AntrimBlack Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 His and our best times in recent years have been when we've played in a way that makes the most of his ability. He's not a clever player and his not gifted with great talent, but when he's allowed to be direct and we use his pace and strength (even though he is a yard slower now) he causes teams problems and he will get goals. Not prolific, but he will chip in his fair share. Unfortunately we've not done this consistently in years. Somehow manager after manager just decided pace belongs on the wings and made him a wider player which neutralises him as anything other an outlet when under the cosh. If Tim is prepared to make him more of a focal point again I think we'll see a resurgence. I really hope he doesn't. Agbonlahor will never score the goals to justify that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRO Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 If someone like Bournemouth or Norwich offered 2M i'd bite their hands off seeing as norwich paid that for jerome, and paid nearly 3 times that for hooper, both are worse than gabby, then you throw in grabban and lafferty who are also worse than gabby, i dont see why you value him so low if we ever put him up for sale (we wont) we'd be getting £8-10m for him quite easy ........can you help me sell my house? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rodders0223 Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 If someone like Bournemouth or Norwich offered 2M i'd bite their hands off seeing as norwich paid that for jerome, and paid nearly 3 times that for hooper, both are worse than gabby, then you throw in grabban and lafferty who are also worse than gabby, i dont see why you value him so low if we ever put him up for sale (we wont) we'd be getting £8-10m for him quite easy Not really, because none of the clubs had to take on a ridiculous contract like they would for Gabby. I am going to guesstimate 3 years left at 40k. So there is £6m knocked off the fee right away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GeordieVillan Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 Gabby was very good under MON very consistently. He was a regular starter and one of the main attacking threats in a top 6 team. But he needs other dangerous players around him to ease the burden (Young, Milner, Downing, Carew etc.). The only other decent dangerous player we have had in recent years has just left us for Liverpool. He has suffered as the last 5 years has seen one of the worst selections of Aston Villa midfields I have seen in my lifetime. Christ we've been a bit of a laughing stock for 2-3 years because we can't keep the ball and can't create chances. Remarkably during this time Benteke has still scored goals - but thats probably because he is another level of player to Gabby and was probably too good for where we currently are. I think Gabby will have until Xmas to show Sherwood that he still has something to offer, otherwise I think he will be gone in January or next summer. I think he could still make a living for himself in the Premier League, even if he left us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itdoesntmatterwhatthissay Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 We've spent years ignoring Gabby's strengths and playing to his weaknesses through a combination of tactically limited managers and midfielders of limited ability. Gabby isn't without blame obviously but we've done little make the most of him either. Limited though he is I like Gabby and always will. With respect, I think we as a club have done everything to make the most of him. Well I completely disagree but that is football. I disagree too, we haven't made the most of him at all. We didn't play him up top and in one or two simple roles, we didn't drop him when he stopped performing (even up top) and he hasn't done the simple things for quite some time, management has to take the blame there. In 6 years he could've improved technically or mentally, why hasn't management improved him? On his side he doesn't concentrate for 90 mins and dwells too often, he doesn't consistently make runs behind the defensive line, he's not improved on shooting early and he clearly hasn't made an effort to work out why his pace is so damned devastating. He'd definitely contributes more with better players around him but the Gabby of old has run out of chances, if we want to be a better (top 8 team) he'll have to move aside as a guaranteed starter. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 If someone like Bournemouth or Norwich offered 2M i'd bite their hands off seeing as norwich paid that for jerome, and paid nearly 3 times that for hooper, both are worse than gabby, then you throw in grabban and lafferty who are also worse than gabby, i dont see why you value him so low if we ever put him up for sale (we wont) we'd be getting £8-10m for him quite easy As if right on cue... Norwich agree a £7m fee with hull for Robbie Brady... But gabby is only worth £2m? Not a chance 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sne Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 Gabby's inflated wages is what's keeping him at the club. They make him less motivated to move, and probably impossible to find a club willing to sign him. Same thing applies to N'Zogbia Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AntrimBlack Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 We can get £7m+ for Agbonlahor? Sell, sell, sell. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 Yes first season he's ever been here he's not an automatic pick now (apart from the few months under Houllier and even then he still started a decent number of games) Ayew............Main striker (probably Adebayor)...........Grealish is what I expect from us. Gabby, Kozak, Gil and Sinclair all as bench options and indeed all will get chances when injuries and changes in formation happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingman Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 If someone offers us £7m+ for gabby then i will show my arse in Burtons window! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daweii Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 I love that Sherwood doesn't put a players club preference ahead of skill and ability. Yes it's great that Gabby is a Villa fan and he's living the dream of being able to play for his childhood favourite team, but it was starting to piss me off that managers would automatically pick him for every game just because of that. The whole "Oh it's fine Gabby, you haven't scored in half a season but you'll start because you're a Villa fan". Playing ability comes first, I don't care if the player hates Villa if he puts in a shift and is the best player in the position. So I am glad that Sherwood is buying and looking at strikers as if Gabby doesn't exist which he quite frankly doesn't his goal ratio is that low.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woody1000 Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 I thought Gabby was playing well for the spell between Sherwood taking over and him getting injured against Spurs, but his comeback during our run-in was pretty poor. If played in the right position he can be an asset for us, we just need to utilise him more. He's never going to be Mr Consistancy, but his pace and power will always cause defenders problems. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrentVilla Posted July 27, 2015 Moderator Share Posted July 27, 2015 if we want to be a better (top 8 team) he'll have to move aside as a guaranteed starter. I'm not disputing that, neither am I absolving him from blame, criticism etc but the above doesn't detract from the fact the club/management and players at the club have failed to get the best out of him in the last few years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 The only manager that got the best out of him was Martin Oneill. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shomin Geki Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 Yeah, Gabby ain't good enough. He cruises. A crucial year for the chap. He can do a job against the more timid defences in the league, and as an impact sub. I really think Gabby needs to get nastier, get in the faces of opponents, niggle, hassle, push, pull. That may be his best bet for this team. I'm reminded of Laursen revealing the toughest player he ever faced was the Grand Imp of Turbo-Devilry Himself, Craig Bellamy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qwpzxjor1 Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 (edited) Impact sub sounds about right. I think he's brilliant for that role, but unless there's serious improvement from him I'll be disappointed if he's in our starting 11. I've always liked Gabby, but he's been too comfortable for too long. Can't argue his passion, but hasn't really turned that into results for whatever reason, probably due to ability, sadly b Edited July 27, 2015 by Qwpzxjor1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villa4europe Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 IMO it will be a straight shoot out between sinclair and gabby, and we wont get 38 games out of either of them, expecting our front line vs bournemouth to be - ayew - adebayor - sinclair gabby and kozak on the bench Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parisvilla Posted July 27, 2015 Share Posted July 27, 2015 Impact sub sounds about right. I think he's brilliant for that role, but unless there's serious improvement from him I'll be disappointed if he's in our starting 11. I've always liked Gabby, but he's been too comfortable for too long. Can't argue his passion, but hasn't really turned that into results for whatever reason, probably due to ability, sadly b Impact as in try and bring us back into a game? When the opposition can sit back and protect their advantage? Not sure those are the scenarios he's likely to contribute most. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CrackpotForeigner Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 Looking at the number of people lining up to sell Gabby down the river, it's surprising how we expect any loyalty from people like Benteke and Welph. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shomin Geki Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 Looking at the number of people lining up to sell Gabby down the river, it's surprising how we expect any loyalty from people like Benteke and Welph. Let's say that Benteke and Delph's front crawl was a little more potent than Gabriel 'driftwood' Agbonlahor. Yes, Villa fans are discovering a mean streak of late. But, hey, it's a French Revolution, heads are gonna roll. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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