The Gabby Appreciation Thread - Update: 4 year deal

[Dave Cooper please]

I see the brainless one has sussed out yet another new role.

I see where you are going with this little dig at those (me amongst them) who have previously said that Gabby doesn't have a 'footballing brain'.
Well I stick by that, he gets around this by having immense natural talent and by working bloody hard to adapt to any challange thrown at him. There have been times where I have thought that Gabby had hit a brick wall and wasn't going to get any better, but he always works through these patches and comes out looking better than ever. His self-belief must be amazing.

[Billy Walker]

He's been much improved so far this season -maybe he's adapting to playing out wider and cutting in rather than directly up top. Whisper it, it might even suit him.

But captain material?  I don't see that.  He's a local lad and all the rest of it, but captains need as bit more about them.  Ash crossed the line plenty of times with his petulance, but he had that fire.  Barry far quieter, but lead by example and was regularly our best performer.  Stan is an experienced old pro, past his best maybe, but most of the squad respect him.  Bannan was very complimentary about him last year, how he always went out of the way to make the young players feel involved, and looked out for them.

It does throw up a genuine conundrum though, should we be needing a new captain in the not too distant.  Dunne is an obvious choice, but I'd sooner see him moved on, in all honesty. 

Maybe Given -who fulfilled that role for a time at Newcastle IIRC and has captained his country.  But that throws up the issue of whether keepers can be good captains. They do spend large chunks of the game completely uninvolved afterall.

I would make him our next captain as I think he would grow and mature into the role.  He's a local boy, of course, an Academy lad and he knows the club inside out.  If Randy's aim is to build a Villa side based on the Academy's products then there could be no greater role model or leader for them than Gabby.

I just caught Gabby's interview on AVTV and he wasn't afraid to point out that the fans stuck with Villa as opposed to getting on the team's backs (as they have done recently) after going a goal down.  Not many current players, for me, could get away with making that little comment about the fans but Gabby can.  He's in the unique position of potentially being able to lead not just the players but the supporters too.

[Irish villain]

All good points Billy Walker. I think he should be our next captain too. He's probably our most effective player now.

[PaulWinch again]

Brilliant yesterday and largely this season, I really hope he is a one club man.

[ktvillan]

A question to any of the doubters from earlier in the thread:  Has Gabby's form so far this season changed your mind about his ability?

I'm not picking a fight, I just think that his form has been better than I thought he could be and I was already a fan.

I was one of the "doubters".   However he has definitely added something to his game this season and has easily been our best player.  I think he is starting to look up a bit more and see options better, and he also seems to be adding a little shimmy or dummy to his game when trying to beat a man, whereas before it tended to be knock it past and rely on pace, which made it easier for defenders to predict and counter him.   He's more of a handful for them now and it's getting results.

[avfc_1874]

I'm not his biggest of fans, but where credit is due he has been our only highlight this season and can only put my hands up and say fair play to him and keep it up to prove me and others wrong.

[john e]

Gabby is not back to his best, he's never been as good as this before

[PeterWithesShin]

We've scored 16 league goals this season. Gabby has scored 5 and has 6 assists.

[Handsworth Wood Villa]

In the provisional England squad

How do you know this?

[JJ-AV]

Gabby is fantastic. It's been a joy watching him mature. He's such an intelligent footballer, he plays the percentages so well and his movement is top notch.

He's the most obvious choice for captain after Stan, IMO and our most important player by far.

[Irish villain]

We've scored 16 league goals this season. Gabby has scored 5 and has 6 assists.

Speaks for itself. Now our most important player. When he plays well there's a chance he or Bent will score and we can get points from games.

[JJ-AV]

Brilliant yesterday and largely this season, I really hope he is a one club man.

Same, he's the only player we've got left that we can all rally behind.

[Monty]

Gabby has morphed into this kind of wide-ish all-round forward who has replaced Ash and Downing (spit) as the main creative outlet from wide areas. The key is that when he can cut in from wide areas he has space to run into and exploit his main natural talent, that frightening pace, and spends less time with his back to goal. He's allied this to a unique dribbling technique, a shot which will almost always threaten and now, apparently, the ability to play really telling balls into and across the box. His ability to learn things and raise his personal glass ceiling is really astounding, and he is without a shadow of a doubt our best player at the moment.

[Dante Lavelli]

Brilliant yesterday and largely this season, I really hope he is a one club man.

Same, he's the only player we've got left that we can all rally behind.

He really should become the talisman for the new Villa.  He embodies everything good about our likely home grown ethos, not to mention his charity work and the fact that he is a local lad which resonates with the fans.  It will be a great inspiration to all the current youth players and indirectly could give the club a new identity, a sort of rebranding.

In interviews players have also said that he is one of the more animated and vocal characters in the squad so he may be better captain material than the person who comes across in TV interviews.

[not3bad]

I remember thinking Gabby couldn't cross for toffee.  He has improved this area of his game dramatically.