Jack McDowell

Right Back - Gzira United
14 Nov 2030
Thursday
Process

Marked for Jack McDowell

183 Edition

The Gzira United Courier

28 Jan 2030
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Christoph Wober asks to leave Gzira United

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Market

Only the photograph left for Joshua Muwana

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Joshua Muwana will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Gzira United the goodbyes have quietly begun.

Squad

Jack McDowell in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gzira United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

John Sammut attracts admirers

The name of John Sammut has come up in conversations Gzira United were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.

Market

Marsaxlokk expected to open talks for Will McPartland

Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Gzira United will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.

Squad

No hiding place for Joshua Muwana

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Joshua Muwana, and the manager let it.

In brief

Back issues
174 Edition

The Gzira United Courier

26 Nov 2029
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Zack Henry is on his way

The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Gzira United is pretending he will be back in the shirt.

Squad

Kurt Zammit: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Gzira United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Tempers go at Gzira United

Edoardo Colombo was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Match

A bad afternoon for Gzira United against Mosta

1‑3 to Mosta, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Player ratings

Lorenzo Schietroma in the eights

A performance of 8.35 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Jack McDowell

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Santiago Martínez

Successful dribbles: 15. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Player ratings

Aivars Emsis keeps on missing

Shots: 11, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.

Squad

Will McPartland is off the mark for Gzira United

The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.

In brief

165 Edition

The Gzira United Courier

24 Sep 2029
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

No end in sight to Gzira United's wait for a win

8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Gzira United has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

Christian Gauci: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Gzira United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Edoardo Colombo in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gzira United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Hibernians take the points off Gzira United

Beaten 2‑3, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Player ratings

Fabrício Kanté in the eights

A performance of 8.49 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Jack McDowell

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

In brief

162 Edition

The Gzira United Courier

3 Sep 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Zack Henry has one foot out of the door

Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Gzira United they have already started talking about him in the past tense.

Match

No end in sight to Gzira United's wait for a win

5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Gzira United has to find a result from somewhere.

Market

Eyes on Will McPartland again

The phone has started ringing about Will McPartland again, and this time the name on the line is Marsaxlokk. Gzira United are listening politely and promising nothing.

Player ratings

One of those days for Johan Bonilla

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.95, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Squad

Tempers go at Gzira United

Jack McDowell was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings

Zack Henry runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Vadim Kurlovich signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Vadim Kurlovich commits to Gzira United for another 1 years.

Market

Gzira United buy the years ahead of Giuseppe Testa

He is 19, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.

Match

Gzira United and Marsaxlokk take a point apiece

It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.

In brief

147 Edition

The Gzira United Courier

21 May 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

Gzira United are in among the leaders

Position 3 and 37 points on the board. Nobody at the ground will say the word out loud yet, and everybody at the ground is thinking it.

Squad

Tempers go at Gzira United

Jack McDowell was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Market

Santiago Martínez linked with a move away

The name of Santiago Martínez keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Gzira United say nothing, which says plenty.

In brief

141 Edition

The Gzira United Courier

9 Apr 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Andrew Borg puts it in writing

“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Gzira United, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

André: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Gzira United have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Market

Only the photograph left for Andrew Borg

Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Andrew Borg will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Gzira United the goodbyes have quietly begun.

In brief

132 Edition

The Gzira United Courier

5 Feb 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Zack Henry asks to leave Gzira United

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Squad

Edoardo Colombo in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gzira United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Jack McDowell signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Jack McDowell commits to Gzira United for another 4 years.

In brief

131 Edition

The Gzira United Courier

29 Jan 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

Gzira United up to position 3

37 points on the board and a place in the leading group. Nobody at the ground is saying the word out loud yet.

Market

Joshua Muwana hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Gzira United can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Tempers go at Gzira United

Edoardo Colombo was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Jack McDowell

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Market

Naxxar Lions are about to pick up the phone

A conversation is coming this week. Gzira United will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.

Squad

Diego Tavares knocks on the manager's door

“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Gzira United, and both men came out saying it was fine.

In brief

129 Edition

The Gzira United Courier

15 Jan 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Andrew Borg hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Gzira United can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Will McPartland says Gzira United went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

Tempers go at Gzira United

Edoardo Colombo was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings

Johan Bonilla runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Aivars Emsis gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Squad

Johan Bonilla is carrying Gzira United

6 goals and a season average of 7.35. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Jack McDowell

Defensive actions: 13. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Player ratings

Marc Van de Bovenkamp shuts the door

Defensive actions: 13, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

Match

Gzira United and Naxxar Lions cancel each other out

Nil-nil, and few chances worth the name. Naxxar Lions came to defend and left with exactly what they came for.

In brief

128 Edition

The Gzira United Courier

8 Jan 2029
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Zack Henry puts it in writing

“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Gzira United, and it is not being withdrawn.

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Jack McDowell

Defensive actions: 27. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Johan Bonilla

Successful dribbles: 24. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Edoardo Colombo in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gzira United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Another clean sheet for Edoardo Colombo

7 shut-outs and counting. Goalkeepers are only noticed when they fail, and Edoardo Colombo has given nobody the chance.

Squad

No hiding place for Christian Gauci

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Christian Gauci, and the manager let it.

Squad

Santiago Martínez is carrying Gzira United

2 goals and a season average of 7.20. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Player ratings

Fabrício Kanté keeps on missing

Shots: 8, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.

Match

No goals between Gzira United and Valletta

Ninety minutes, two goalkeepers with clean gloves, and not one finish worth keeping. Valletta will be the happier side with the point.

In brief

126 Edition

The Gzira United Courier

25 Dec 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Lorenzo Schietroma keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Gzira United may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Match

4 matches without a win for Gzira United

The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Gzira United are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Fabrício Kanté is carrying Gzira United

10 goals and a season average of 7.35. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Match

Gzira United come up short against Zabbar St. Patrick

Zabbar St. Patrick left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

Jack McDowell in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Gzira United this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Fabrício Kanté

Marked 8.36 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

In brief