Celtic don’t need a revolution. We need to finish what we’ve half-started | OneFootball

A few months ago, Celtic fans were dreaming big. After running Bayern close in Munich, what we could be was genuinely tantalising…

Brendan Rodgers manager of Celtic Kairat Almaty v Celtic, UEFA Champions League, Play-Off Round, Second Leg, Football, Almaty Central Stadium, Almaty, Kazakhstan – 26 Aug 2025Almaty Almaty Central Stadium Kazakhstan Photo Nikita Bassov/Shutterstock

Now, in late August, reality has hit hard, courtesy of Kairat Almaty. The Champions League dream from February is dead before it even began. It has taken a couple of days for many of us to process; it will likely take longer to fully reckon with it.

Of course, reasons, or excuses, exist—injuries, early-season rustiness and tactical errors—but the real issue lies in our organisational structures, our processes, our recruitment, decision-making, and probably most crucially, timing.

We spot the right players, going by the profiles we’ve been linked with this summer. But signing them has been the problem. That’s why this window, more than any since summer 2023, was a test—not just for Brendan Rodgers or Paul Tisdale, but for whether Celtic could finally stop winging it and build a squad by real design.

Paul Tisdale the manager of Bristol Rovers looks on during the Emirates FA Cup Second Round match between Bristol Rovers and Darlington FC at the Memorial Stadium on November 29, 2020 (Photo by Michael Steele/Getty Images)

Mark Lawwell’s era gave us technically capable players. The problem was clearly fit – paceless centre-backs who couldn’t cover a high line, attackers who slowed play, wingers who pressed casually. Not bad footballers, just incompatible with the system. Perhaps this reflected planning for an Ange Postecoglou team rather than Rodgers’ unexpected return. Lawwell could identify players smaller clubs valued, but they rarely fitted Rodgers—or likely Ange either. It was the right decision to let him go.

Then came last summer, seemingly Rodgers’ window. Bigger fees brought Engels, Idah, and Trusty, supposedly a seamless fit. That felt promising, but hindsight shows they were arguably chosen more for Rodgers’ personal taste than the squad profile he actually needed – anyone who has read Ian Graham’s book might recognise that as possible.

This summer felt like a Tisdale window, or it did to a point. Targets at least seemed to match the football Celtic claim to want to play. Defenders like JSP and Inamura suit a high line, Nygren adds a technical fluency, Yamada offers defensive intelligence and tireless off-ball running, and even projects like Osmond have pressing and pace in their DNA.

Yet here we are again, out of Europe, squad gaps glaring due to unfinished business, and we seemed to stop just as we were expecting three key positions to be addressed. That is frustrating, because this squad is not stale, it is not one dimensional as we saw in Almaty. Instead, it lacks the players defenders and midfielders need playing ahead of them to relax into their own games – trust in the creators and the goal scorers at the top end of the pitch.

Celtic line up Kairat Almaty v Celtic, UEFA Champions League, Play-Off Round, Second Leg, Football, Almaty Central Stadium, Almaty, Kazakhstan – 26 Aug 2025Almaty Almaty Central Stadium Kazakhstan Photo Nikita Bassov/Shutterstock

Identification of talent seemed fine, but execution clearly became a mess. It seems we spot the right players but can’t sign them fast enough. Disagreement, hesitation, paralysis, or lowballing has cost us targets in key positions to other clubs. Champions League qualifiers of course don’t wait, and missing deadlines costs millions, alongside credibility.

Why does this happen? Ambiguous decision-making, clunky negotiations, logistics as an afterthought, and the board’s obsession with late-window bargains.

Rodgers favours the old school model – manager is king. Dermot Desmond historically leans the same way. But trying to run a profile-led recruitment philosophy, which Tisdale is tasked with, in this model is fraught. Over this summer, we arguably have seen it implode.

Peter Lawwell, Chairman of Celtic, Dermot Desmond, Non-Executive Director of Celtic, and Michael Nicholson, CEO of Celtic, are seen in attendance prior to the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and theRangers at Celtic Park on March 16, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

A real Director of Football (DoF) model gives authority over the profile playbook, squad plan, and crucially the budget. The Head Coach co-authors the profile and doesn’t reset everything each summer. Academy minutes are protected, integrated, and not left to luck.

Instead, we’re in a no-man’s land where it’s half-DoF, half manager-centric. The result is good scouting, good coaching, but slow deals, then unfinished squads, and European punishment when timing matters most.

Rodgers’ ideal football aligns with this Tisdale window – high line, counter-press, full-backs stepping into midfield, wingers pressing relentlessly, midfielders circulating and carrying. Achieving it requires very specific player types, fast centre-backs, instinctively pressing wide forwards, a disciplined six who moves the ball efficiently. At least some of this summer’s targets seemingly ticked those boxes. The real question is did Rodgers, ultimately, fully buy in, and going forward can the Celtic board cede footballing control, allow us to move quickly, and trust football professionals to execute deals?

Benjamin Nygren of Celtic Kairat Almaty v Celtic, UEFA Champions League, Play-Off Round, Second Leg, Football, Almaty Central Stadium, Almaty, Kazakhstan – 26 Aug 2025Almaty Almaty Central Stadium Kazakhstan. Photo Nikita Bassov/Shutterstock

Tisdale brings a ‘value’ mindset from Exeter City – identifying traits, developing players, and trading up. He seems to have moved from free transfers at Exeter and up to £2–3 million players with Celtic, perhaps a vision he sold to the Celtic board. This can deliver fit and upside – even at that price point—but only if the club accepts longer integration, alongside serious coaching, to develop them. Then, as we sell, we reinvest at a higher price point. A long game, rather than oven ready.

Mis-selling this approach is a risk. The Board hears “cheap” and thinks savings; Rodgers hears “project” and thinks “not my type.” Strategy then dies in translation, and the squad quality suffers.

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers during the Scottish Premiership match between Celtic and Livingston at Celtic Park on August 23, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

If profiling is working, deal execution becomes make-or-break. Clear decision rights are non-negotiable. DoF owns the profile playbook. Head Coach has input only, not veto. Board agrees the budget once and once only. European readiness is locked four weeks before qualifiers, with multiple options lined up. Contracts and logistics are pre-cleared. Pathways are integrated because academy minutes have to be sacred for this to work long term.

Bureaucracy and processes may sound boring, but it determines whether you sign the right players on time or show up half-built.

Fans have reason to be sceptical. If Rodgers retains final say, Celtic risk preference-driven signings and short-term fixes, if it’s left to the executive we see easier to conclude agent recommendations late on in windows. Avoiding that requires defined rules, non-negotiable roles, set trade-offs, fixed wages and fees, and formalised exceptions – there’s still room for those late deals Dermot.

Michael Nicholson, Chief Executive of Celtic FC looks on from the stands prior to the Premiership match between Celtic FC and St Mirren FC at Celtic Park on May 17, 2025. (Photo by Ian MacNicol/Getty Images)

Consistency across all the football professionals ultimately ensures decisions are effective, assuming you have employed professionals who buy into an aligned vision where challenge is welcome, but reaching consensus is built into everyone’s mindset, otherwise it fractures.

So, is this a Paul Tisdale window? It started that way, the targets made sense, fitted the system, and could have produced a team built for the style we claim to play. But whether it will be remembered that way depends on politics and timing – and both seem like blockages now.

It started well but it’s clear behind the scenes it has faltered. It may need the January window, or even next summer where natural change seems likely. If the board chases late-window bargains via agents, or Rodgers can’t live in a profile-first world, or Desmond won’t back a DoF/Head Coach model, Celtic remain stuck between two stools.

Callum McGregor of Celtic applauds travelling fans after the full time whistle Kairat Almaty v Celtic, UEFA Champions League, Play-Off Round, Second Leg, Football, Almaty Central Stadium, Almaty, Kazakhstan – 26 Aug 2025Almaty Almaty Central Stadium Kazakhstan Photo Nikita Bassov/Shutterstock

Celtic don’t need a revolution. We need to finish what we’ve half-started. Empower a Director of Football with authority. If that’s Tisdale fine, if not replace him and get someone in who has experience and success in the role. Re-define Rodgers, or his successor, as Head Coach, not transfer tsar. Embed academy pathways, organise deal execution alongside parallel negotiations for fallbacks, set timelines, clear acceptable contracts – agreed in advance before we talk to agents and players – put in the hard yards and stop hoping for miracles.

Do that, and future windows could be remembered as the moment Celtic stopped bouncing between personalities and built a squad by design. Fail, and next August, we’ll be staring at another promising shortlist, undercooked squad, and European exit that apparently “nobody saw coming” but history taught us we should have, several times over.

Niall J

Celtic in the Eighties by David Potter. Foreword by Danny McGrain. Published on Celtic Star Books on 5 September 2025. Click on image to pre-order.

Help raise funds for Celtic Youth Academy by playing the Celtic Pools Weekly Lottery and you could win up to £25,000. The lottery is £1 per week. Click on image to join.

More Stories / Latest News

Celtic don’t need a revolution. We need to finish what we’ve half-started

Aug 30 2025, 0:13

Danish outlet claims £8m Celtic bid sees Kasper Dolberg ‘packing his bags’

Aug 29 2025, 21:03

Celtic told to increase £8m bid to land Kasper Dolberg

Aug 29 2025, 17:37