Celtic are preparing to appoint Paul Tisdale to a senior football operations role at the club, and fans have been having their say.
Reports this week indicate that Tisdale will review Celtic’s transfer processes, data use in recruitment and performance, and coaching development at Lennoxtown.
Tisdale’s career history prior to joining Celtic has mostly involved outright club management, with a long stint at Exeter City taking them up to a high of English League One after back-to-back promotions.
However, he has also provided consultancy on a self-employed basis for several clubs, including Fulham and Crystal Palace in the English Premier League.
Celtic have not officially appointed anyone in a similar position since the departure of Head of First Team Scouting and Recruitment Mark Lawwell earlier in the year.
Celtic fans react to Paul Tisdale reports
There’s keen intrigue about what all of this might mean for Celtic.
While the club did make big moves during the summer for talents such as Arne Engels and Adam Idah, many fans were frustrated with how slow the early stages of the transfer window went.
- READ MORE: Celtic’s Summer 2024 Signings & Exits
Even Brendan Rodgers publicly aired his concerns and made it pretty clear to the club’s board that he felt things should have moved more efficiently.
As a result, the news of Tisdale’s arrival is going down well with those who want improvements behind the scenes in the football department.
One fan said on social media, “Don’t mind us trying something different here. We’ve known for a while we need to modernise all of our football operations department, and Rodgers did state when the transfer window closed that changes were on the way.”
Another fan added, “No idea if he’s a good appointment or not but it’s good to see us at least try to become a bit more well run. We got there in the end this summer but it took so long.”
Others hope Tisdale will examine the club’s Academy set-up closely, with one supporter stating, “I hope he will recognise the importance of overhauling our youth system. The current absence of promising talent is worrying.”
Tisdale’s credentials have also been questioned. Does he really have the profile Celtic need to advance in Europe?
One fan summed it up with, “Would prefer we looked at someone who worked at a modern European club rather than lower-end English clubs, he could be good but we need modernisation and the club is much bigger than anywhere he has been.”
It’s clear that the club seeking to improve is better than the status quo, however. As one fan put it, “The lack of structure in our recruitment department is ridiculous, it’s only avoiding scrutiny because we’re performing well on the pitch, if that were to change guns would be immediately turned on this gaping flaw.”
How Paul Tisdale describes himself
There are plenty of Tisdale interviews doing the rounds now as fans find out more about him.
In one recent appearance, the former Exeter boss described his approach, stating: “I work as what I call a football doctor. I go into football clubs and I try to find performance-improvement solutions using data and also my experience as a coach.
“I can translate very well from the boardroom to the pitch, and from the pitch to the boardroom, and also deliver CPD (continuous professional development) or coach mentoring.”
Hopefully, he can make a difference at Celtic, whom he worked with initially during the summer, and help the club over the long term.
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