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Peter Grant Has No Idea Why John McGinn Is Not A Celtic Player Right Now.

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I just watched John McGinn play brilliantly for Scotland again. You guys know I do not like to indulge in all this nonsense about regrets but it’s a strange day because Peter Grant has been talking about this guy and the reason why he didn’t sign for Celtic.

And that reason is well known to many of us; it was because Lawwell played a bad hand terribly. It’s because he tried to low-ball Hibs and get one over on Rod Petrie by offering derisory sums for the player on the proviso that they would have to accept one or watch McGinn sign a pre-contract with our club in the coming January.

I say he had a bad hand because, in the first place, Petrie did not want to sell the player to Celtic.

But Lennon was the manager over there at the time and he knew McGinn was going to go in that window or in the one after it and he wanted the money for his own players. I have always been convinced that we could have used that to get the deal done.

But that would have meant Lawwell treating Hibs with a modicum of respect instead of thinking of himself as the best poker player in the land, which he certainly was not.

Aston Villa took full advantage of our dithering and moved in for him instead. McGinn had the choice between waiting for Celtic with all the risks that entailed or getting a decent move to England which he had not expected at that point in his career.

He did what he thought was best for his career, and when you consider the risk our CEO expected him to take that is something you simply cannot blame him for.

Grant thinks we didn’t make the move because Rodgers wasn’t convinced.

I can tell you right now that Rodgers was appalled by Celtic’s failure to get the player, who he regarded as a key target and a big part of his plans.

It came after he’d already been led down several times on the transfer front that summer. It was the cause of his angry reaction in the pre-match interview before the match against AEK Athens. Which prompted Lawwell’s own stupid response, which was briefing the BBC about how angry the Celtic board were on the night of the game.

John McGinn signed for Aston Villa the following day.

Peter Grant should speak to the people who know instead of guessing off the top of his head. Right up until the moment McGinn flew down there to meet with Villa Lawwell laboured under the delusion that the player would reject any other move than Celtic and that he would wait until January if he had to and sign a pre-contract.

Watching McGinn since it’s all about what might have been. It pisses me off.

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  • kingmurdy says:

    celtic didn’t get mcginn due to the fact that lawwell is an arrogant bastard – the dogs on the street knew that…ffs….that was the writing on the wall for rodgers,,,he was always gonna leave,,,but i don’t believe for a minute, as early or in the manner in which he did – all because of that arrogant bastard….we got lennon foisted on us,and as a consequence lost 10IAR because of that arrogant bastard….and possibly the worst offence,,,letting the huns and the sfa off the hook in 2012…all because of that arrogant bastard and his spineless sycophantic board….if he had anything to him,he wouldn’t show his face around parkhead…but he’s an arrogant bastard…
    pity he wasn’t in his car when it went up….fuq him.

    • Kevan McKeown says:

      @ kingmurdy. Brutal statement mate. Agree his arrogance, along with Lennons and Desmonds cost us the 10 as well as Mcginn. The way the 3 of them treated the support as well, was disgraceful and imo, shouldnae be forgotten. Tho sayin he (lawwell) shouldve went up wi his car’s way out of order. Leave that kind of mindset tae the nutcases of the support over the city.

    • woodyiom says:

      Oh c’mon that last line is well out of order. He f**ked up big time on the McGinn deal and we all know it but that sort of statement has no place in society as a whole let alone on a Celtic forum.

    • Michael Collins says:

      I agree with everything you have said Kingmurdy, you took the words right out of my mouth.

  • Eddie says:

    The fact that McGinn is still at Villa says it all for me. He is bang average and that’s why he hasn’t drawn attention from the bigger EPL clubs. Regardless of the reason he went south instead of coming to Celtic is a moot point and very much history. Let’s move on with what we have and what we will attract because the future looks far more exciting than the past. Incidentally we must be watching different Scotland games?

  • John Gow says:

    Not sure what people see in JM to be honest. A bit of a battering ram player who can be a liability at times with his pinball machine style. AV fans have not been slow to comment on his poor performances this season. Oh and JM picked AV over Celtic who eventually offered Hibs the same money that AV did. There, said it for you James.

    • John A says:

      1 of the many reasons Lawwell shouldn’t be allowed back.

    • woodyiom says:

      Yes he did choose AV over us because by then his head had been turned by the chance at a historically large and successful (albeit not so much recently) EPL team and all the opportunities and money that brings. IF Lawwell had simply offered HIbs the money at the beginning he would have been ours weeks before AV came knocking. And whether you rate him as highly as others or not is immaterial – our manager had made him his no 1 summer transfer target – £3m to get him was hardly breaking our bank. We would have sold him for £20m to AV (or similar) 2-3 years. Buying McGinn was a no brainer and might have extended Scott Brown’s career as a bonus.

  • john mc guire says:

    lawwell has to get back into the fold he is one of the largest share holders ,, the bastard wants to keep an eye on things .

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