EXCLUSIVE: Celtic consult ‘football doctor’ Tisdale in bid to revamp club’s football operations
- The former Exeter boss is being targeted for a senior role by Scottish champions as they look to improve in key areas
- Tisdale previously advised Fulham and Crystal Palace, and gave Ollie Watkins his big break at Exeter
- The 51-year-old self-employed consultant has been described as ‘the most stylish man in football’
Celtic will bring in former Exeter City boss Paul Tisdale to overhaul the club’s football operations.
Tisdale, 51, describes himself as a ‘football doctor’ and has worked as an independent consultant.
The former Southampton midfielder also coached MK Dons, Bristol Rovers and Stevenage in a managerial career that included more than 1,000 games in the dugout.
With head of recruitment Mark Lawwell and chief scout Joe Dudgeon having left Celtic in March, Tisdale is focused on a senior role at the Scottish champions, overseeing functions such as recruitment, data and coaching development.
“I work as what I call a football doctor,” he recently said in a scouting podcast. ‘I go to football clubs and try to find solutions for performance improvement using data and also my experience as a coach.
‘I can translate very well from the boardroom to the field, and from the field to the boardroom, and also provide CPD (continuous professional development) or coach mentoring.
Described as ‘the most stylish man in football’, Tisdale appears to be on his way to Celtic
Paul Tisdale made quite an impression on the sidelines during his time as manager
The Parkhead club want Tisdale to advise them on important issues such as recruitment
‘I’m currently in a period where I’m doing a lot of things, waiting for one thing to really get off the ground. (It) keeps me busy and I’m self-employed with my own business and really enjoy it.’
Once described as ‘the classiest man in football’, Tisdale previously advised Fulham and Crystal Palace. As coach, he gave Aston Villa’s Ollie Watkins his first-team break at Exeter, but missed the striker’s winning goal for England against the Netherlands at the 2024 European Championship because he was playing a match between Queen’s Park and Celtic.
Consultant Tisdale has also advised clubs such as Fulham and Crystal Palace
Tisdale, above, was the man who gave England striker Ollie Watkins his big break at Exeter
Speaking to talkSPORT the following morning, he said: ‘I was delighted but I was at Queen’s Park last night for the game against Celtic in pre-season and afterwards I was in the boardroom. When Ollie came onto the pitch as a substitute, I had a feeling he was going to score. But I didn’t want to scream when he did that, so I ran to the car. I actually missed it because of that.’
Celtic have previously followed a similar route, hiring former manager Gordon Strachan on a three-month consultancy basis in 2021.
Strachan worked as Dundee’s technical director at the time, assessing the club’s academy, women’s team and B team, making recommendations to former CEO Dom McKay.