Disappointed? Yes. Surprised? No.
These long-suffering Birmingham City supporters have got used to expecting the worst. But, even by their standards, losing Riley McGree for just £2 million – just days after their near neighbours snapped up a £142 million Brazil international from Barcelona – seems to epitomise the never-ending malaise at a club with a macabre obsession with self-flagellation.
“No, I don’t think so,” manager Lee Bowyer told the Birmingham Mail in December when asked if McGree, who was on loan at St Andrews from Charlotte FC, would be staying in the Second City.
“Apparently he is going back. That will be a blow. There’s lots of blows at the minute.”
They just keep on coming too, Birmingham taking blows like a dishevelled amateur who dared to enter the ring with a pumped-up Mike Tyson.
McGree’s exit is another jab to Bowyer’s ribs. Some Blues supporters fear that a knockout could soon follow.
Bowyer walked away from Charlton Athletic to take over at Birmingham less than 12 months ago. The former Leeds and Newcastle midfielder is headstrong enough and savvy enough to know when the time is right to jump ship and the Birmingham hull is certainly springing a leak or too.
Is Riley McGree joining Celtic after Birmingham City spell?
According to The Sun (9 January, page 59), Birmingham cannot afford the £2 million fee required to sign McGree on a permanent deal.
The Blues, it seems, are paying the price for past mistakes. If only they could turn back the clock and use the £2 million they invested in Sam Cosgrove on their Australian international fans’ favourite instead.
Nottingham Forest and Middlesbrough are interested in McGree.
As it stands, Scottish Premiership giants Celtic are the 23-year-old’s most likely destination, largely due to the presence of his former Socceroos boss Ange Postecoglou on the Parkhead touchline (Sun).
At least, if McGree moves north of the border, Birmingham fans won’t have to endure the added ignominy of seeing McGree firing Middlesbrough or Forest into the Championship play-offs.
Then again, that feels like a silver lining akin to a last-gasp consolation in a 6-1 defeat.
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