New Four Year Deal for Gabby

[danno]

I also noticed that after Bentekes outrageous dive on Sunday that it was Gabby who pushed him away from the ref and tried to ask 'is it possible that there was just a little bit of contact?' - then left it.


Whilst it has never worked having him as captain, there is definitely hints of that maturity & influence in his on pitch presence at times.

I'm of this opinion too, I think he's one of the few big voices in the dressing room. (Delph Vlaar Guzan).
Typified by him confronting Ramires after that "tackle" on El Ahmadi.

I think that sort of thing takes on a greater importance than usual, when we are trying so hard to integrate
and develop a whole set of players who (for the most part) had no Premier league experience before joining the club.

[supertom]

Good news, glad it looks like he'll be staying til he retires. I've said it before the day he retires and walks over to clap the Holte one last time is going to be so goddamn emotional.

Imagine how emotional it would be if he decides to start scoring a few goals.

Jesus.

I know. Short memories, some people

Old Trafford this weekend isn't it? How many goals has he scored there again?

Two.

4?

I counted 3 at Old Trafford, and one at home.
4 against Utd in 8 years of playing Utd. That's not fantastic on paper, but the reality is we don't often score against them and he's often the most likely of our players to find the net. He tends to raise his game when playing them, so here's hoping.

[stubbsyandy]

So we are supposed to be culling high-earners not worth anything like the pay-packet they are on but let's just make an exception for Gabby because he is a fan?

I hate this club sometimes...

You hate the club you support because they're giving a player a new contract?

More that I hate some of the decisions made at the club. I can't think of a player less deserving to be on ~£50k per week let alone be awarded a new four year deal.

Well what happened to 'we'll support you evermore'...be constructive

[PeterWithesShin]

Yeah my mistake, it is 3 at Old Trafford. I forgot the one in 2007.

[supertom]

I also noticed that after Bentekes outrageous dive on Sunday that it was Gabby who pushed him away from the ref and tried to ask 'is it possible that there was just a little bit of contact?' - then left it.


Whilst it has never worked having him as captain, there is definitely hints of that maturity & influence in his on pitch presence at times.

I'm of this opinion too, I think he's one of the few big voices in the dressing room. (Delph Vlaar Guzan).
Typified by him confronting Ramires after that "tackle" on El Ahmadi.

I think that sort of thing takes on a greater importance than usual, when we are trying so hard to integrate
and develop a whole set of players who (for the most part) had no Premier league experience before joining the club.

I think it's essential to have someone playing for you club who represents your club and bleeds your colours. Getting rid of Gabby would be foolish. He's been in the first team about 8 years now. He's Villa through and through. Does this mean he gets cut some slack sometimes that other players may not? On occasion.

On the flipside unless you're a club who can spend a billion on crafting a squad of the best players around, most successful clubs need someone in the side who absolutely gets the club, and will always give their all. Gabby is this. Most clubs need players like this. Utd still have Giggs, and lets face it the more they've lost the likes of Neville, Scholes etc over the years, the worse they get. Liverpool still have Gerrard. Chelsea have Terry still. Lampard was raised by West Ham of course, but he's been at Chelsea for a decade now and has become ingrained within the club and always gives his all.
Why do Arsenal fall short? Where are players like Adams? Long gone and haven't been replaced. Most of the academy who come through tend to be foreign lads who probably grew up adoring Barca, or whoever.

Now Gabby might not be as good as Gerrard, Giggs, etc, but for our level, he's good enough. Whenever you sign a new player you can't always gaurantee they'll take to the club and love it. When you raise a player like Gabby through the ranks you know he will. You have a good inclination that given the chance he'll stay for life.
We're in the footballing mercenary world these days. For every Juan Pablo Angel  (who came and even despite some rocky patches and questionnable treatment by the club in his first year) and Carew who loved the club, you have someone like Baros or Downing who saw us as a paycheque and probably a stepping stone to something better.

It's also rare that a player grows up watching from the stands, comes up through the ranks and makes it as a long term player of the club he loves. When it happens, I don't think it should be underestimated. Plus as we've seen, year on year, even if Gabby's having a bad season, when you get to a point where you really, really need a goal. The one man you bet on is Gabby Agbonlahor.

[eastie]

Personally I think gabby is lucky to be a regular in the side based on his displays - a new 4 year deal seems well over the top to me .

[Isa]

Well what happened to 'we'll support you evermore'...be constructive

My hate for unprogressive decisions made by the club is derived from my support for them.

[Chico Hamilton III]

Wasn't Sstevie G and Everton fan as a kid?

[PeterWithesShin]

The flipside though Tom is if Gabby performed more often, goals against West Ham, Norwich etc wouldn't be the big goals we really needed at the time. I think that is why he is so frustrating.

[eastie]

Wasn't Sstevie G and Everton fan as a kid?

No , carragher and Ian rush were though.

[Dr Butler]

Wasn't Sstevie G and Everton fan as a kid?

No , carragher and Ian rush were though.

I'm sure he was/is as there is a photo around somewhre of him in a full Everton kit....

[PeterWithesShin]

Wasn't Sstevie G and Everton fan as a kid?

No , carragher and Ian rush were though.

I'm sure he was/is as there is a photo around somewhre of him in a full Everton kit....

There is, but supposedly some relative made him dress up in it.

[Isa]

The flipside though Tom is if Gabby performed more often, goals against West Ham, Norwich etc wouldn't be the big goals we really needed at the time. I think that is why he is so frustrating.

Agree. For every vital goal he scores there is an equally vital miss in another game. For every big performance he puts in during an important game there is a non-showing in an equally important game.

[glasses]

The flipside though Tom is if Gabby performed more often, goals against West Ham, Norwich etc wouldn't be the big goals we really needed at the time. I think that is why he is so frustrating.

You can't single him out for the poor performance of the team for the last few years

There were big goals against the Blues (take your pick), the win at Old Trafford, the 2-0 win at the Emirates, 2-0 win at Home to Chelsea, when we were doing well too. They were big goals. Am I right there was a goal away to Blackburn to seal a win to put us 3rd in the table at one point?

I think people are being bent out of shape about money.

Everyone earns too much. If it bothers you, don't watch football

[glasses]

Personally I think gabby is lucky to be a regular in the side based on his displays - a new 4 year deal seems well over the top to me .

Who have we got that you'd play ahead of him, Eastie?