Summer Transfer Thread: Speculation, Lies, Absolute Cr*p and Bosman Rumours

[ozzjim]

I think Gabby has become too comfortable at villa and a move away might do him some good.  How old is he now?  surely he should be soon reaching the peak of his career and should be scoring more goals?

I think Gabby has had the wind knocked out his sails, he's a villa fan and it's probably as a result of what is going on at the club, get the buzz back, get gabby back.

Possibly, but even when playing well, his movement never worries the defenders of the opposition, 9 times out of 10 if the ball is looking to come into the box, Gabby is stood behind the centre half, making no real attempt to get goal side or out think the defender. Bent for all his all round game failings, which are not as bad as made out at all, is always moving in a way that creates space to get chances.

[Mazrim]

I think Gabby has become too comfortable at villa and a move away might do him some good.  How old is he now?  surely he should be soon reaching the peak of his career and should be scoring more goals?

I think Gabby has had the wind knocked out his sails, he's a villa fan and it's probably as a result of what is going on at the club, get the buzz back, get gabby back.

I take the point but he should be taking the lead not reacting to events.
It should be a buzz for him every time he pulls that shirt on. More than ever he should be looking to get the goals that we desperately need.
If its getting a bit of a chore for him he can make way for somebody else.

[Merv]

Yeah. It's getting to the stage where we have to be a bit ruthless in terms of selling players, so that we get a reasonable amount of cash to play with in the summer. I worried about Gabby when he was talking about 'wanting the season over' back in March.

He's one of the few still sellable player assets we have - and I'd rather keep Bent, if push comes to shove. We could probably still command £6-8m for Gabby, and potentially spend £2-4m on a striker from an overseas club, on half the wages but still good for a dozen goals a season.

[luke25]

I think Gabby has become too comfortable at villa and a move away might do him some good.  How old is he now?  surely he should be soon reaching the peak of his career and should be scoring more goals?

I think Gabby has had the wind knocked out his sails, he's a villa fan and it's probably as a result of what is going on at the club, get the buzz back, get gabby back.

Possibly, but even when playing well, his movement never worries the defenders of the opposition, 9 times out of 10 if the ball is looking to come into the box, Gabby is stood behind the centre half, making no real attempt to get goal side or out think the defender. Bent for all his all round game failings, which are not as bad as made out at all, is always moving in a way that creates space to get chances.

I agree, if Gabby had the movement he'd be an immense forward, he needs to watch Bent and copy him, hek he could even do with watching Weimann.

[Irish villain]

I wouldn't sell Gabby. There's a claret and blue blooded star in there. We've seen it so many times, it will come back again.

On the stream yesterday the commentators seemed to think we'd have a bit more money to spend this summer. So selling prized assets shouldn't be an issue, especially as we'll probably be getting Heskey and a couple of other big earners off the wage bill. (Though, our squad is quite threadbare when you look at it). The squad is so average compared to a year ago.

I'd probably offload some deadwood all the same: Warnock, Dunne, Heskey possibly even Delph and the Fonz. The latter two just haven't convinced me that they will make it.  The Fonz should be more established by now but just doesn't seem to want it enough.

We need: a top class central defender, a top quality left back, a top class central midfielder, a winger and a couple of squad players. If Guzan is off, we'd need a back up 'keeper. I'm not sure who we can get to fill those positions though.

As I have said, I'd love us to break the bank for Dempsey but can't see it happen. More realistically I'd like us to go for Sinclair from Swansea as I'm convinced Albrighton and N'Zogbia give us enough in those positions.

[Concrete John]

Dempsey plays in pretty much the same position as Holman, so I can't see that happening.

I like Gabby, but it may be time to move him on.  However, I'd be looking for a fee of around £10m.  The biggest problem we have is that the 4-5-1, or whatever variation of it we play, is best for us, which means Gabby wide when Bent's around, so we're not getting the best from him anyway, so cashing in is probably the right move.

I think Cuellar will go aswell, due to wage demands, and we'll replace him with Scott Dann.

[Risso]

I can't believe people are seriously advocating selling Gabby.  When both of our best forwards have had crap seasons, can people not see the common denominator?

[Rick_avfc]

I wouldn't sell Gabby. There's a claret and blue blooded star in there. We've seen it so many times, it will come back again.

This should never be used as a reason to keep a player.  How many more chances does a player need?  There was calls for him to be dropped under MON.  He clearly is not good enough (thats just my opinion) and has had enough chances to prove himself.  If he really was that good why haven't other clubs shown a genuine interest?

[PeterWithe]

He's out of form being fed on scraps in a struggling side, a replacement player of his talent who is more consistant would cost far more than we could afford.

[Villanation]

I think Gabby has become too comfortable at villa and a move away might do him some good.  How old is he now?  surely he should be soon reaching the peak of his career and should be scoring more goals?

I think Gabby has had the wind knocked out his sails, he's a villa fan and it's probably as a result of what is going on at the club, get the buzz back, get gabby back.

This is a bang on point, and I think its wrong to level almost any criticism at Gabby or indeed any of the players at this time to a certain extent, certainly not while McLeish is in charge and in doing so deflects any blame this manager must take.

As for Gabby I fully endorse the comment that you have to remember that Gabbs is a Villa fan every bit and more than anybody on here, he plays for the club, he suffers at first hand the dire situation we are in, you have have to look at the blokes screwed up face to see the stress he's under, but still he has to toe the line when he actually may want to voice his temper as we all do on here, think of it this way, after yesterday's game we all came on here and belted out the old emoticons, Gabby would have had to walk into a changing room and have a twat like McLeish probably rant at him for how long and sit there with his lips buttoned. Its not easy for the bloke, I know for one I would have lost it and belted him.

If we get another manager in and he thinks Gabby isn't right and moves him on so be it, IMO I think another manager will look at Gabby and think this guy has got real talent and I can work with him and get him back to where he should be, and IMO Gabby was becoming one of the best front me in the Premiership and I've said this before, I would put money on the fact we transfer Gabby out of Villa to the likes of Spurs or Newcastle and he'll be scoring for fun and be holding the England place as first choice aside of Rooney and we'll all be wondering why we couldn't get that out of him.

IMO Gabby is a Villa star, he could be twice the player he is, he just hasn't been nurtured and developed the right way, he's spent the last 2 seasons under an idiot and an has been.

Have to say this, if I was Gabby it wouldn't be a case of the club moving me on, I would be saying to my agent get out there and get me out of here because I can't work with this bloke.

Gabby is not playing right IMO, hasn't been for seasons, we are missing a fantastic player that left with MON.

 

[Mazrim]

I can't believe people are seriously advocating selling Gabby.  When both of our best forwards have had crap seasons, can people not see the common denominator?

Yes but McLeish isnt to blame for everything however shit he is.
Gabby has to take some blame for being lacklustre in front of goal. I'd rather not sell him and a new manager came in and got the best out of him of course, but he's the senior guy now and has drifted in and out of games too often beacuse it's easy for him to do that and not be dropped.

The idea is hateful to me but it shouldn't be discounted. He needs to show more hunger.
I dont like the idea that a player can turn in average performances for months because he knows the manager
will get all the stick, which is what I think is happening.

[PeterWithe]

As an aside I was told by someone that taught him that he didn't really support anyone at school and at a push would have said Arsenal. Makes no odds though, he's the closest we've got to a crowd hero.

[Rick_avfc]

Gabby is now 25 (according to Wiki) so how much longer do you want to give him?  The chance he missed yesterday was shocking!  How much more developing and nurturing does he need?  His performances have been well below par and the fact he has been given the arm band should encourage more to lead by example.  He is an established senior pro at villa but over the past few seasons he has shown little to suggest that he is a great assest.  I would go as far as saying he has not got a football brain.  Give him too much time and he is clueless as to what to do next. 

take away the fact he is a villa fan, would he be getting as much love then?  Course not.  a majority of fans would probably say get him out.

[Villanation]

I can't believe people are seriously advocating selling Gabby.  When both of our best forwards have had crap seasons, can people not see the common denominator?

Yes but McLeish isnt to blame for everything however shit he is.
Gabby has to take some blame for being lacklustre in front of goal. I'd rather not sell him and a new manager came in and got the best out of him of course, but he's the senior guy now and has drifted in and out of games too often beacuse it's easy for him to do that and not be dropped.

The idea is hateful to me but it shouldn't be discounted. He needs to show more hunger.
I dont like the idea that a player can turn in average performances for months because he knows the manager
will get all the stick, which is what I think is happening.

Yes but if you think about the nature of the man, if you think about how Gabby thinks about things, how he goes about his life and his promo of the club, his whole attitude, Gabby is a sponge, he's not spontaneous, tell him to die for the club and he'll lay down and die. tell him to jump of a bridge and he'll do that.

Tell you what, you aren't seeing Gabby Agbonlahor out on that pitch, you are seeing Alex McLeish as a forward, and that's the difference, Gabby hasn't a clue where he is IMO.

Should we sell Gabby, to be frank I would sell Gabby tomorrow, not because of his performances for us but because the players deserves better and I relish seeing what we experienced when we saw the Gabby of old breaking through defenses at break neck speed like Man City and getting his hat trick, for England, I will be perfectly honest with you some of my memories at Villa go back to the early seventies, and yet some of The Gabby Agbonlahor moments rank up there with some of my best memories.

[Villanation]

Put it this way.................Where is this bloke now!!!!!!look at the missed chance yesterday and then compare with some of these, does that look like the Gabby of old we watched yesterday.

Get McLeish out and then see what we have with Gabby.