Celtic - The Record Breaker's Stories - Mikael Lustig and Kieran Tierney

by Chris

Welcome to the eighteenth edition of the Sporting Lowdown advent calendar! This will be continued until the 24th December so any requests for my opinion will most likely be included in the 24 and in the future.

So after 69 matches of domestic domination, Celtic finally lost, and in style as Hearts smashed them 4-0 on Saturday. 16 year old Cochran slammed in from long range to put the Jambos ahead, swiftly followed by Northern Irishman Kyle Lafferty drilling in from distance also. David Milinkovic hit a double in the second half to secure Celtic's demise for the first time in Scotland since Ronny Deila was in charge. So who were the heroes who dominated Scottish football for so long? Here are two of the key men over the past two years, and this will culminate in more pieces in the near future. It's easy material guys, come on! ;)

Mikael LUSTIG

The 6 foot 2 inch right back was an essential piece in Brendan Rodgers's invincibles jigsaw, playing 29 games and scoring once last season, as well as notably providing a rabona assist to Moussa Dembele in a goal nominated for the Ferenc Puskas award, eventually won by Olivier Giroud. 

He began his career at Swedish minnows Umea FC, where he played 32 times from 2004-2005, scoring once. The club are currently plying their trade in the Swedish third tier, and Lustig was snapped up by Allvenskan side GIF Sundsvall after impressing in lower divisions. He became a regular at the top division side before they were relegated in 2006. They eventually were promoted again and Lustig attracted interest from Scandinavia and beyond, but he chose Norwegian side Rosenborg BK.

After four very successful seasons with Rosenborg, playing 95 times and scoring 14, he joined Celtic in January 2012 under Neil Lennon, but took 2 months to make his debut, a draw with Aberdeen. He never became a real regular for the side until the final season of Ronny Deila, where he made 30 appearances and scored 4 times.

Although he hasn't been a regular for Celtic until quite recently, he's been a stalwart for his native Sweden in the past two European Championships, and at the age of 31 he's played an impressive 63 times for his country. He's currently hauled 6 Scottish League titles, 2 Scottish Cups, and 3 Scottish League Cups in his time with the Hoops.

Kieran TIERNEY

One of the more youthful prospects in this Celtic side, Kieran Tierney's history has only just begun, the potential is incredible. Born in the Isle of Man in 1997, Tierney was a boyhood Celtic supporter and came through the clubs academy, having joined at the age of 7. 

He made his Celtic debut in April 2015 under Ronny Deila, but really came into his own in the next season, displacing experienced Honduran Emilio Izaguirre to the bench. In this season, 2015-16, he won both Players' and Scottish Football Writers's Young Player of the Year awards. Despite interest from Liverpool and Manchester United, Tierney extended his contract at Parkhead till 2021. 

Although suffering a few lengthy injuries in the invincibles' season, Tierney featured in more than 40 matches last season, resulting in him winning the PFA Young Player of the Year award for a second consecutive year, becoming the first to do so since the now Hearts manager Craig Levein in 1986.

Tierney, at the beginning of this season, was named as skipper for the first time, in a League Cup match against Albion Rovers. He has extended his contract further till 2023 amid more interest from Premier League super clubs.

Thank you for reading the second part of the record breaker's stories, and another should be out soon!

Chris :)