Celtic to go back in for Gineitis in January, where have we heard this story before?

We’ve often talked about transfer negotiations at Celtic progressing at a glacial pace.

In fact, glacial seems to be the word associated with the board when comes to pace in everything they do.

Look at replacing the Interim Chairman, for example?

Brian Wilson might have the word ‘interim’ before his title, but soon enough he’ll be in that ‘interim’ position for a year.

Kasper Høgh is another example of the glacial pace the board operates at.

It took us two transfer windows to land him, because for some reason, we just can’t seem to get deals done in one transfer window.

If you want the ultimate example of ‘glacial’ at Celtic, then Michel-Ange Balikwisha is your poster boy for that.

Two years we were scouting the Belgian winger, two whole years.

Our £13,333 per minute winger worked out well after all of that intense scouting, didn’t he?

The less said about that particular episode, the better really.

As we’re all well aware at this stage, the deal to bring Gvidas Gineitis to Celtic collapsed late on Wednesday.

Record Sport apparently has the inside scoop on this one.

But before I comment on it, you’re probably better reading this for yourself first:

Celtic could go back in for Gvidas Gineitis in January after failing to nail down a deal for the Torino powerhouse.

Record Sport understands the Hoops made another deadline day attempt to land the Lithuanian midfielder despite missing the Wednesday cut-off point to register for the Europa League.

Celts were prepared to slap down an offer worth up to £9m – but Torino chiefs refused to budge from the valuation of closer to £13m.

And the Italian outfit have been left stewing having drafted in replacements in anticipation of a sale with Rolando Mandragora arriving from Fiorentina and Daniel Braganca moving from Sporting Lisbon.

Celtic will keep tabs on the 22-year-old and are expected to return after the turn of the year.

I’m just trying to picture Michael Nicholson ‘slapping down’ an offer of £9 million, in fact I’m trying to picture him ‘slapping down’ anything really.

This is an interesting development though.

Because my belief is that one of two things happened here.

Since the 1st of July, back when I first reported on Celtic’s interest in Gvidas Gineitis, his price tag was believed to be between £8 and £9 million.

It looks like somebody inside Celtic Park decided to leak to the Record that Torino got greedy on the second last day of the transfer window.

Well, either that, or Celtic decided to mess them around over a couple of hundred grand.

Let’s put it this way, if Torino really decided to change their valuation from £9 million to £13 million in the last knockings of the window, whose fault is that?

Now, I don’t believe they did because throughout the whole summer, his valuation has been quoted at £8 to £9 million.

This did not change until yesterday.

The Record just slipped in there that Gineitis’ valuation was apparently £13 million all along, thinking nobody would notice.

Well, I noticed.

Isn’t it odd we hadn’t heard that figure up until now?

Now, it’s totally conceivable that Torino decided to up the ante because they knew they had Celtic by the short and curlies if they wanted to be able to name Gineitis in the Europa League squad.

But that would not be Torino’s fault.

That would be Michael Nicholson’s fault.

If interested was declared on the 1st of July, then Silent Mike had two while months to get this one sorted.

Instead, he waits until the second last day of the transfer window.

Then bang, Torino name a new price.

No shocks there is that happened.

However, I don’t believe that is what happened.

My guess is that Celtic tabled a bid of £8 million, Torino said nope, £9 million is our valuation.

Then it went down to haggling over a few hundred grand.

At which point, Torino said, nah, f*** this for a game of soldiers, deal is off.

Martin O’Neill was then reported to have been pretty pissed off with the whole thing, which would indicate that this was how it went down.

Note there has been no comments from him saying that Torino jacked the price up to £13 million, or that this figure was even their valuation.

So, it looks like somebody inside Celtic Park then fed to their obedient SMSM messengers that Torino suddenly valued their player at £13 million, and there was no way they were paying that for him.

Now we have a scenario where the SMSM are telling us that Celtic will go back in for him in January.

Why?

It isn’t as if his £13 million valuation will change in January, is it?

He’ll still have two and half years left on his contract, so why would it?

So the glacial pace the board operates at will continue into another window.

Then it’ll continue through the whole month of January.

And by the end of it, we might, or might not have Gvidas Gineitis.

The bottom line right now though, is that we do not have Gvidas Gineitis.

I’d lay the blame for that squarely at Silent Mike and the board’s door.

Nowhere else.

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