Martin O'Neill is said to have told the Celtic board exactly what everyone else knows about the ill-fated Champions League qualification campaign.
The Bhoys led LASK by 4-0 at one stage of their qualifying tie, going on to concede the next five goals without reply and somehow missing out on the Champions League, dropping into the Europa League.
Celtic ended up signing 10 players in the summer window, but only four were signed before the qualifiers, and Arne Engels was not replaced before those games, and arguably, he still hasn't been replaced.
Torino midfielder Gvidas Gineitis was the clear target, and Celtic made a late push to sign him after failing with an earlier effort, but they fell short of Torino's asking price again.
Agent makes interesting O'Neill claim
Gineitis' agent, Dmitri Vinokurov, has opened up to LRT about the failed transfer, and he revealed something interesting about what O'Neill said to the Bhoys board after the deal fell through.
“Personal terms with Guido [Gineitis] were never agreed," he said. "Celtic said they wanted to reach an agreement with Torino first. It’s usually the other way around. I can say that the interest from the coaching staff and their sports people was genuine.
“We had a video call with the coaches, they were very positive about Guido. But ultimately, I think the main problem was that not everyone in the club’s management was as convinced about this transfer as the coaches.
“So, in the end, it all came down to Celtic’s final decision. When you’re making a transfer of this financial level, everyone on the buyer’s side has to agree. It’s usually four or five decision-makers, including the head coach.
“If one of them doesn’t want to do it for whatever reason, especially if it’s the person who’s in charge of the money, then it just doesn’t happen. I think if they had qualified for the Champions League, then we would have had more chances for this transfer.
“I think then Celtic would have satisfied the wishes of the Turin club. They would have just known that they would get more money from the Champions League, and they would have needed a stronger player.
“I know that after they had a fight in Austria, Mr. O’Neill went to the board and told them that if they had signed Gineitis and another of their targets earlier, Celtic would be in the Champions League now. And I think that’s true.”
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