Gabby Agbonlahor

[KevinGage]

Even in games where Ashley Young was quiet/ poor (particularly his last season) he could still provide 2/3 moments of quality to turn a game.

[Sexual Ealing]

I didn't like him towards the end of his career. I do now. He's like an ex-girlfriend that pissed you off at the time but was basically a good sort.

[paul_e]

Even in games where Ashley Young was quiet/ poor (particularly his last season) he could still provide 2/3 moments of quality to turn a game.

Young was a brilliant player for us, take away the odd silly dive and some poor choices when he came back to play against us and he'd be much closer to club legend status than Gabby, in my opinion.

[TonyD]

Have a look at the video on the previous and try tell me he wasn’t a great striker.   If he isn’t a great player then what can we say about the current dross we have up front.   Gabby was 100 x better than Wes and Samatta.  How standards have slipped.

[N'ZMAV]

A great player is a bit ott.
He was good in spells, no doubting that - under one manager, when motivated.
Great players do it for longer and more than he did - and don't fail to get a club at 31.

[Ger Regan]

Gabby was a one in almost five striker, who got into double figures in the league three times in his career. Wes has played half a season for us in our first year back, in an inferior team that were not familiar with each other, and has a better goals per game record than him.

He might have been created great moments, but he was not a great striker.

[paul_e]

Have a look at the video on the previous and try tell me he wasn’t a great striker.   If he isn’t a great player then what can we say about the current dross we have up front.   Gabby was 100 x better than Wes and Samatta.  How standards have slipped.

Take a minute to think about the strikers we've had since the premier league started. Based purely on what they did in a villa shirt I'd say we've had 2 genuinely great strikers in Yorke and Benteke and a handful of very good strikers (Saunders, Atkinson, Dublin, Angel, Carew). I'd struggle to put Gabby in that group but he'd probably be next on the list for me, so 8th best striker at the club in the premier league era.

[LeeB]

Have a look at the video on the previous and try tell me he wasn’t a great striker.   If he isn’t a great player then what can we say about the current dross we have up front.   Gabby was 100 x better than Wes and Samatta.  How standards have slipped.

Take a minute to think about the strikers we've had since the premier league started. Based purely on what they did in a villa shirt I'd say we've had 2 genuinely great strikers in Yorke and Benteke and a handful of very good strikers (Saunders, Atkinson, Dublin, Angel, Carew). I'd struggle to put Gabby in that group but he'd probably be next on the list for me, so 8th best striker at the club in the premier league era.

Darren Bent for a year before the injury.

[paul_e]

Have a look at the video on the previous and try tell me he wasn’t a great striker.   If he isn’t a great player then what can we say about the current dross we have up front.   Gabby was 100 x better than Wes and Samatta.  How standards have slipped.

Take a minute to think about the strikers we've had since the premier league started. Based purely on what they did in a villa shirt I'd say we've had 2 genuinely great strikers in Yorke and Benteke and a handful of very good strikers (Saunders, Atkinson, Dublin, Angel, Carew). I'd struggle to put Gabby in that group but he'd probably be next on the list for me, so 8th best striker at the club in the premier league era.

Darren Bent for a year before the injury.

I considered him but all the others (including Gabby) were good for a few seasons. Vassell would be next on my list and then Bent. After that you get quite quickly to some very average players.

[ez]

He could have buggered off five years before he did, and he'd still be our record Premier League signing and the memory of him would be a lot less tarnished.

Why he got a new 3 year contract when he was obviously past it I'll never know. Paul lambert got one at about the same time which was equally silly.

[SheffieldVillain]

I don't see how we can criticise Wesley, Samatta, Davis for a lack of goals and then describe Gabby with a 1 in 5 record and managing 10 in a season 3 times in his whole career with a highest tally of 13 as a great striker.

Lineker, Owen, Shearer with 1 in 2 records hitting 25-30 goals in a season were great strikers. Gabby was at his best a good player whose pace was effective to stretch teams and who gave us some great moments and scored some important goals. He was never a great striker.

[Dave]

Have a look at the video on the previous and try tell me he wasn’t a great striker.   If he isn’t a great player then what can we say about the current dross we have up front.   Gabby was 100 x better than Wes and Samatta.  How standards have slipped.

Take a minute to think about the strikers we've had since the premier league started. Based purely on what they did in a villa shirt I'd say we've had 2 genuinely great strikers in Yorke and Benteke and a handful of very good strikers (Saunders, Atkinson, Dublin, Angel, Carew). I'd struggle to put Gabby in that group but he'd probably be next on the list for me, so 8th best striker at the club in the premier league era.

Darren Bent for a year before the injury.

I considered him but all the others (including Gabby) were good for a few seasons. Vassell would be next on my list and then Bent. After that you get quite quickly to some very average players.

On what they did for Villa I reckon Joachim could make a good case for himself ahead of Vassell or Bent.

[paul_e]

I think you can be a 1 in 3 striker and be great if you bring more than just goals (Think of people like Cantona and Bergkamp) but generally I agree if they play regularly and don't hit double figures season after season then it's a big stretch to describe them as great, which is why I think only Yorke and Benteke pushed up to that level.

[brontebilly]

He could have buggered off five years before he did, and he'd still be our record Premier League signing and the memory of him would be a lot less tarnished.

Why he got a new 3 year contract when he was obviously past it I'll never know. Paul lambert got one at about the same time which was equally silly.

That was a huge mistake. Think we started that season ok and the board made some desperate decisions as a result.

Gabby had a burst of form on the left wing in 12/13 and start of 13/14 where he was outstanding and was called into the England setup (if I recall rightly he didn't bother showing up). After that he stole a living at the clubs expense until his retirement.

[paul_e]

He could have buggered off five years before he did, and he'd still be our record Premier League signing and the memory of him would be a lot less tarnished.

Why he got a new 3 year contract when he was obviously past it I'll never know. Paul lambert got one at about the same time which was equally silly.

That was a huge mistake. Think we started that season ok and the board made some desperate decisions as a result.

Gabby had a burst of form on the left wing in 12/13 and start of 13/14 where he was outstanding and was called into the England setup (if I recall rightly he didn't bother showing up). After that he stole a living at the clubs expense until his retirement.

i think he liked playing off a big man, all his good performances were alongside Carew or Benteke.