We Are The Reds

Continuing the player thread theme I’d be interested to hear others’ opinions on Dylan McGowan.

Back in season 1 Sydney fans liked to goad us with a chant “you’ve got the wrong Aloisi”, which I found really amusing a couple of seasons later when they signed the “right” Aloisi and proceeded to boo the crap out of him cos he couldn’t hit a barn door but anyway…

The burning question is – have we got the wrong McGowan ?

Last week’s game was a perfect snap shot of Dylan’s career at AU so far. Solid defensively, a couple of timely tackles and interceptions, but his distribution was quite frankly, abysmal. His inability to find a team mate with any pass over 15 yards is imo a real issue given our style of play.

Then of course there was the winning goal and the win saving foul.
This is where I become conflicted in my opinion of Dylan and why I really like him as a player. It wasn’t just the goal – in truth it was just a johnny-on-the-spot tap in, but the celebration afterwards in front of the fans and the way in which his team mates flocked to him show (a) he’s a whole-hearted, kiss the badge type of player and (b) he’s really popular within the squad. Two things that are not to be under-estimated.

It could be argued that the red card was a result of being caught out of position, but due to the fact that it was Seb Ryall bombing forward I think we could dispense with that and look at the fact that Dylan was prepared to sacrifice himself to protect the lead.

In summary I think Dylan is a good, if somewhat limited defender who is a great team player, but I really think some work needs to be done on his distribution if he’s going to nail down a regular starting spot

Yeah I think that's a pretty accurate assessment. I'd just add that he's still fairly young at 24 so as a CB he's still got development to do.

i think he will do a boogers and pull a season out of the hat

Last week he was bloody marvelous and I think you're right about his popularity and passion. He doesn't need to be a brilliant ball player as long as just passes to Malik! Decent CB for an A-League team and could well get a lot better yet.

IIRC he cost us the goal in the finals against Brisbane Roar with sloppy footwork (luckily the final result went our way). I think if LaRocca can learn the system quickly he'll be taking DM's spot. Agree with the MartinAUFC's assessment.

Agree with everything.

We can get away with one cb who is not quite so good on the ball if the guy next to him is quality. Boogers was not so great on the ball until he got that self belief that he can play out, im sure mcgowan is the same.

I wonder what la roccas situation is, it seems he is not even close to first team selection so either he is not fit yet ( how fit does a cb need to be? ) or coaching staff dont believe he is first team material... If thats the case we have wasted a visa spot.

I like Dylan 'McGovern'* McGowan, but he at times seems scared, shaky and seems to lack confidence on the ball. He's a humble enough bloke with some definite potential in him. I'm sure he has some mongrel in him too - maybe we need to see more of this so his nerves can settle.

Still, he's not my first choice CB. I would start La Rocca ahead of him.

* 'McGovern' is his 'cult name', as unwittingly conceived by AU's one and only DM5 (Damien Masterfive).

I wholeheartedly endorse all of the above statements re: Dylan McGarnagle.

Boogaard did a lot of the distribution last year, my guess is now that McGowan takes more of the responsibility, its gonna take a little bit of time to get to a level we need him to be.

I see that he seems like a leadership figure amongst the playing group as well. We need that after Boogaard left.

He seems like a proud South Aussie, which is what Gombau wanted to bring more to the team.

* 'McGovern' is his 'cult name', as unwittingly conceived by AU's one and only DM5 (Damien Masterfive).

I thought that was originally taken from the horribly hilarious commentary from the Alice Springs game?

viewtopic.php?f=21&t=5653&start=300

That was great game

* 'McGovern' is his 'cult name', as unwittingly conceived by AU's one and only DM5 (Damien Masterfive).

I thought that was originally taken from the horribly hilarious commentary from the Alice Springs game?

viewtopic.php?f=21&t=5653&start=300

That was great game

I was thinking it based on the character from Happy Gilmore but then I realized that's McGavin. A shame as shooter would be a great nickname for him

Shooter McGowan.
Gonna do my damndest to make it a thing.

Chants to opposition attackers-

He eat's pieces of shit like you for breakfast

He doesn't need to be a brilliant ball player ...

Actually, he does if he wants to play our system without leaving us wide open at the back.

I'm not against the lad but he's not there yet, he's a work in progress. He must be doing something right though if he's getting a start in front of La Rocca who was supposed to be the duck's guts.

I agree his distribution isn't the greatest but it's not by biggest concern about him. He lacks leg speed imo and it costs him.
I really hope the club can get him some specialist running training at some stage to try and get him that extra yard of pace as other than that i think he's a decent standard CB.
I reckon he could be a long term option for us if he can improve his game a bit more all round.

Bogey was never pacey though.

I reckon he is serviceable but expect La Rocca to replace him once he knows our system.

We'll get a good look at La Rocca against Victory as McGowza is suspended anyway.