Unleashing the Beast

What version of Kieran Tierney is returning to Celtic?

Perhaps one of the most universally accepted ideas within the Celtic support is that the return of Kieran Tierney brings with it one major risk: injuries. This column is going to explore that issue, but also review his performance data from his two most robust “recent” seasons relative to minutes played.

Are there other risks? How much will the 28 year old Tierney resemble the young man we all remember so fondly?

Importantly, I am in no way someone with medical training or education. What follows is my attempt to share information from public reports, use some critical thinking to try and connect some dots, and speculate a bit on associated topics. For anyone particularly interested, Tierney’s August 2020 appearance on the Open Goal show involved an extended conversation about his injuries at Celtic during the 2018-2019 season.

He appears to have suffered a severe case of osteitis pubis, which is inflammation in the joint at the front of the pelvis - i.e. hip. It is most commonly seen in young athletes who are still physically developing and results from overuse and repetitive stress. Probably relatedly, he experienced a double hernia and subsequently had corrective surgery.

Osteitis pubis can result in altered biomechanics due to the joint instability, which can then manifest in muscle and tendon injuries: particularly groin, hamstring and adductor muscles and connected tendons. All of this information is publicly available relative to the description of that specific injury.

Again, using public sources, his injury history was as followed:

2019-2020 Shoulder

2020-2021 Groin and two periods out with knee

2021-2022 Knee surgery and then ankle

2023-2024 Two periods with hamstring and one with adductor

2024-2025 Hamstring

Given the description of the potential risks of osteitis pubis, it does not seem crazy to me to theorize that the muscle injuries of the past two seasons could still be related. Was it possible that his biomechanics, i.e. the way he runs, may have been permanently altered from the injury?