the point about United needing an immediate upgrade, and how a 'hot prospect like Tierney' doesn't provide that.

You can mention Luke Shaw all you want, he's had about four 7/10 games since he's been back in the side and that's about it. Hardly the sort of thing that is going to make you turn round and say 'we don't need a LB now, we're sorted', especially given his track record.
 
You've completely ignored my points about how a world-class attacking LB would improve United's attack.

You then go on to say 'yeah we need world-class players, but shouldn't just throw money about', before talking about spending £150m on one player.

I don't regard £60m on Sandro as 'throwing money about', it's getting a world-class player who's top 3 or 4 in his position at his market value.

You've also ignored the point about United needing an immediate upgrade, and how a 'hot prospect like Tierney' doesn't provide that.

You can mention Luke Shaw all you want, he's had about four 7/10 games since he's been back in the side and that's about it. Hardly the sort of thing that is going to make you turn round and say 'we don't need a LB now, we're sorted', especially given his track record.
You've completely ignored my points about why I don't think we need to spend £70 m on a fullback when we're quite short in attacking areas which as far as I'm concerned is a more pressing need considering we're over reliant on Pogba to create. I'd happily throw money at Juve for Dybala because he would improve us much more as a team than Sandro would as a fullback. Dybala would be a much bigger up grade, and we don't need a immediate upgrade to our LB position as things stand imo.

I never said we didn't need a LB due to Shaw showing signs of improvement. We don't need to shell out a world record fee for a fullback to improve our options at fullback because our options at fullback are no where near as bad as some of you are making it out to be. We need to prioritize our attack first which as far as i'm concerned needs a immediate upgrade in two or three positions.
 
Celtic fans might rate him as the best thing ever but it's worth bearing in mind the calibre of opposition in the SPL. Even the most physically developed players like Wanyama and van Dijk have needed a middle step before moving on to the bigger teams here.

I can't claim to have watched a whole lot of him but from the bits I have seen he strikes me as pretty ordinary. Suggestions of him being better than Shaw seem way off base to me.
Ammm no! That's a very wrong assumption to make. They did not HAVE to take a middle step they were forced to due to lack of top 6 interest and have actually proved the opposite. That they were of top 6 standard after all.

Difficult because they have different qualities. I think Tierney is a slightly better defender, however, no doubt who is better going forward - Shaw.
I have read you go on and on about him, in what has now turned into full shock. For someone who claims to know about Scottish football because of your time up there to make an outrageous claim that Shaw is better than Tierney going forward is talking total rubbish. Shaw going forward is the weakest part of his game. Tierney is fast and he is a good defender and he is much better at attacking and getting to the byline than Shaw. Shaw is a bit ahead of him right now all round but he has the tools and that ability to step up is the unknown until hes tested and so far he looks to have it in him. Only one way to find out.

how convenient eh. All joking aside I respect your opinion, it's just your pace concerns you have re him that i don't agree with. Is he a Kyle Walker type speed merchant- NO, he's an exception. I tell you what he is as quick and as powerful as Sandro. Not saying he's better or worse than him.Maybe you have other concerns re him that you haven't expressed, but pace or lack of at any level for him isn't an issue. If anything he might be a bit suspect on a team with a high press, but then again who isn't.I know Celtic have had some hidings in the CL , but last season and this season he had 2 of his best games, one v Sterling in the City game and this season v Robben.
Exactly. People who claim to have watched a lot of him and think he is not up to the task have clearly not watched him that often or in the champions league. He has held his own and even shone against some of the best teams in Europe, playing in a very ordinary but improving Celtic side.
Is he better than Shaw or as good as Wanyama and Van Dijk? I don't know with a any amount of accuracy, nobody does. But what I am sure of is he is a better prospect now than Shaw was when we bought him. Plus he has champions league experience and not looked out of his depth.

As someone who has seen him. I say at 20 he's worth a punt now as we can get him on the relative cheap. If it doesn't work out Celtic will have him back on loan. So i guess the question is simple. Is it worth buying another Shaw in the hope one of them turns into a top fullback. I think it's a pretty safe bet as long as it wasn't crazy money as he would get a good price anyhow at premiership level somwhere and if it did work out we are on the pigs back.
 
Neither did and both could have made a move straight away to a top club but no one took the gamble.
Ammm no! That's a very wrong assumption to make. They did not HAVE to take a middle step they were forced to due to lack of top 6 interest and have actually proved the opposite. That they were of top 6 standard after all.
Well that's kind of the point, it was a gamble and none of the top sides were willing to take it. It's easy to say in hindsight they were good enough anyway but both of them had the benefit of 2-3 years in an environment with relatively little pressure while they adjusted.
 
Spending 150m on Dybala when there's many other problems in the team is sillier than paying 70m for Sandro.
 
Spending 150m on Dybala when there's many other problems in the team is sillier than paying 70m for Sandro.

I somewhat agree but he is a great signing in a position where we need a top player. Alternatively we spread it around like we did with Matic, Miki, Lindelof and Lukaku. Not sure which is better long term.