The Gabby Appreciation Thread - Update: 4 year deal

[Dave Cooper please]

The entire club regressed under McLeish.

Gabby was playing poorly before McLeish came in.

[dave.woodhall]

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

Probably for the same reason some of our supporters think we'd be better off without him.

[GordonCowansisthegreatest]

The entire club regressed under McLeish.

Gabby was playing poorly before McLeish came in.

He was very good for the first couple of months last season. But he went downhill rapidly like the rest of the team under that pr@t.

[PeterWithesShin]

Since the Carling Cup final at the end of Feb 2010, Gabby has scored 13 goals.

[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.

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

When I said 'top clubs' I didn't mean fucking Liverpool! Or was that a joke?.

[hawkeye]

Gabby and Bent have a lot of work to do to be looked upon as great Villa strikers. I dont see either being remembered like Lockhead Withe Shaw Gray Leonard Yorke or even Saunders.

[PeterWithesShin]

If Bent stays another couple of years he'll go way past Sahnders (as BFR used to call him).

[GordonCowansisthegreatest]

Gabby and Bent have a lot of work to do to be looked upon as great Villa strikers. I dont see either being remembered like Lockhead Withe Shaw Gray Leonard Yorke or even Saunders.

But at least under Lambert they will be given every opportunity to stake a claim.

[PeterWithesShin]

Update on Gabby injury

http://www.avfc.co.uk/page/NewsDetail/0,,10265~2861052,00.html

Gabby Agbonlahor will see a specialist regarding his knee injury when Villa arrive back from their tour of the USA.

Agbonlahor underwent a scan in Portland on Monday after sustaining the injury in Saturday's 1-0 win over Chicago Fire.

The Villa striker scored the only goal of the game at Toyota Park but was forced off after injuring his knee in the second period.

No timeframe has been determined for Agbonlahor's absence, although his recovery is likely to take longer than first anticipated.

The 25-year-old was forced to miss out on Villa's final USA tour match against Portland Timbers on Tuesday.

The boys in claret and blue rounded off their trio of Stateside fixtures with a penalty shootout success after drawing 2-2 in normal time.

It means Paul Lambert's men return home with an unbeaten record having earned 1-0 wins over Philadelphia Union and Chicago Fire.

[PeterWithesShin]

Second period? I know the game was played in the US but come on.

[Matt Collins]

If he's out for any more than the 2 weeks originally expected I can't see him being fit for the start of the season. That puts a lot of pressure on bent who's both injured at present and not yet found his form

Could definitely do with another class forward option. Really not sure who though

[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

When I said 'top clubs' I didn't mean fucking Liverpool! Or was that a joke?.

Were the quotation marks too subtle? Sorry Perce!

[supertom]

Would Tottenham not be considered a top club? They're a top 5 team and Bents played for them. You'd say at his age, he's probably had his biggest move already. He's one of the best old school goal hanging strikers in the business. If he was still 24 then I think a good season with us  and he'd be getting offers from the top 6 again.

I think the fact he's edging towards the 30 mark is good for us, because we're getting the peak years from him and he's also getting to a point where we're the biggest club who'll want him.

Gabby will be here forever. I don't see him moving. I think he'll turn it around this season and I just don't foresee a manager wanting to sell him. He's just one of those players that every club should have who bleeds your colours. He's Mr Villa. Obviously that shouldn't be the only reason to keep him. As a player he's good enough for us too. Still think there's more to come from Gabby. He may have found the manager most suited to getting the best out of him now too. He's potentially a 20 goal striker.

[ktvillan]

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.

I gave two criteria, that he'd neither been sought after by the bigger clubs nor established himself as en England International when decent English strikers were hardly growing on trees.  It's true Bent also hasn't been the subject of much interest by the really top clubs.  That's probably due to his relatively limited all round game.  But at least he's established himself in the England set up, probably because his movement and consistent record of finishing are sufficient to make the grade at international level.  It's those factors that also make him a better striker than Gabby, even if perhaps not quite up to CL clubs' standards.   Gabby is a middling level PL striker, not awful but nothing special.

[Chris Smith]

Gabby has had an iffy couple of seasons but that reflects the club as a whole, he's been played out of position and suffered injuries but prior to that was improving year on year and becoming a very effective PL striker, scoring regularly in a top 6 side. Hopefully he's now playing again under a manager who knows how to use him effectively and we'll see him back to his best.