Celtic’s January recruitment left a lot to be desired.
Brendan Rodgers wanted a striker to replace Kyogo at Parkhead but that never materialised despite having months to work one bringing one in the door. Peter Lawwell admitted even the board were frustrated not to land one.
Only Jeffrey Schlupp arrived on loan and the defender is a Premier League player Rodgers already knew himself. So it begs the question as to what the scouting team and a certain ‘football doctor’ Paul Tisdale were up to.
Tisdale’s role was meant to tie in with the strategy at the club and that would have worked hand in hand with Rodgers and what the manager wanted. But it was severely lacking in January.
- READ MORE: Madcap Vladimir Romanov lives up to his reputation with baffling Hearts story about ex-Celtic star
Chris Sutton wants to see what Paul Tisdale ‘is all about’ at Celtic
Tisdale came under the microscope then and now Chris Sutton believes the same thing must happen – perhaps more scrutinised than before – when the summer market begins.
Writing in his Daily Record column, Sutton wrote: “Celtic are in a superb position in that they pretty much know the title is in the bag.
“That means the Champions League planning has to be happening now. Who knows what kind of backing Rangers will get from the 49ers as well.
“Celtic brought in Paul Tisdale to sort out the recruitment after Rodgers admitted in recent years it hasn’t been up to scratch.
“Well, now we’ll find out what the football doctor is all about. Rodgers has his work cut out to achieve again next season – and it will be far from easy.”
How Paul Tisdale described his own Celtic role
Tisdale revealed his Celtic priorities after taking the job as head of football operations back in October as he suggested he would be making good use of analytics when looking at player identification.
He said at the time: “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.”
Tisdale added to his scouting team earlier in January which perhaps offered some false hope regarding signings plans.
David Pleat was handed a 12-month scouting contract and will be expected to come up big this summer with his own extensive knowledge and contacts book in the game.
The Englishman is credited with unearthing Dele Alli and Ben Davies at Tottenham Hotspur among others.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
