“I've gone down the route of getting a six week preseason” ... as opposed to John “I’ll have my squad fit by Round 8” Aloisi 😁

He keeps saying the right things and I'm glad he's got a wrap on DWS's attitude.

it sucks brissy are playing sydney first match i don't think they can win that one 

It will depend who is better prepared in their preseason. Fitness is a huge deal during the FFA cup.

Would be disappointing if hed already judged DWH as being poor before things started

anything is possible ....if our team last season could beat them there is no reason why this one can't .

That’s a good point. No doubt it’ll be tough but both sides will have had a month plus 4 games to get ready, both will have nearly full squads as well so it should be a good game. 

Id say the edge is clearly with Sydney as they’re at home and don’t have as many changes as Roar do, but Fowler is clearly up for this - as someone else said, he keeps saying all the right things. 

it's a good first game for robbie if they lose it's ok because it's bayern sydney if they win his a genius 

Mulvey’s rhetoric was impressive last season but was soon exposed as hopelessly incompetent in a number of areas.

Given the visa players he’s signed, I think he’s judged the entire league as being poor.

Doesnt take much to see DWH is pretty raw (especially if youre aware he was playing NPL this time last season) but very talented. 

Yeah he is raw.

I was referring to all of their visa players and the League's they were signed from.

What people seem to forget is that RF played a couple of seasons here, so knows the lay of the land. Would be very surprised if he doesn't hit the ground running, meaning he'll have the troups primed from the get go.

Well it’s not a surprise then he signed an average journeymen in the English lower leagues over him, and he says he knows about the aleague?

Of course DWH is a talent who is still raw that needs more development but I blame the youth system for that issue, where will they play if they are not in the aleague?

Of course their is not many pathways for that problem so they should play in the aleague the problem is managers here don’t back youth as they seem as a backup and often a risk for the weekend result (see Perth Glory and Sydney FCs average age) and therefore not a investment for the club, a typical problem for the aleague and Australian football in general.

The aleague should mostly be an development league for the likes of DWH for it to shine as it’s seen with others before that with other teams which has helped our national team but the mentality within is different, and the structure doesn’t help either.  

Its kind of bizarre that Fowler wasn't impressed by DWH when judged from afar and what he had seen,presumably on tv.
What was he looking at?
Most pundits here were impressed ,when he finally got some game time.
For me his standout feature was how lethal he was in front of goal.He rarely missed the mark and was so quick on his feet.
Maybe its a case of anyone playing under the previous managers looked bad?

Reasons to be unimpressed: awful first touch, poor decision making especially knowing when to pass or shoot, poor awareness of teammates around him. 

Reasons to be impressed: speed, confidence, lethal shot. 

Take your pick i guess. 

i think the only reason DWH stood out was because of how extremely poor brisbane were, he is an ok player and has the potential to become a very good player, but sometimes i feel as though he is over hyped by people 

I think all you’ve said there is correct. Worse still was the fact Aloisi wouldn’t even use him off the bench early in the season when we were crying out for something different, this kinda built up fans frustration which elevated all of the above. 

This season I’m hoping DWH gets plenty of game time. But I don’t see him as a starter just yet but off the bench he should be very dynamic and by seasons end he really needs to be poising for a weekly starting spot 

What makes you say that the Aleague should be a vehicle for the development of young players. Is there an example, any where in the world, that validates your opinion? The FFA should've had a 2nd division (reserve grade) playing before the 1st team, where the development would've come from. A bit like the current LNP Federal Gov, no vision.

What has it got to do with politics ? This is a football forum ..no one is interested in your political views .
As for DWH ...I also think he is a very raw talent. He does not have a great first touch and is a bit small for a striker but he has that one ingredient that so many better footballers lack ...he knows where the goal is and is focussed on shooting whenever he can . He can learn first touch ,awareness and tactics etc but you can't learn "goal hunger" it is either there or its not.

The Croatian League, Eredivisie, Belgian league, the Portuguese league in Europe just to name a few.

Brazil’s Serie A, Argentina Pro Liga in South America.

Japan with the J-League who producing talent going straight into the biggest leagues in Europe.

Plenty who do that.

No it shouldn’t. It should be a league that has the best available players in it from here and overseas - if theyre 18 or 38 it doesn’t matter. 

Love Wenzel Halls, least Fowler can admit when hes wrong.

We sometimes read way too much into what coaches say...I think all he was really saying was .."I was pleasantly surprised by DWH's attitude and commitment " rather than being a commentary on DWH not seeming very good at first viewing.......

In my view we are not a "development" league ...there is no such thing .
Our teams should simply strive to be they best they can be . If they do this the cream will inevitably rise to the top.
If you are young and good enough you will play ...if not ...too bad .
Development should be done before they get to A-League level . Once they get there it is up to them to sink or swim .
If an A-League  coach sees something in a young player he may ease him in to the team when he can but that kid has to repay that by producing progress  and adding something ...there are no free rides.
Player must learn early that to play at the best level they can they must work harder for longer and have mental strength.

This should be happening from about age 14 onwards .
We must make our older juniors more competitive...and yes ...more cutthroat ..because that's how football at the top is .
Our young players are too soft and expect too much for too little .

@Waz,I seem to remember you were very negative about DWH,when everyone was saying play him.Then when he played he stood out.
He could score given little space ,had energy and pace and got back in defence.Plus he could provide goal assists.Although his first touch and passing accuracy were not the best.(Along with most of the team)
Then the dumb new manager started playing him out wide and threw in a useless recruit in the center.
Could it be that most negative opinions are based on what he doesnt do when playing out wide ,which is not his best position?
A typical case of manager needs someone to fit a plan and as noone else can run fast ,so sorry eventhough you are lethal in front of goal,my plan is to have speed out wide.So now you are a winger and should pass the ball the the hopeless striker.

I said he can’t play #9, and he can’t yet because his first touch is awful. He got moved out wide last season where his pace and shooting power came in to play. To my eye his best period was those 3-4 games partnering Taggart 

a simple comparison is Holloway vs DWH, at the moment DWH is nowhere near Holloway’s ability but would play off him nicely. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Amadi-Holloway

That's a pretty woeful goalscoring record for a striker

It is. He’s an odd pick based on his goal scoring record - when you see him play it’s obvious why Fowler has selected him though. Physically he’s a beast - big, strong, very fast, good ball control 

I agree we aren’t a “development” league, but we have to recognise that we aren’t a top league and therefore developing players and selling them to “better” leagues should be an important part of a clubs thinking as it is a potential source of revenue that the club may get, as well as positive PR.

Player development has definitely been something that A-League clubs have historically been pretty bad at . Thankfully Brisbane have fixed that and we should start to see positive change in the quality of the youth coming into the senior team. The second division will hopefully also help as some of the better prospects (Akbari, Barnett and DWH are the obvious examples) can be signed on a senior deal and loaned to a second div club to aid in their growth as hopefully they get more game time allowing them to have a smaller step into the top division and into the wider footballing world.