There’s little chance Paul Tisdale expected this.
Brought to Celtic under Brendan Rodgers to organise scouting and oversee recruitment across Rodgers’ tenure, his brief was never to find a new manager.
Yet here we are. For Tisdale to be in this position less than 12 months after taking the role is mind-boggling. The next few weeks will show what the 52-year-old Englishman is made of.
Until now, Tisdale had largely escaped scrutiny, even after the summer transfer window that many fans viewed as a disaster. That privacy is over. The spotlight is coming.
Wilfried Nancy looks the likeliest candidate to be the next Celtic manager. Rightly or wrongly, the Columbus Crew boss has been identified as the coach Tisdale believes can galvanise the Hoops, and do it within the board’s parameters. He is unlikely to publicly challenge the money men at the club, à la Rodgers, and the hierarchy will not mind that.
That does not make Nancy a ‘yes man’. His press conferences and his dugout persona suggest plenty of personality. That could play well in Glasgow.
The scrutiny will not stop with Nancy. Tisdale has put his neck on the line with this recommendation, and he will learn with the rest of us whether a coach coming direct from MLS fits the Celtic job.
The Celtic, Nancy, Tisdale Link
There is a link. The former Exeter City manager worked with Nancy’s assistant, Kwame Ampadu. Tenuous? Maybe. But perhaps enough for Tisdale to take what might be a gamble.
Sources at CeltsAreHere describe Nancy as a ‘cracking bloke’ who wants his teams to play ‘front-foot, attacking football’. That is exactly what punters want to hear.
One source added: ‘He is very good, is Wilfried Nancy. I would have said the best coach in MLS over the last few seasons. Columbus are now out of the play-offs, so he could go now and it would make sense.’
Another positive.
Fans would back an ambitious 48-year-old, and Tisdale would look a genius if the club land another Ange Postecoglou, successful elsewhere yet relatively unknown on this side of the water. If Nancy thrives as Ange did, job done.
If it does not work? That is a question for another day. What is certain is that Tisdale will not be able to hide.
