Gabby Agbonlahor

[VILLAMARV]

4 hours ago, Don_Simon said:

If Gabby buys every fan at the ground on the last home game of the season, I'll give him a cheer for buying me a pint. 

Apart from that, dont let the door hit you on the way out. 

...He'd be prosecuted for people trafficking no?

[weedman]

5 hours ago, Straggler said:

Not sure how much of that I'm buying.  As club captain he set a shocking example.  Hippy crack, mid season pipe smoking holidays, little to no fitness, disruptive in the dressing room. Under his 'leadership' we lacked in moral fiber, in effort and in professionalism, all attributes that he was at the fore of demonstrating that they were not required at this club.  Looking after and protecting younger players is about more than saying the odd nice thing, it is about making sure that they make the most of the opportunities they have in-front of them.  The only way Gabby can do this now is as a cautionary tale of what not to do.  Look at the difference in the club now with John Terry as the leader.  He sets an example and the players around him are rising with him. 

I know correlation is not causation, but Jack Grealish had Gabby as the club captain and role model for most of his young career.  Gabby was a mid week, mid season party goer and so was Jack.  This season we bring in a bunch of seasoned pro's who can demonstrate the sacrifices that real success requires and Jack buckles down and starts to look the player we all hoped he would be.  You would have to be blind not to see the high esteem that JG holds JT in and how much that example has brought the best out in him.  I know there are many other contributing factors to JG and his improvement, but I suppose my point is that there is much more to protecting the young players than Gabby does and in many of them he is letting those young players and the club down, badly.

I've softened my stance on Gabby this season.  I have previously advocated paying off his contract and getting rid, just to prevent his influence.  I'm less worried about that now as he is no longer a leader in that group, he is off to one side, still there, but not wildly relevant to how the group operates. Yes he is still taking huge sums of money for very little, but for that I can only blame the club.  The contract was a silly one and tbh he would have been a fool to turn it down.

I'd even let him have a sentimental 10 minute run out at the end of the season to say goodbye (assuming automatic promotion has already been secured). 

Well its clear he isn't a leader, it wasn't just Gabby doing it so Grealish followed, the whole team was slacking off, we had Micah Richards as our captain, Tim Sherwood closely followed by Remi Garde leading the team, Tom Fox making all the decisions and Randy Lerner overseeing it all, to blame Gabby for the season seems a tad harsh, was he not the victim of that "leadership" as much as anyone else? 

This vilification of "hippy crack" is a load of sensationalist nonsense, secondly, he was unfit, by the end too unfit to actually feature for us...shouldnt the coaches, specifically fitness coaches take some of the blame for that (not all)? Let's not forget Gabby was absolutely slammed by everyone when he bulked up during a summer, doing his own, non sanctioned training. He never refused to train, or play, and given he was never fined for refusing either of those things we can assume he was there...is it not the coaches job to coach the players? We have specific fitness coaches at the club at training, what were they doing?! As a collective we covered less ground than I think any other team in the league that season, mostly without Gabby, so to me that points to an overall lack of fitness and therefore to the training being the real issue there. 

I'm not saying he couldn't have done more, because of course he could have, I'm not saying he didn't let himself (and us) down, because of course he did, but he's also worked his ass off to try and make up for it, injuries seemed to have killed his chance of that which is his own fault for his own actions. 

I can see how he'd be a bit of a role model, like someone above said, he was never particularly gifted, he was just quick (as were tons of players at the time), by sheer hard work he has made himself a rich man, played in the PL for the best part of a decade and even got himself an England cap, if he was genuinely disruptive like an N'Zogbia type, then I don't think he would have ever been offered that last contract, and maybe not the one before that. People seemed to just assume he was a bad influence because he wasn't very good. 

He's given us some great moments, most of our best moments in the last 10 years have involved him, so to lay all blame for our demise at his feet is just wrong. He's finished, without doubt now, and at the end of this season I imagine he'll retire, but I think there are plenty of fans that will remember the good times he gave us and would like to give him a good send off (even if it's last game of the season for 10 mins) 

[Dave J]

1 hour ago, weedman said:

Well its clear he isn't a leader, it wasn't just Gabby doing it so Grealish followed, the whole team was slacking off, we had Micah Richards as our captain, Tim Sherwood closely followed by Remi Garde leading the team, Tom Fox making all the decisions and Randy Lerner overseeing it all, to blame Gabby for the season seems a tad harsh, was he not the victim of that "leadership" as much as anyone else? 

This vilification of "hippy crack" is a load of sensationalist nonsense, secondly, he was unfit, by the end too unfit to actually feature for us...shouldnt the coaches, specifically fitness coaches take some of the blame for that (not all)? Let's not forget Gabby was absolutely slammed by everyone when he bulked up during a summer, doing his own, non sanctioned training. He never refused to train, or play, and given he was never fined for refusing either of those things we can assume he was there...is it not the coaches job to coach the players? We have specific fitness coaches at the club at training, what were they doing?! As a collective we covered less ground than I think any other team in the league that season, mostly without Gabby, so to me that points to an overall lack of fitness and therefore to the training being the real issue there. 

I'm not saying he couldn't have done more, because of course he could have, I'm not saying he didn't let himself (and us) down, because of course he did, but he's also worked his ass off to try and make up for it, injuries seemed to have killed his chance of that which is his own fault for his own actions. 

I can see how he'd be a bit of a role model, like someone above said, he was never particularly gifted, he was just quick (as were tons of players at the time), by sheer hard work he has made himself a rich man, played in the PL for the best part of a decade and even got himself an England cap, if he was genuinely disruptive like an N'Zogbia type, then I don't think he would have ever been offered that last contract, and maybe not the one before that. People seemed to just assume he was a bad influence because he wasn't very good. 

He's given us some great moments, most of our best moments in the last 10 years have involved him, so to lay all blame for our demise at his feet is just wrong. He's finished, without doubt now, and at the end of this season I imagine he'll retire, but I think there are plenty of fans that will remember the good times he gave us and would like to give him a good send off (even if it's last game of the season for 10 mins) 

You make a very reasoned argument but I feel it falls down heavily when you try to absolve him of some blame for being unfit - you also suggest he worked his ass off to make up for things - I would suggest he was just doing what he should always have being doing ?

i find it utterly astonishing that any professional football regardless of the level that they play can allow themselves to become so unfit that they cannot represent the club who pays their wages.

i would say to anyone who found themselves in this position - please take a long hard look at yourself 

[TRO]

On 2/11/2018 at 16:38, blunther said:

Guess we won’t see him again then. No sentimentality here. He had talent of some sort and decided to leech off the club and be a fat bastard and try to show up once or twice a year. Can’t remember who gave him that last big contract but it was a mistake. Been a waste of space for years and attitudes like his were the cause of our demise. 

 

He has the sort of intellect that will piss away his wealth within a few years too, which will probably be a fitting end to the Gabby saga. 

It was Paul Lambert on his way out.

I don't know all the ins and outs of Gabby's tenure, but I was never really a fan....thought he scored some great goals, but far too in frequent for me.

However, We must treat him with dignity, We are Aston Villa a strong and proud institution, epitomised by our player in combat John Terry.

I do agree with you poor attitudes have conspired against us in the past and have contributed to our demise.....whether Gabby has one, I simply don't know.

as far as his wealth goes I am not so sure he will fritter it away, made for life.

despite all the innuendo....I do actually thinks he loves the club.

[weedman]

2 hours ago, Dave J said:

You make a very reasoned argument but I feel it falls down heavily when you try to absolve him of some blame for being unfit - you also suggest he worked his ass off to make up for things - I would suggest he was just doing what he should always have being doing ?

i find it utterly astonishing that any professional football regardless of the level that they play can allow themselves to become so unfit that they cannot represent the club who pays their wages.

i would say to anyone who found themselves in this position - please take a long hard look at yourself 

Oh I agree, it was a ridiculous position to be in, but plenty of managers have come into new clubs and bemoaned the overall fitness of the players, becoming unfit isn't an overnight thing, it would have happened gradually and while it clearly affected Gabby worse than others, the stats show that the whole team was unfit and hence covering less ground than anyone else in the league. 

I'd like to be crystal clear, I am not absolving him of all blame (I know you never said that!), but from his point of view here, he showed up to "work" every day, did exactly what the coaches told him to do, then finished work, went home, and did pretty much what he wanted (which I'd wager is the same routine as 90% of players). The day his fitness dropped below, say, 90% (completely arbitrary made up number), the coaches should have been on him and upped his fitness work during training...they didn't, he continued that same routine (maybe the same routine he's had since he broke through under MON for all we know) until suddenly bam and he's too unfit to play. The whole situation was a joke and a total screw up IMO by all responsible parties

I always have has a soft spot for him (you can probably tell) which is why I do defend him on here, I don't think he's a Saint or anything but its always irked me that some people have never given him an ounce of credit for past performances and used the "fat" thing to basically completely discredit anything he's ever done for us (not saying you've done this). For me he was a limited player that gave his all for us and gave us all some fantastic memories in his early years, gradually petered off in his later years and could be given a last send off on the final game of a season where we actually achieve something (finally!) 

[mottaloo]

2 hours ago, Dave J said:

You make a very reasoned argument but I feel it falls down heavily when you try to absolve him of some blame for being unfit - you also suggest he worked his ass off to make up for things - I would suggest he was just doing what he should always have being doing ?

i find it utterly astonishing that any professional football regardless of the level that they play can allow themselves to become so unfit that they cannot represent the club who pays their wages.

i would say to anyone who found themselves in this position - please take a long hard look at yourself 

This.

When I saw how Stan Petrov got back to the point where he almost got another contract after his leukemia.........and then I look at Agbonlahor's laziness in maintaining fitness DURING a season......well, that says pretty much all about his p!ss poor work ethic.

[AvfcRigo82]

21 minutes ago, mottaloo said:

This.

When I saw how Stan Petrov got back to the point where he almost got another contract after his leukemia.........and then I look at Agbonlahor's laziness in maintaining fitness DURING a season......well, that says pretty much all about his p!ss poor work ethic.

I still think Di Matteo was a massive w@nker for not offering Stan a contract after all he had done and battled to get back fit.

[thunderball]

I am not anti gabby, I just cannot see how he gets so much adulation, I can only imagine it comes from a generation of fans that grew up with him during the MON period and haven’t really experienced anything else other than our demise. I don’t rate him as a player, certainly not a finisher, in the decent MON team I always thought he was the weak link. I always thought ‘if only we had Defoe instead of Gabby’. Whenever he was one on one with the goal at his mercy, you know chances are he wouldn’t score.

His behaviour was terrible, really terrible. Can you honestly see Dean Saunders, Dwight Yorke, Paul McGrath, Tony Daley, Martin Laursen, Kevin Richardson, Shaun Teale, Ian Taylor, Paul Merson, Stilian Petrov, James Milner, David Platt or Chris Price (I could go on) behaving like they were the king of the club, pleasing themselves abusing their position. No. These are true club men, with integrity, and who are the true examples to younger players. I only wish Albert Adomah joined us years ago, he is in the same 100% mould.

Gabby will only be remembered by me as one of the criminally overpaid, over-rated examples of Premier League excess. Maybe I am just a grumpy old man?

Edited February 14, 2018 by thunderball

[bannedfromHandV]

On 13/02/2018 at 19:47, Dave J said:

You make a very reasoned argument but I feel it falls down heavily when you try to absolve him of some blame for being unfit - you also suggest he worked his ass off to make up for things - I would suggest he was just doing what he should always have being doing ?

i find it utterly astonishing that any professional football regardless of the level that they play can allow themselves to become so unfit that they cannot represent the club who pays their wages.

i would say to anyone who found themselves in this position - please take a long hard look at yourself 

It doesn't make it okay on any level and I found it as utterly repulsive as you, but, he's not the first and won't be the last. 

Some players lose their desire at 18, some at 25, 30 and 36, some never lose it but their bodies give up. 

We as a club should have recognised that decline and been more savvy with contracts, but we weren't and here we are. 

The reality is that his contract is winding down, unless we have an injury crisis or a dead rubber game at the end of the season we won't see him in a villa shirt again. 

Yes he royally messed up in the end but I will fondly remember his winning goals against the shite, the boggies, united, arsenal, Chelsea and the perfect hat trick against citeh 

[TheAuthority]

I hope he doesn't get a run out because every game counts as we chase Wolves down for the title!

[AvfcRigo82]

6 hours ago, TheAuthority said:

I hope he doesn't get a run out because every game counts as we chase Wolves down for the title!

Yep, I agree and I don't think he will.

If there was a game to feature in it would have been last Sunday.

He may never play for us again.

[NulliSecundus]

2 hours ago, AvfcRigo82 said:

Yep, I agree and I don't think he will.

If there was a game to feature in it would have been last Sunday.

He may never play for us again.

Fingers crossed.

[Dave J]

On 14/02/2018 at 20:36, thunderball said:

I am not anti gabby, I just cannot see how he gets so much adulation, I can only imagine it comes from a generation of fans that grew up with him during the MON period and haven’t really experienced anything else other than our demise. I don’t rate him as a player, certainly not a finisher, in the decent MON team I always thought he was the weak link. I always thought ‘if only we had Defoe instead of Gabby’. Whenever he was one on one with the goal at his mercy, you know chances are he wouldn’t score.

His behaviour was terrible, really terrible. Can you honestly see Dean Saunders, Dwight Yorke, Paul McGrath, Tony Daley, Martin Laursen, Kevin Richardson, Shaun Teale, Ian Taylor, Paul Merson, Stilian Petrov, James Milner, David Platt or Chris Price (I could go on) behaving like they were the king of the club, pleasing themselves abusing their position. No. These are true club men, with integrity, and who are the true examples to younger players. I only wish Albert Adomah joined us years ago, he is in the same 100% mould.

Gabby will only be remembered by me as one of the criminally overpaid, over-rated examples of Premier League excess. Maybe I am just a grumpy old man?

Actually your just telling it as it is - in my opinion as well.

[srsmithusa]

On 2/14/2018 at 14:36, thunderball said:

I am not anti gabby, I just cannot see how he gets so much adulation, I can only imagine it comes from a generation of fans that grew up with him during the MON period and haven’t really experienced anything else other than our demise. I don’t rate him as a player, certainly not a finisher, in the decent MON team I always thought he was the weak link. I always thought ‘if only we had Defoe instead of Gabby’. Whenever he was one on one with the goal at his mercy, you know chances are he wouldn’t score.

His behaviour was terrible, really terrible. Can you honestly see Dean Saunders, Dwight Yorke, Paul McGrath, Tony Daley, Martin Laursen, Kevin Richardson, Shaun Teale, Ian Taylor, Paul Merson, Stilian Petrov, James Milner, David Platt or Chris Price (I could go on) behaving like they were the king of the club, pleasing themselves abusing their position. No. These are true club men, with integrity, and who are the true examples to younger players. I only wish Albert Adomah joined us years ago, he is in the same 100% mould.

Gabby will only be remembered by me as one of the criminally overpaid, over-rated examples of Premier League excess. Maybe I am just a grumpy old man?

I'm Grumpy Old Man 2.  (ann margaret and sophia loren aged like fine wine)

[TRO]

I think he is a player who scored on the back of our low expectation, in the same fashion as Darius Vassell.

His loyalty to the club, was a  bit of a missed placed thing, no one else wanted him, so he attached himself to the golden goose....not denying he loves Villa, but lets get a bit of perspective.

His goalsoring record v games is poor.....its only when it is culminated in his whole career it looks respectable.

If he was the player, we thought he was, we wouldn't have been able to hang on to him...He sadly wasn't.

Gabby, was an incredibily lucky player, in as much he has become a very wealthy man on the back of our demise.....I am not blaming him for that, but lets catergorise him for what he is......an opportunist.

Edited February 15, 2018 by TRO

[Jareth]

6 minutes ago, TRO said:

I think he is a player who scored on the back of our low expectation, in the same fashion as Darius Vassell.

His loyalty to the club, was a  bit of a missed placed thing, no one else wanted him, so he attached himself to the golden goose....not denying he loves Villa, but lets get a bit of perspective.

His goalsoring record v games is poor.....its only when it is culminated in his whole career it looks respectable.

If he was the player, we thought he was, we wouldn't have been able to hang on to him...He sadly wasn't.

Gabby, was an incredibily lucky player, in as much he has become a very wealthy man on the back of our demise.....I am not blaming him for that, but lets catergorise him for what he is......an opportunist.

Spot. On. 

[dont_do_it_doug.]

Wait, enough of the revisionism. 

It could be argued O'Neill built his team around him. He hasn't always been shit. 

[Vive_La_Villa]

Gabby was quality. He had it all. Pace, power, two good feet. Defenders would shit it against him. He scored against every big club. 

Then he started to bulk up and lost that yard of pace. Then after that it was injury after injury and he never really recovered. 

The top players are normally the ones that also train the hardest and look after themselves the most. Maybe Gabby didn't put in that extra effort to make him the player he could have been. 

[MrDuck]

2 hours ago, dont_do_it_doug. said:

Wait, enough of the revisionism. 

It could be argued O'Neill built his team around him. He hasn't always been shit. 

MON era Gabby was probably the fastest player I've ever seen. Never had the skills or finishing to make himself top class, but for a few years he was a hell of a weapon to have.

Although that was an awful long time ago now...

[Eastie]

5 hours ago, Vive_La_Villa said:

Gabby was quality. He had it all. Pace, power, two good feet. Defenders would shit it against him. He scored against every big club. 

Then he started to bulk up and lost that yard of pace. Then after that it was injury after injury and he never really recovered. 

The top players are normally the ones that also train the hardest and look after themselves the most. Maybe Gabby didn't put in that extra effort to make him the player he could have been. 

Disagree , pace power 2 good feet ? His best game was against Man City on the opening day - he was ok at best in my opinion .

i certainly don’t think he had it all as a player - was limited ability wise and relied mainly on pace - without that he’s nothing really .

movement and effort both sadly lacking .

As someone said earlier he would have gone had he been that good like Barry, young , Milner etc but there was never really any reported interest in taking gabby unfortunately .

He will however retain some fond memories as he scored some big goals for us especially against blues - his best times were undoubtedly alongside Carew.

Edited February 16, 2018 by Eastie