Tierney wants permanent move to U's

Carl Marston

Colchester soccer (with Marc Tierney pic)

By Carl Marston

LOANEE Marc Tierney has confirmed that he expects to sign permanently for Colchester United when the transfer window reopens at the start of January.

The highly-rated Tierney enjoyed an excellent debut in the 2-1 win at Northampton Town on Saturday, just 48 hours after signing on loan from Shrewsbury Town.

League Two promotion hopefuls Shrewsbury did not want to lose their talented left-back, but Tierney did not take long to agree a temporary switch to the U's, with the promise of a permanent contract next month.

“Long-term, I'm looking to sign for Colchester permanently. It's now just about a fee being sorted out for me,” revealed Tierney, whose current contract at Shrewsbury expires next summer.

“I made my decision quickly, having spoken to the chairman (Robbie Cowling) and the gaffer (Paul Lambert). I had a great season at Shrewsbury last year, but I'm looking to push on now.

“I'm impressed with the ambition of the club. They match mine, because they too want to get back into the Championship. My mind was made up after speaking to the manager.

“Despite the lowly league position, I knew that there were some very good players here,” added Tierney. The win at Northampton lifted the U's from 20th to 16th in the table.

Left-back Tierney was crowned Shrewsbury's player-of-the-year last term, and had helped to guide the Shrews into fourth spot before his departure last week.

Ironically, his older brother Paul Tierney also had a loan spell at Colchester, while on the books of Manchester United, back in 2004. Also a left-back, older brother Paul had an indifferent time at Layer Road, making four just appearances.

He featured in two of the U's most disappointing games of that exciting season - the 3-2 home defeat to Southend in the first leg of the LDV Vans Trophy southern area final, and the 1-0 defeat at Sheffield United in the fifth round of the FA Cup. He is now playing for Altrincham in the Blue Square Premier.

The U's current Tierney, Marc, continued: “My brother (Paul Tierney) had a spell at Colchester a few years ago, and of course I spoke to him about it and about my possible move.

“He told me about the club and the town, but to be honest I had already made up my mind by then. Paul also knows the manager (Paul Lambert) well from playing under him at Livingston.

“I also had a chat with Scott Vernon, because I was at Oldham with Scott. He told me some good things about the club, so I knew what to expect.

“The squad is strong and I think we can get some momentum going. We might be in the lower half of the table at the moment, but we should be in the top half soon.

“I was happy with my debut, and delighted with the win. I knew it was some time since the club had recorded back-to-back wins, but I didn't know it was that long (nearly 20 months, and exactly 599 days).

“It was important to score our goals early on. That really helped. I thought we played well in the first half and then showed our resilience in the second half. Northampton threw a lot at us, but we stood firm,” added Tienery.

Shrewsbury manager Paul Simpson has already faced up to the fact that he has lost Tierney for good, rather than just the initial five-week loan spell.

Simpson said: “Marc had a very good offer from Colchester. It's not a case of him being greedy - he's got a good deal and the chance to go to the next level. That's where we want to go but Marc has got it guaranteed now.”

It promises to be an exciting 2009 for Tierney. Not only is his move to Colchester expected to be cemented, but the 23-year-old is also looking forward to becoming a Dad in March.

He added: “My girlfriend is pregnant and we have our first child due on St Patrick's Day (March 17), so there were family reasons to think about as well as trying to play at the highest level I possibly can.”

Tierney is in line to make his home debut against lowly Hereford United this Saturday.