Exeter City evidence shows Celtic deal will be smash hit | OneFootball

Paul Tisdale has joined Celtic and if his work at Exeter City is anything to go by he'll be a smash hit.

There’s something of an unlikely link growing between Celtic and Exeter City.

There was the occasional player who started at the Bhoys and ended up at St James Park throughout the years, but that trickle has turned into a relative flood of late.

It all started with Celtic great Gary Caldwell, who played over 100 times for the Scottish champions between 2006-2010, taking the reins as manager at Exeter in 2022.

He brought Celtic academy product Jack Aitchison to the south-west in 2023 and, little did we know at the time, City’s on-loan Aston Villa keeper Viljami Sinisalo was to move north of the border in a permanent deal in 2024.

And now City have another former Grecian link heading to Parkhead in the shape of long-serving former manager Paul Tisdale.

Tis spent 12 years at the helm at St James Park, leading the Grecians to successive promotions from the Nationwide Conference to League One in his pomp.

He left Devon’s capital under a bit of a cloud in 2018 before joining MK Dons and jobbing his way round the lower leagues for a while.

Since leaving Stevenage in 2022, he’s been concentrating on working as a freelance consultant using his skills and knowledge of the game to help sides improve their recruitment and player development.

Paul Tisdale's new role at Celtic

The ex-Exeter man will serve in a Football Operations role

He worked with Celtic over the summer and has now been confirmed as their Head of Football Operations, essentially overseeing recruitment and performance.

He uses a data-driven approach that he first developed at Exeter and has honed since, he told the Business of Sport recently.

Bhoys boss Brendan Rodgers declared himself ‘absolutely delighted’ with the appointment in a press conference last week and the pair have a relationship which goes way back to 2013 when the then-Liverpool boss headed down to Devon to watch his son Anton, who was on loan at Exeter.

While Rodgers is already delighted, the signs are that the Celtic faithful will soon be too.

Tisdale was raised in the management game to treat every penny as if it was his own, having spent a dozen, largely skint, years at Exeter.

Paul Tisdale's transfer record

He mastered the art in selling at the right time and eventually brought in millions to the Grecians, joining not long after the club was financially on the brink.

City are now thriving in League One and are dreaming of promotion to the English second tier for the first time in their history thanks, in no small part, to the money Tisdale brought in while he was at the club and sell-ons that have paid dividends since he left.

It always felt like he enjoyed the action behind the scenes more than the front of house business, the rough and tumble of those 90 minutes on a Saturday, and especially the media duties.

He seemed to relish transfer negotiations and bringing players through. All-in-all, this new job in Scotland looks a perfect fit for the 51-year-old.

There’s often the accusation that big clubs overspend and waste money – Tisdale’s appointment is as close as possible to a sure thing in regards to ensuring that doesn't happen.

Of course, he’s rarely worked with players of the quality on show at Celtic, but the nurturing of Ollie Watkins and Ethan Ampadu proves he can identify and produce elite-level talent.

Tisdale looks set for success at Celtic

Exeter can vouch for Celtic's new man

A potential area of concern might be that he’s never had serious money to spend anywhere before.

He barely spent anything at Exeter, relying almost exclusively on free transfers, but was able to keep the club sustainable in doing so.

His last two seasons in Devon’s capital both ended in play-off final defeats in League Two, so he was still delivering decent results from the dugout.

Nothing other than the title is good enough for Celtic, but that’s Rodgers’ domain now and a director of football style role is one that Tisdale has the knowledge, qualities and attributes to excel in.

Everything seems to be a fit tailor-made for the self-styled ‘football doctor’ in his new job.

Tisdale used to pride himself in picking up gems on the cheap and, with a Champions League budget, he’ll be licking his lips at scouring the Continent to see who fits Celtic’s desired metrics.

Given his already long career in management, development and the transfer market, the 51-year-old could be the perfect man to help take the perennial Scottish champions to the next level in Europe.