If you were told that he doesn’t want 9 then what were you told he does want (unironically please, if possible)?
And again, and for the record, we don’t (really) know either the ask or the offer, and we don’t know who it is that’s refusing to budge. Because that determines who’s more at fault here.
For example, if Swayman doesn’t want 9 but wants 8.5 and Sweeney refuses to budge from 6.2, then this whole clusterf*** is on Sweeney. But if Swayman’s ask was 9.5-10 and Sweeney moved up from 6.2 to, say, 8+ and Swayman won’t budge then it’s on Swayman. Or maybe both moved but just not enough.
But until and unless we know the initial ask and offer, and who moved and who didn’t, then we don’t really know who’s to blame. Could be one, could be the other, could be both or could be neither. We just don’t know and are just pulling shit out of our asses. All but DKH, of course, who’s told things.