The Riley McGree story was not only massive for us as Celtic fans, but it also made huge news over in Australia.
The prospect of Ange Postecoglou teaming up with a young Socceroo that is held in such high regard had whetted the appetite of the Aussies, so much so, that The Roar, Australia’s leading sports opinion website ran a story about McGree’s rise through the Australian youths to Celtic.
As good as the article was, it was in the comments section where the author of the piece gave a very interesting take on what has taken place over the last 24 hours.
You can read the article on McGree on the link above, but here are the authors [Adelaide Andy] comments which gives a fascinating insight as to how the move developed from being a done deal to being on the brink of collapse:
Posted at 12:04 am today, Andy said, “I sent a message to Chris Hodgson last night (he was Riley’s youth coach) and he said the family is over the moon with this news.”
And less than two hours later (01:55am) the author then posted, “Deals off, how shattering for the player and his family.
“Seems to have collapsed in the last 24 hours after being 90% done.”
When asked why it is shattering news by a reader as McGree would be on more money and playing in a better league, the blogger replied, “Its shattering given how massive a club Celtic is.
“No disrespect to Boro, but Celtic are larger in terms of everything from history, trophies to fans across the world.
“However the Championship is a stronger league than Scotland and they play 2 games a week. I’d expect him to start based on the figures quoted on that fee.
“If that transfer fee is accurate, Adelaide United will be looking at around $800k from the sell on clause.
“That also means that he could line up against Man Utd in the FA Cup, which will have a massive worldwide viewing audience.”
Very interesting comments from a blogger who seems to have close connections with the player.
How will this play out? I’m sure we will find out very soon.
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A bigger audience 0ne game he might be lost in the championship the blogger like he’s never heard of celtic championship is still second teir in English football but if the boy has to think then celtic should pull out blogger sounds like agent
he wont win any thing or participate in the champions league with Middlesborough but money talks i suppose it all depends on his outlook but at Celtic we only want players who want to play for the club so no big deal
Any player has the final say on there future, if a young lad from Australia grew up dreaming of playing In front of a half empty stadium with no atmosphere then Middlesbrough is perfect for him , or too tell the truth any English team with exception to Cristal palace , Celtic is a massive club with probably the best atmosphere in Europe ,with fans worldwide especially in Australia, if a extra couple of grand a week turns you away from that as a footballer, then maybe he deserves what’s coming for him
What is coming to him???
How do you know what is coming to him???