Gabby Agbonlahor

[dont_do_it_doug.]

Thought he played well when he came on. Hassled and harried, bought space for others. He worked extremely hard off the ball, maybe that's not noticeable on the TV.

He was dreadful on Tuesday, a complete waste of a shirt, but today was his best cameo so far. More of that and he might win me over. 

[Dave J]

1 hour ago, dont_do_it_doug. said:

Thought he played well when he came on. Hassled and harried, bought space for others. He worked extremely hard off the ball, maybe that's not noticeable on the TV.

He was dreadful on Tuesday, a complete waste of a shirt, but today was his best cameo so far. More of that and he might win me over. 

Doug are you serious? Your either not watching the same football as me or  if so-  I've said before when you trot out the " worked hard/ off the ball" mantra then your clutching at straws IMO

[meregreen]

Every time I see this guy play. I hope it will be the last time. One day it will be 

[Demitri_C]

2 hours ago, dont_do_it_doug. said:

Thought he played well when he came on. Hassled and harried, bought space for others. He worked extremely hard off the ball, maybe that's not noticeable on the TV.

He was dreadful on Tuesday, a complete waste of a shirt, but today was his best cameo so far. More of that and he might win me over. 

Got to say mate I completely disagree he was pretty poor. There was one moment when the ball went forward to him and his first touch was like league two standard.

the only thing he did in my opinion was good at running the clock down in final few minutes. 

[nick76]

With the strikers we have available and despite some of the form they are in, it should still mean that Gabby is nowhere near the team.  I just don't see what he's offering to warrant some game time.

[dont_do_it_doug.]

Pft, each to their own, opinions are like arseholes etc etc. 

I'm being 100% serious yes. Maybe the view is different when you're actually at the game.

[dont_do_it_doug.]

9 hours ago, Dave J said:

Doug are you serious? Your either not watching the same football as me or  if so-  I've said before when you trot out the " worked hard/ off the ball" mantra then your clutching at straws IMO

Tell me Dave, do you not think working hard is relevant? When I "trot that out" it is because it is something I've seen and found to be a positive aspect of a players performance, I don't do it because of some weird fascination I have with Gabby that only exists in your head. 

You're the only one with the obsession. You're on to every single even remotely positive post in this thread within the hour. 

[tom_avfc]

15 minutes ago, dont_do_it_doug. said:

Pft, each to their own, opinions are like arseholes etc etc. 

I'm being 100% serious yes. Maybe the view is different when you're actually at the game.

I was there and agree with your assessment mostly. I think he's been decent when he's come on at the end of games as he does look to put the opposition under a bit of pressure. I don't think he should be starting games but I do see why SB considers him an option from the bench. In fact I see him pretty similarly to Rudy at the moment. They are both decent options (for differing reasons) for the last 20 minutes of a game or so but I'd be disappointed to see either of them start.

I suppose the real issue with both Gabby and Rudy is the lack of a goal scoring threat but as you said they're good at harrying and at creating space/opportunities for others.

[hippo]

When a players contribution is 'brought space for others' - you know he's had a rough afternoon.

 

[Dave J]

5 minutes ago, dont_do_it_doug. said:

Tell me Dave, do you not think working hard is relevant? When I "trot that out" it is because it is something I've seen and found to be a positive aspect of a players performance, I don't do it because of some weird fascination I have with Gabby that only exists in your head. 

You're the only one with the obsession. You're on to every single even remotely positive post in this thread within the hour. 

Well the way I see  it Doug is this- working hard is not a skill or God given ability it is the absolute bare minimum requirement for any professional footballer the moment that he crosses the white line regardless of the level at which they are playing so I'm not affording any credit for this I'm afraid. I would ask you to point out exactly what you feel aside from this that he has contributed in terms of passing, shooting, involment of passages of play- I will acknowledge you might wish  say the flick header but this does not require huge amounts of talent  - since his return to the squad? 

[dont_do_it_doug.]

34 minutes ago, Dave J said:

Well the way I see  it Doug is this- working hard is not a skill or God given ability it is the absolute bare minimum requirement for any professional footballer the moment that he crosses the white line regardless of the level at which they are playing so I'm not affording any credit for this I'm afraid. I would ask you to point out exactly what you feel aside from this that he has contributed in terms of passing, shooting, involment of passages of play- I will acknowledge you might wish  say the flick header but this does not require huge amounts of talent  - since his return to the squad? 

You might say that it's an absolute bare minimum requirement of a footballer to work hard, but they don't all do it do they? 

To be honest though Dave, if you're already listing football attributes I can't use to point out "how I feel" before I've even started, I can't be arsed mate. Sorry. 

[Dr_Pangloss]

In fairness I thought his work rate was good and did quite a lot to stretch their backline, the problem is that the quality on the ball just wasn't there. 

[Ginko]

I think if we're going to rip into players when they're lazy and don't try then it's only fair we praise them when they do work hard.

There's a lot to moan about with Gabby and I'm far from his biggest fan, but the guy has contributed in some way to the cause and has put in a shift when called upon whenever I've seen him.

[sexbelowsound]

Thought he did well in the time that he was on. Definitely think last 15-20 is the time to use him.

He scares people with his pace, even though he doesn't have it anymore. You can see they visibly drop off when he comes on.

He does run the channels and stretch the game well. 

[sexbelowsound]

11 hours ago, Dave J said:

Doug are you serious? Your either not watching the same football as me or  if so-  I've said before when you trot out the " worked hard/ off the ball" mantra then your clutching at straws IMO

Working hard off the ball is a vitally important skill for a forward and particularly in the last 20 minutes or so when trying to defend a lead. He stretched the game, worried their defenders and gave us that extra breathing space in midfield.

If you don't think these are important then yes, you probably did watch a different game.

[briny_ear]

11 hours ago, Demitri_C said:

the only thing he did in my opinion was good at running the clock down in final few minutes. 

Which in my view is exactly what Bruce brought him on to do.

Bruce was going mental on the touchline because the team were being utterly clueless about holding the ball and running the game down. Passes were going astray, the ball was being hoofed aimlessly into touch and so on.

If you watched what Gabs did when he came on, he was talking to players, showing them where to pass the ball, and it all became so much calmer. 

So I reckon Gabby did exactly what he was sent in the pitch to do.

[NIVillan]

2 hours ago, hippo said:

When a players contribution is 'brought space for others' - you know he's had a rough afternoon.

 

Not always - You used to always have partnerships up front, often big man little man, and mostly the big man bought space for the little man to nip in and score.  Usually battering the defence about.  If you were lucky and had a big man that could also score, your team stood a chance.  Think Withe and Shaw.

[Demitri_C]

6 minutes ago, briny_ear said:

Which in my view is exactly what Bruce brought him on to do.

Bruce was going mental on the touchline because the team were being utterly clueless about holding the ball and running the game down. Passes were going astray, the ball was being hoofed aimlessly into touch and so on.

If you watched what Gabs did when he came on, he was talking to players, showing them where to pass the ball, and it all became so much calmer. 

So I reckon Gabby did exactly what he was sent in the pitch to do.

So then he brought him on to coach the players on the pitch? Isn't that the captains responsbility? Pretty desperate stuff if we are relying on gabby of all people to be barking instructions to our players! Would rather take orders from Ronald McDonald 

[markavfc40]

I don't think he should be starting games but to come on with 30 minutes to go on a few occasions now he has shown he can be useful in either helping us to get a late goal or in seeing out a game.

For whatever reason I think the manager trusts him more than the other options he has on the bench to carry out what he wants late in games.

[Dave J]

3 hours ago, dont_do_it_doug. said:

You might say that it's an absolute bare minimum requirement of a footballer to work hard, but they don't all do it do they? 

To be honest though Dave, if you're already listing football attributes I can't use to point out "how I feel" before I've even started, I can't be arsed mate. Sorry. 

Each to their own Doug.