Paul Tisdale’s reign at Celtic was short-lived and not very memorable.
At the start of January, whilst it was Wilfried Nancy taking the headlines because Celtic had booted him out, Tisdale was also shown the door, after joining the club in October 2024.
Critics like Chris Sutton regularly called out Tisdale and questioned the role he played at Parkhead, given that the departed Hoops man was ‘Head of Football Operations.’
Of course, all of this blew up once Celtic’s 2025 summer transfer window closed, and it proved to be an utter disaster.
And whilst Martin O’Neill wasn’t inside the club at the time, even he recognises the mess left behind.
What would your message to Dermot Desmond be now that the transfer window has closed
Martin O’Neill slams Celtic recruitment after Paul Tisdale’s exit
The January transfer window just closed, and Chris Sutton sat down with his former manager to discuss all things Celtic.
Sutton brought up the recruitment, as well as Tisdale’s name, before O’Neill was pretty blunt in his thoughts and stated, ‘If you are asking me honestly, I wasn’t totally convinced about the recruitment for Celtic football club’, as he told Sky Sports.
Of course, this was a feeling that Brendan Rodgers shared, but he was vilified by the powers that be, booted out, and made the scapegoat.
Chris Sutton: “Is it true that you veered down a different avenue, in terms of recruitment, when Paul Tisdale went? The assumption was that he was the guy in charge of the recruitment.
“He left, and there was not really a contingency plan; you are not scrambling around, but it’s you who has to carry that can.”
O’Neill: “I genuinely don’t mind. I think, if you are asking me honestly, I wasn’t totally convinced about the recruitment for Celtic football club. It is still a big club.
“The ambition of the football club is to play big European matches, to be involved in big European games.”
O’Neill praises the Celtic board for their actions with Arne Engels
Whilst Celtic supporters will agree with O’Neill on the above comments, they probably aren’t going to side with him about what he said about the board and Arne Engels.
On transfer deadline day, Celtic rejected £25 million for Engels from Nottingham Forest, and O’Neill shared that the final call was made by the powers that be, and not himself.
As a result, Celtic’s legendary coach feels those in the boardroom should ‘get some credit for that.’
“We have actually turned down big, big money this window (for Engels),” stated O’Neill. “I know it was late in the transfer market, so getting an ideal replacement in is going to be difficult.
“That might show you a sign that, at least, we have held on to our players. Did I go into the board and say, ‘You have to stop this?’ No, I didn’t. They stopped it themselves. They have to get some credit for that.”
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