Celtic are set to bring in former Exeter City boss Paul Tisdale to revamp the club’s football operations.
Describing himself as a 'football doctor', 51-year-old Tisdale has been working as a self-employed consultant.
The former Southampton midfielder also coached MK Dons, Bristol Rovers and Stevenage in a managerial career which spanned over 1,000 games in the dug-out.
With head of recruitment Mark Lawwell and chief scout Joe Dudgeon having left Celtic in March, Tisdale has been targeted for 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 told a scouting podcast. ‘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.
Described as 'the most stylish man in football', Tisdale looks to be on his way to Celtic
Paul Tisdale cut quite a dash on the sidelines in his time as a manager
The Parkhead club want Tisdale to advise them over key issues like recruitment
‘I’m currently into a period where I am doing a bit of a lot of things, waiting for one thing really to take off. (It’s) keeping me busy and I am self employed with my own business and really enjoying it.’
Once described as ‘the most stylish man in football’, Tisdale has previously advised Fulham and Crystal Palace. As a 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 Euro 2024 because he was taking in a match between Queen’s Park and Celtic.
Consultant Tisdale has also given advice to clubs like Fulham and Crystal Palace
Tisdale, above, was the man who gave England striker Ollie Watkins his big break at Exeter
Speaking to talkSPORT the morning after, he said: ‘I was delighted but I was actually at Queen’s Park last night for the pre-season game against Celtic and I was in the boardroom afterwards. When Ollie came on the pitch as a substitute I had a feeling he would score. But I didn’t want to start screaming if he did, so I ran out to the car. I actually missed it because of that.’
Celtic have gone down a similar route before, drafting in former manager Gordon Strachan on a three-month consultancy basis in 2021.
Working as Dundee technical director at the time, Strachan reviewed the club academy, women’s team and B team operations, providing recommendations to former chief executive Dom McKay.