The Exeter City inside track on Celtic's Paul Tisdale

Indeed, Celtic (discreetly) announced the full-time arrival of Paul Tisdale as their new Head of Football Operations on October 16, after working alongside Brendan Rodgers on an ad hoc basis last summer concerning transfers. Though the club refused to post this update on any of their social media channels (X, Facebook, TikTok or Instagram), a statement appeared on the official website detailing the arrival of the former Exeter City manager to Celtic in this new role.

This news article detailed the job that Tisdale would be instructed to carry out, as well as the areas which he would be tasked with overseeing. It said: “Celtic Football Club is delighted to announce the appointment of Paul Tisdale as Celtic’s Head of Football Operations.

“In this new strategic role reporting to the Board, Paul will oversee the development and management of effective operations to support high-level football performance, including the identification and development of talent, in line with the club’s objective to develop Champions League players through our Academy and recruitment processes.

“Additionally, Paul will work with the club’s analytics functions, supporting colleagues across the club to continuously improve our processes.

In the recent past, Celtic have dabbled with this idea of a middle-man between the manager and the board, with individuals such as Lee Congerton, Nick Hammond and most recently Mark Lawwell all employed in similar roles at the club. With Tisdale, there seems to be more of a holistic overview in mind, rather than the transfer-oriented workload of his predecessors.

Speaking of Tisdale, he has more experience in the game concerning club management than the three that came before him combined. His playing career was cut short in 2000 due to injury, which prompted the Englishman to delve into coaching matters concerning football. He spent five years at the University of Bath’s associated football club ‘Team Bath’ before making the move to Exeter in 2006, where he remained in post as manager until 2018. Following spells at MK Dons, Bristol Rovers and Stevenage, he would set up a football consultancy business, using his experiences to help other clubs and individuals as a self-confessed “football doctor.”

Andy Gillard has been a mainstay at Exeter City for over 20 years and has held numerous roles at the club during his time at the current League 1 side. Now the club’s secretary, Gillard worked closely alongside Tisdale as Operations Manager during the now-Celtic employee’s 12-year stint at the club. Knowing how Tisdale carries out his work, Gillard reckons this is a great move for all parties. He said: I think it's a good move. I think it's something that I think Paul has been looking for quite some time and I think it's a role that will suit his skills.

“He's an intelligent guy, he's got a bigger picture in his mind than purely one role, if you like. He's very good at a project and he's intelligent and capable enough. His understanding of both football and business, I think, sets him in a good place for this new role.

Quoted as saying that Tisdale “understands football” by his new colleague Rodgers, Tisdale would have played a key role in assisting Celtic with their transfer dealings this summer. Breaking two records in the form of Adam Idah and then Arne Engels’ respective fees, as well as the recruitment of Auston Trusty, Alex Valle, Luke McCowan and Kasper Schmeichel, it is likely that the new Head of Football was integral to Celtic’s successes in the market – both with incomings and outgoings.

What is Tisdale like as a person, though? Gillard was full of praise for his former colleague, who was English football’s longest-serving manager at the time of his departure from Exeter. He said: He's very calm, he's measured and he's intelligent. He knows where he's going if you know what I mean.

"He's strong and steely from that angle, but he's an exceptionally personable guy. He's very clever and skilful with people and he talks well. He's able to portray what he's up to and his plans to others and to fans particularly.

“I think he is ready to take this next step (to Celtic). He’ll see this as a project, as this is a new role at the club that he is going to. It's what he did down here at Exeter City. We just literally saved ourselves by the skin of our teeth and the firefighting was over, but we needed to rebuild the football club and bring it back into the football league. He was the man entrusted with that task.

"After all the turmoil that we had in the early 2000s what he brought and was able to do was provide stability and assurance and trust. He bought into it. He took us forward. He embraced all areas of the football club from the academy all the way through. I know Celtic aren't in a dire position, but I hope you can see he's good for that kind of position. 

“Therefore, whether it's Celtic or Exeter City I don't necessarily think it's the size of the club, but the type of job -  I think the job fits him perfectly.”

In charge of the side from 2006-2018 – a club now managed by former Celtic defender Gary Caldwell – Tisdale would have been in charge of not just the playing side of Exeter, but transfer dealings, too. Though examples of this once-commonplace dynamic are becoming fewer and fewer, this new role for the experienced coach may suit him down to a T, according to Gillard.

The club secretary outlined what Tisdale carried out during his 12-year stint at the Grecians, which involved some very familiar names in both Celtic and world football circles. He said: "Transfers and youth development are two areas of real strength for Paul.

“If I can draw on Exeter City's history then with the small club that we were, we needed to get every ounce of energy out of every single area and the academy by growing our own, as we couldn't afford to go out and buy players. Because of this, growing our own back in those days was exceptionally important. He was very good at doing that. He was very good at bringing people through and getting the right people into Exeter City.

“Paul had to make sure that he brought the right kind of players to the club that would be all round good footballers but right fit for the football club. He was very good at fitting those people into the right places. If you want to take one example out of it all, one of our youngsters at the time was Ollie Watkins who obviously has done pretty well for himself. He came from all the way through our academy and now he's playing for England so he's obviously a star from an Exeter City perspective, but Paul was one of the people who was pretty instrumental in his development from youth into senior football.

“I know he knows Brendan Rodgers from before, as we had his son Anton down on loan with us for a while so there's clearly a connection there.”

That connection and relationship will no doubt be important as Tisdale starts to put his feet under the table at Celtic. Of course, he will be well-versed of what Rodgers requires, due to having managerial experience of his own prior to his new role at the Scottish champions. Gillard sees this as an advantage – both for undertaking this role and for understanding the role of a manager of a football club due to experience. He said: “I think this is ideal, because you’ve got an experience of both sides of the fence, which is invaluable because you can understand the points of view of both the football and business side of matters.

“It is the ideal solution for this kind of position because you don’t often get people who are managers, but rather individuals who are more like directors who don’t have a full understanding of the other side of the fence. It is s decent solution for Celtic to come to with Paul.

“I believe that he can bring both to bear at Celtic.”