Long Celtic summer meetings and recruitment - how club chose Paul Tisdale for vital role

Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers has explained the importance of filling the club’s head of football operations with a candidate who has experience of front-line management after Paul Tisdale’s appointment.

The Englishman was this week confirmed in the strategic role after working with the club on a consultancy basis over the summer and beyond. The 51-year-old had a long career in management, including Exeter, MK Dons, Bristol Rovers and Stevenage.

Rodgers said: “I’m absolutely delighted that he’s in. Paul is a talented guy and he joins talented people that we have here at the club, and that’s what we want to strive to bring in. People that can help us make a difference and people that are compatible with the philosophy here and how we work.

“He’s also had managerial experience, which I’m really pleased with as well, and that was also a factor. He understands football, he understands the game. He’s managed for a long time also, so he knows from what it takes on the field and he obviously knows that balance between how you need to work with your board.

Paul Tisdale's role at Celtic was confirmed earlier this week. | Getty Images

“It’s a totally different perspective. Sometimes people will never know the challenges of what a manager will go through and what a recruitment team will go through. My job is to ensure we look after the core performance, of course manage that, but having someone like Paul there to focus purely on that is something that will benefit the club.”

Rodgers added: “I spent a good period of time with him here and over the course of the summer I had long meetings. When you bring in someone in that role, there is a specificness to it in terms of the recruitment and analytics and whatnot. But it has to be compatible with my personality, with the philosophy of the club and how we want to work in the team. And it fitted really well over the course of the summer.

“I’m informed by data, but I wouldn’t be driven by it. We can get lots of information, lots of data on certain things now. And Paul’s side of it is purely more on the actual performance of a player that will fit into our model and whether that player fits closely, and he can bring the football analytical stuff to that, as well as overseeing that recruitment process.”