Wilfried Nancy may have had a problematic start at Celtic, but he’s far from the club’s only problem.
The manner in which Brendan Rodgers left tells you all you need to know about the day-to-day issues at the club, and the many Celtic fan protests this season have made supporters’ views clear.
Dermot Desmond launched an extraordinary attack on Rodgers, before his son had a go at supporters at a chaotic AGM. Chairman Peter Lawwell announced his decision to step down last week.
This is not a club where everything is functioning perfectly – but one man whose influence at the club is now coming into question is Head of Football Operations Paul Tisdale.
And for Sam Allardyce, there is greater need for Tisdale to be held to account.
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Sam Allardyce on Paul Tisdale and Wilfried Nancy at Celtic
Tisdale is a big part of the reason why Nancy is here.
Or at least, this has been reported to be the case. Nancy’s assistant, Kwame Ampadu, is familiar with Tisdale from their time working together at Exeter City.
READ MORE: Wilfried Nancy asked about Cucho Hernandez ahead of first Celtic transfer window
And Allardyce suspects that Tisdale has gone for a ‘coach’ in Nancy over a ‘manager’ in Martin O’Neill, due to his desire for ‘influence’.
On the No Tippy Tappy Football podcast, Allardyce explained.
He said: “I think he’s done that purely from a coaching point of view.
“And the fact that [Tisdale] can work with [Nancy], rather than having a more strong opinion in the manager, I reckon.
“Because Paul Tisdale wouldn’t have a problem, I don’t think. Wouldn’t have a say over Martin. Martin’s a manager, Martin’s a power, isn’t he.
“You know what I mean? Paul Tisdale… he’s not going to overrule him, is he?
“Whereas I think, picking a coach, he’s going to have a much bigger influence in what he wants and what he gets.
“Paul Tisdale should be held accountable on his recruitment policy, because he’s the man who’s recruited him. So his responsibility is much greater than the coach’s.”
Rate Pauls Tisdale’s performance as Celtic’s head of operations in the comments below.
'In my role I will be doing all I can to further develop our work across talent identification, development and analytics, always with the aim of ensuring high-level support of football performance.'
Celtic’s pursuit of Wilfried Nancy
O’Neill’s appointment was intended as purely a stopgap, but the more games he won, the greater the question became.
Names such as Ange Postecoglou, Kjetil Knutsen and Kieran McKenna being banded about in the media led to fans setting high expectations.
So when the club doubled down on the appointment of an MLS manager – before dragging it out over three weeks – the fan reaction was mixed.
But with Nancy’s first win finally in the bag, you can’t rule him out yet – regardless of Tisdale’s influence.
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