The Gabby Appreciation Thread - Update: 4 year deal

[SHEPS]

Yawn...he's not good enough for a starting place in either one or two up front nor on the wing.  There are better players at the club who are first on the team sheet in my opinion and can contribute for longer periods in a game and longer periods in a season (rather than his traditional 6 game blitz of form at the start of a season).  I would not have been at all surprised if McLeish wanted to drop him for long periods last season but for more abuse fodder it would have given fans.

I like gabby a lot, don't get me wrong, but he hasn't progressed at all over the past few years.  Would have been nice to see him learn how to control a ball, be more composed 1 on 1, find the right positions, etc.  but he hasn't applied himself either through cant be arsed syndrome or he hasn't the ability.

Happy for him to stay but wouldn't be near the starting 11 for me. I'd prefer Weiman to Gabby as I believe he offers more and has potential.  If PL buys/loans a striker (which I hope he does) its goodbye Gabby and I wont loose any sleep over it.

[not3bad]

I think he'll score 15 next season in all comps. In fact I'll go down the bookies and lay some cash on it.

Yep.  I'd take some of that action.

[AlwaysAVFC]

kt you're wrong. If you ask fans of all other clubs about our players, even when we were top 6 finishers Gabby is always mentioned as a player everyone rates.

At Christmas just gone, I was watching You're on Sky Sports, Chelsea weren't  doing very well  so that was the main topic and nearly every Chelsea fan said it was Gabby they wanted Chelsea to sign. Obviously his start to the season wasn't bad and had It been the end of the season and not Christmas, they probably wouldn't have even thought about Gabby.

As for big clubs not interested in him, possibly just paper talk but Arsenal were heavily linked with him early in his career, a couple of times possibly.

As for my opinion on him, I sit on the fence a little bit where I wouldn't be devastated if we cashed in on him but I also still think he has a place here and could still develop into a player that isn't just about pace. He's got a good shot on him, not that he gets to shoot that often recently. The main negatives is he isn't the brightest/quickest thinker and quite often lacks composure. Its these reasons he does still play for us and no one has gone for him.

[Percy McCarthy]

Why have none of the really top clubs gone for Bent?

[Legion]

Because he's at a top club.

[Percy McCarthy]

Ah, that wexplains why nobody has gone for Gabby then. It's just that a few people on this thread see it as proof that Gabby is no good, but not proof that Bent is.

[Percy McCarthy]

Site not letting me edit for some reason, so apologies for typos.

[maidstonevillain]

I'm confident we'll get the good Gabby back.

But even the "good Gabby" was a bit limited. Particularly once other teams had worked out how to deal with him.

[peter w]

Why have none of the really top clubs gone for Bent?

Because the type of forwardhe is means that every attack will need to look to feed him and the top teams no longer want the Darren Bent/Andy Cole type.

[hawkeye]

Why have none of the really top clubs gone for Bent?

Because the type of forwardhe is means that every attack will need to look to feed him and the top teams no longer want the Darren Bent/Andy Cole type.

Bent is no where near the player that "Andrew Cole" was.

[Dave Cooper please]

Ah, that wexplains why nobody has gone for Gabby then. It's just that a few people on this thread see it as proof that Gabby is no good, but not proof that Bent is.

Well, we haven't really seen a huge amount of Bent yet have we? He scored loads in his first season and then got injured and McLeished. His record for England is very good so far.
On the other hand we have all had plenty of time to make our minds up about Gabby and for me he is a decent player who can be a right handful when on form but whose on form days seem to be getting fewer and further apart as he progresses through his Villa career.
 Not writing him off yet but with a new manager who won't care how loyal he's been and how much of a Villa fan he is I reckon he needs to impress and quickly.

[Percy McCarthy]

Ah, that wexplains why nobody has gone for Gabby then. It's just that a few people on this thread see it as proof that Gabby is no good, but not proof that Bent is.

Well, we haven't really seen a huge amount of Bent yet have we? He scored loads in his first season and then got injured and McLeished. His record for England is very good so far.
On the other hand we have all had plenty of time to make our minds up about Gabby and for me he is a decent player who can be a right handful when on form but whose on form days seem to be getting fewer and further apart as he progresses through his Villa career.
 Not writing him off yet but with a new manager who won't care how loyal he's been and how much of a Villa fan he is I reckon he needs to impress and quickly.

I don't think any manager cares about how loyal he is or if he's a Villa fan. I certainly don't.

I just think the criteria of judging a player by what clubs have come in for him is silly. Especially if you don't apply it to a player you are saying is better. How about Bent being fourth choice at Spurs behind Keane, Defoe and the Russian?

[Dave Cooper please]

I just think the criteria of judging a player by what clubs have come in for him is silly. Especially if you don't apply it to a player you are saying is better. How about Bent being fourth choice at Spurs behind Keane, Defoe and the Russian?

Oh, I agree with this. I'm judging it on watching both players, and especially watching the progress, or more recently the non-progress, of Gabby.
 

[Breezeblock]

Ah, that wexplains why nobody has gone for Gabby then. It's just that a few people on this thread see it as proof that Gabby is no good, but not proof that Bent is.

Going purely on stats, last 2 seasons Bent has made 41 appearances and scored 19 goals. That's what I call a striker. As for why a "top club" hasn't gone for him I simply dont know but long may they continue overlooking him and spunking megabucks on overrated journeymen like Andy Carrol

[GordonCowansisthegreatest]

I just think the criteria of judging a player by what clubs have come in for him is silly. Especially if you don't apply it to a player you are saying is better. How about Bent being fourth choice at Spurs behind Keane, Defoe and the Russian?

Oh, I agree with this. I'm judging it on watching both players, and especially watching the progress, or more recently the non-progress, of Gabby.
 

The entire club regressed under McLeish.
So why does everyone slag of Gabby for a poor 1/2 season when apart from playing in a team that didn't know what was expected from them, being injured and being afraid of being dropped every week if he didn't spend most of the match defending.
Forget last season. Let's see what he does this time round before we crucify him.