Gabby Agbonlahor

[TRO]

8 hours ago, AntrimBlack said:

Will we see him coming back to games as an ex-player, like, say, Albrighton? That would be interesting.

Pretty sure he will......based on, where else would he be important.

Edited February 16, 2018 by TRO

[NeilS]

I have not been a fan of Gabby for a number of years and he has soured his reputation with me after the way he has conducted himself in recent years, when he leaves he will free up a big chunk of wasted wages from our annual budget. However, It has not always been bad time for Gabby here and it would be wrong to say that he was never any good for us. I will always have fond memories of his early years where he was lightning quick, lean and had a knack for scoring big game goals. I don't get to a lot of games these days but I do remember him scoring a cracking volley in an early MON game at home to Charlton which we won 2-0, he scored numerous goals against sha, but most of all he bagged a winner at Old Trafford (Not many Villa players in my life time can claim that!).

[Dave J]

2 hours ago, dont_do_it_doug. said:

I don't disagree with that. However, in my opinion it is undeniable that his pace was integral to our counter attacking style. He also scored some very important goals.

I actually speak of the injuries that have plagued him over the last 5 years, going back to McLeish. 

Not sure if injuries are the cause of poor performances going back that far though Doug - I think this is in the main down to him not being a very good footballer imo - more recently then I can acknowledge this much for sure 

[Eastie]

2 minutes ago, Dave J said:

Not sure if injuries are the cause of poor performances going back that far though Doug - I think this is in the main down to him not being a very good footballer imo - more recently then I can acknowledge this much for sure 

Not just lack of ability though it’s his attitude and lack of commitment and effort that pissed me off more - I appreciate some lack ability but expect them to give  100% 

[TRO]

IIRC....He was encouraged to bulk up to resist him being knocked off the ball too easily.

It was a trade off that only partially worked.

He undoubtedly had some attributes, like pace.....but there was many missing like positional sense in the box.....Gabby was limited for me, for sure he was better, with better players.....but in the main he always ended a season in single figures, except his purple patch under O'Neill......Guess he is a player that will always divide opinion.

However, i was never ever convinced by Gabby, even in his pomp, but overall in his career, he had too many games that drew blanks, sometimes months on end.Not enough football intelligence to trouble his opposite number.

No, not for me.

Edited February 16, 2018 by TRO

[AvfcRigo82]

2 minutes ago, TRO said:

IIRC....He was encouraged to bulk up to resist him being knocked off the ball too easily.

It was a trade off that only partially worked.

He undoubtedly had some attributes, like pace.....but there was many missing like positional sense in the box.....Gabby was limited for me, for sure he was better, with better players.....but in the main he always ended a season in single figures, except his purple patch under O'Neill......Guess he is a player that will always divide opinion.

I remember the season we where relegated and he was more focused going out on the piss and shisha piping... he was also suspended iirc.

 

[Dave J]

10 minutes ago, TRO said:

IIRC....He was encouraged to bulk up to resist him being knocked off the ball too easily.

It was a trade off that only partially worked.

He undoubtedly had some attributes, like pace.....but there was many missing like positional sense in the box.....Gabby was limited for me, for sure he was better, with better players.....but in the main he always ended a season in single figures, except his purple patch under O'Neill......Guess he is a player that will always divide opinion.

However, i was never ever convinced by Gabby, even in his pomp, but overall in his career, he had too many games that drew blanks, sometimes months on end.Not enough football intelligence to trouble his opposite number.

No, not for me.

Absolutely bang on TRO - those who try and claim bulking up as a reason for his demise in my view are wide of the mark - I'm afraid bulking cannot effect rank bad technique either way 

[TRO]

5 minutes ago, AvfcRigo82 said:

I remember the season we where relegated and he was more focused going out on the piss and shisha piping... he was also suspended iirc.

 

I have no interest in digging up stuff on Gabby, he's had his career with us made himself a very wealthy man during a period the club itself did very little....good luck to him.

Personally, I just simply never rated him.....thats how i will remember him.

Edited February 16, 2018 by TRO

[TRO]

36 minutes ago, Dave J said:

Absolutely bang on TRO - those who try and claim bulking up as a reason for his demise in my view are wide of the mark - I'm afraid bulking cannot effect rank bad technique either way 

Thats when playing out wide is not used.

We have a winger now with 14 goals....with 15 games to go, think his best season was 16.

He has scored 36 goals in the last 8 seasons....i wouldn't like to work out how much each goal has cost.

but hey , if fans like him fair enough.

Edited February 16, 2018 by TRO

[dont_do_it_doug.]

28 minutes ago, Dave J said:

Not sure if injuries are the cause of poor performances going back that far though Doug - I think this is in the main down to him not being a very good footballer imo - more recently then I can acknowledge this much for sure 

I quite clearly stated in the opening post that it wasn't just down to any one factor. 

[Dave J]

5 minutes ago, dont_do_it_doug. said:

I quite clearly stated in the opening post that it wasn't just down to any one factor. 

Odd - I wasn't responding to that - just the part about injuries and the last 5 years - which I Intepreted as you feeling his poor form during this period can be attributed too ? My apologies is I have got this bit wrong 

[TRO]

On 2/14/2018 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?

Much my sentiment overall......but particularly above.

[Don_Simon]

6 hours ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Or none of the above and he just comes as a retired ex footballer who still has an interest in the club?

He didn't show much of an interest when being paid huge amounts of money by said club. 

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

12 hours ago, Don_Simon said:

He didn't show much of an interest when being paid huge amounts of money by said club. 

He has non interested himself at the club for 2 decades, being a vital part of a team which finished 6th 3 years running. (Insert, he was never a world beater at his best here, and if he was so good, why didn't anyone come in for him? Here)

This overwhelming shitstorm using 4 or 5 years to sum up his whole Villa career is both repetitive and pathetic. (Insert, he was too busy getting fat and smoking shisha when we got relgated, he should have been sleeping in the Centre circle at Villa Park in the fetal position crying here)

Once again as I've said, it is like politics biased media who exaggerate and spin stories to suit their objective.

Tried my best to give this thread a miss to avoid groundhog day ffs.

Has come through the youth team becoming the clubs leading PL goalscorer (Insert but, but, that is a poor return, If I was Gabby I would have scored 600 goals for free to show I love the club here).

Gareth Barry was just involved in some stolen taxi in Barcelona scandal.

Now let's start a thread about what an unprofessional dick he is who never cared about football, wonder if the West Brom fans will start an extreme never ending agenda about him claiming that when they needed him he wasn't there etc.

I don't mind the talk about what he has, or hasn't done in recent times, but the untrue and exaggerated insinuation used to sum up his whole Villa career and love for the club in a selected space of time is farcical. 

All it takees is a simple Google, but whatever, f*ck it.

[Vancvillan]

A long career of ups and downs with many a story to tell. 

At this point all that's left is the tell-all autobiography "Gabby Agbonlahor: In Ma Wurdz".

[commander]

In defence of Gabby, [people are quick to forget that the only reason he actually made it here in the first place was down to working incredibly hard. He had far, far less natural ability than Luke Moore who was the most gifted, but he was also a long way behind Stefan Moore but to his credit he made a (very good) career in Football culminating in representing his country under Fabio Capello (one of probably the 20 best managers in the past 50 years). He only achieved these through hard work. 

He's obviously fell out of love with the game and i'm not going to defend his bad times of which have been well documented, but he's far from the only one and I bet he's done nothing worse than a host of our players in the past 20 odd years - bar being caught. There has been a very, very negative, deep rooted and poor culture at this Club, in and around us for a long time from youth up to the seniors, which in turn when mixed with the catalogue of off field **** ups since early Learner term have culminated and continue today (albeit to a lesser extent).

He has had a similar career to Darius Vassell and IMO should be respected and should be treated in a similar vein.

[JAMAICAN-VILLAN]

17 minutes ago, commander said:

In defence of Gabby, [people are quick to forget that the only reason he actually made it here in the first place was down to working incredibly hard. He had far, far less natural ability than Luke Moore who was the most gifted, but he was also a long way behind Stefan Moore but to his credit he made a (very good) career in Football culminating in representing his country under Fabio Capello (one of probably the 20 best managers in the past 50 years). He only achieved these through hard work. 

He's obviously fell out of love with the game and i'm not going to defend his bad times of which have been well documented, but he's far from the only one and I bet he's done nothing worse than a host of our players in the past 20 odd years - bar being caught. There has been a very, very negative, deep rooted and poor culture at this Club, in and around us for a long time from youth up to the seniors, which in turn when mixed with the catalogue of off field **** ups since early Learner term have culminated and continue today (albeit to a lesser extent).

He has had a similar career to Darius Vassell and IMO should be respected and should be treated in a similar vein.

Luke Moore was a major disappointment for me, I wanted him to make it so badly.

He had alot of ability and could finish.

[Dave J]

1 hour ago, commander said:

In defence of Gabby, [people are quick to forget that the only reason he actually made it here in the first place was down to working incredibly hard. He had far, far less natural ability than Luke Moore who was the most gifted, but he was also a long way behind Stefan Moore but to his credit he made a (very good) career in Football culminating in representing his country under Fabio Capello (one of probably the 20 best managers in the past 50 years). He only achieved these through hard work. 

He's obviously fell out of love with the game and i'm not going to defend his bad times of which have been well documented, but he's far from the only one and I bet he's done nothing worse than a host of our players in the past 20 odd years - bar being caught. There has been a very, very negative, deep rooted and poor culture at this Club, in and around us for a long time from youth up to the seniors, which in turn when mixed with the catalogue of off field **** ups since early Learner term have culminated and continue today (albeit to a lesser extent).

He has had a similar career to Darius Vassell and IMO should be respected and should be treated in a similar vein.

Both very quick but both extremely limited in technique in my opinion - respect? Not so sure - didn't that fly out the window the year we went down ?

[TRO]

1 hour ago, JAMAICAN-VILLAN said:

Luke Moore was a major disappointment for me, I wanted him to make it so badly.

He had alot of ability and could finish.

Luke, what might have been?

Its amazing how there was not much of a gap between him and Wayne Rooney in their youth.

Its also amazing how application can play such a vital role in progressing talent to a complete player.

In my humble opinion, Gabby centered his focus around speed and it is debatable how much overall footballing talent he had.

I  had a conversation with Andy Gray on one occasion, about Brian Little......Andy absolutely idolised Brians Natural ability, I said "but he is not as aggressive as you"....He said "I am no where near Brian for ability", "but I just believe I can score in every game I play in".

Application and belief......amazing where it can take someone.

Edited February 24, 2018 by TRO

[Dave J]

8 minutes ago, TRO said:

Luke, what might have been?

Its amazing how there was not much of a gap between him and Wayne Rooney in their youth.

Its also amazing how application can play such a vital role in progressing talent to a complete player.

In my humble opinion, Gabby centered his focus around speed and it is debatable how much overall footballing talent he had.

I once had a conversation with Andy Gray on one occasion, about Brian Little......Andy absolutely idolised Brians Natural ability, I said "but he is not as aggressive as you"....He said "I am no where near Brian for ability", "but I just believe I can score in every game I play in".

Application and belief......amazing where it can take someone.

As always TRO - good post, Andy Gray my boyhood hero - then came Shaw - what a technique he had - I remember him making a complete fool of John Wile near the halfway line at VP  followed closely  by Macca