Guidetti: To Sign Or Not To Sign?

When I heard the news that Celtic were trying to bring John Guidetti here on a loan deal I was sceptical because I didn’t think we had a prayer of getting him.

I was under no illusions about the man as a footballer.

I was delighted when the deal was completed, and I couldn’t believe our good fortune.

Guidetti quickly proved himself worthy of a Celtic shirt, with a number of outstanding performances and an early flurry of goals which had the fans on the edge of their seats every time he took the pitch. He showed a particular flare for the dead-ball situation, rocketing in a number of free kicks from Nakamura distances and angles.

“Signing this guy up on a long term deal has got to be a priority,” I thought, quite early on, and I suspect I wasn’t alone.

I was encouraged, initially, when he talked about how much he enjoyed the fans, and the thrill of playing at Celtic Park.

I think we were all looking forward to the Europa League knockout phase to see what this guy could do on the bigger stage, and, of course, we were not disappointed.

His goal in the thrilling match at home against Milan was beautiful, right out of the top drawer, a piece of audacity and imagination that could only have come from a gifted footballer.

But in between his wonderful start and that moment of individual brilliance there had been signs of trouble in Paradise.

Guidetti hadn’t scored in weeks. Not only was he badly off form, but he was openly discussing “other options” when asked about his future.

If you believe Ronny Deila, and I do, of course, Guidetti has had a draft contract sitting in front of him for months now.

It’s become clear that he has absolutely no intention of signing it, at least at the current terms, and perhaps not at all.

The question I find myself asking more and more is this;

Do we really want to sign him now?

Guidetti definitely has something, but the lapse in his form was shocking.

Had he already signed a big money deal it would have been a worrying development.

He is clearly a “confidence player”, and we recently had one of those up front, in the much maligned (unfairly in my view) Georgios Samaras.

Celtic, under Ronny Deila, depends much more on teamwork than previous sides and that system breaks down when a vital piece of the jigsaw goes missing. We carried him in some of those games, playing him it seemed more in the hope he would score than in expectation.

You couldn’t help but be aware, watching Guidetti during his barren spell, that every game that passed sapped his self-belief a little bit more, and made him look less likely to snap out of it.

You knew it would come, certainly, but you couldn’t see it coming.

When it did, it was spectacular … but could we afford to wait next time?

More worrying to me is his general demeanour recently, which we saw in spades on cup final day, when he ran straight up the tunnel at the end of the game and had to be fetched out to do the lap of honour with the rest of the side.

I understand his frustration at the penalty kick, but to not want to celebrate the winning of our first trophy in what might be an historic season?

I’m afraid I can’t understand that at all.

Of course, it is impossible not to sympathise with him, and want to see him supported, in light of the scandalous SFA decision to discipline him for an off-field event which happened miles from a football pitch, the singing of a now notorious song.

This is an almost mind-numbingly ridiculous piece of pandering to a lunatic section of the Sevco support who are way too easily offended for their, and everyone else in Scotland’s, own good. I was stunned when I heard about it, and I am not easily surprised by the stupidity and arrogance of our governing bodies.

I hope Celtic fight it with everything they have.

Guidetti himself must know that if he stays, jumps back into the Celtic Family and gets back to his goal scoring best that he will be worshiped by the fans of this club in a way he will never experience anywhere else in his career.

He’s also picked up a winners medal and there’s much more to come, including, we hope and expect, a treble.

Then there’s the Champions League campaign next season … Will he really turn his back on that possibility?

If he does turns that down for money (and what other reason would there be?) then he’ll certainly get what he wants, but like others who look back on careers spent without glory, without medals, without the thrill of playing in front of passionate fans every week, as opposed to taking the field in front of silent stands and soulless day-trip supporters, he may well come to regret his choice.

I now wonder how much we should push the boat out to get him to change his mind.

He is a fine footballer, but he’s not the only one.

Playing for Celtic is a privilege.

Playing in front of our magical fans is an honour.

If he doesn’t realise that, and want it, well … there are plenty of talented players out there who will.