Gabby - keep or let go

[Chris Jameson]

Tim Sherwood believes Gabby Agbonlahor can have his "best season yet" in claret and blue next term.

Going to stick a tenner on Burnley for promotion in that case.

[ktvillan]

Gabby could be the last remaining vestige of 'Thickie Villa' - the dimbo goofball-hoofball troupe of foul-throwers and last-minute match losers, crammed with well-meaning simpletons and all-round honest dullards, led by the arch-halfwit Paul "I just do" Lambert, who was so thick you could insulate the Large Hadron Collider with him.

Let Gabby go, and let's look forward to a brighter, savvier, smarter Villa.

Very eloquently put. 

The fact is Gabby has never been all that, little more than a speed merchant with the odd instinctive finish.  Yes he got some key goals in derbies etc. but who's to say someone in his place might not have got just as many of those plus a whole shitload more besides.  He has always lacked the anticipatory movement,  the runs to take defenders out of the way, the awareness of the bigger picture, and, frankly, the technique to be a top PL forward.  He always seems to be on his heels when he should be on his toes.  He might be a local lad but tat's a red herring, totally irrelevant.  I don't care if we field 9 Martians an Albion fan and a Venutian in goal as long as they are the best we can put out.

[Chico Hamilton III]

Tim Sherwood believes Gabby Agbonlahor can have his "best season yet" in claret and blue next term.

Agbonlahor has impressed Sherwood in pre-season with his form and attitude.

Sherwood thinks Agbonlahor has the ability to have a top campaign as he spoke of the pace ace really working on his fitness, after double sessions out in Portugal.

He said: "Gabby is looking really sharp.

"It's good for him to get a pre-season at a really high intensity like I want.

"He is getting that at the moment.

"He is shredding weight and why shouldn't he have the best season he's ever had?

"He's no age. 28. If we can get him fit then he can offer that real threat in behind people with energy.

"He scored six last year.

"We only scored 31 and Gabby's six were vital for us."


As previously stated I very much doubt Tim Sherwood shares the opinions expressed by several on here.

Isn't Sherwood saying here that Gabby is overweight and unfit?

[saunders_heroes]

Gabby seems to be made a bit of a scapegoat for last night but I've said it before, he's at his best when he's got a winger whipping in crosses for him. When was the last time we had a decent winger at Villa? Look at all the wasted set pieces from last night as well. It's a bit unfair on him I think.

[Monty]

Gabby seems to be made a bit of a scapegoat for last night but I've said it before, he's at his best when he's got a winger whipping in crosses for him. When was the last time we had a decent winger at Villa? Look at all the wasted set pieces from last night as well. It's a bit unfair on him I think.

The problem with that, S_H, is that we became the most predictable team in the league when we relied on getting it wide and getting in crosses. If that's all Gabby can do well with, then that's not really enough.

[Villa in Denmark]

Gabby could be the last remaining vestige of 'Thickie Villa' - the dimbo goofball-hoofball troupe of foul-throwers and last-minute match losers, crammed with well-meaning simpletons and all-round honest dullards, led by the arch-halfwit Paul "I just do" Lambert, who was so thick you could insulate the Large Hadron Collider with him.

Let Gabby go, and let's look forward to a brighter, savvier, smarter Villa.

Love it.

Just catching up. 

This made me laugh.

A lot.

[Villa in Denmark]

Gabby seems to be made a bit of a scapegoat for last night but I've said it before, he's at his best when he's got a winger whipping in crosses for him. When was the last time we had a decent winger at Villa? Look at all the wasted set pieces from last night as well. It's a bit unfair on him I think.

2010/11 under Houllier, where he scored 5 in 32 appearances with Downing and Young out wide, one of which was in the quarter final defeat to the great unwashed, so 4 in the league, of which just 1 was before Bent arrived.

The season where he was the sole focal point of the attack, as he had been under his best spells under MON

The season where we out and bought ourselves an £18M pound Christmas present to put the ball in the net more consistently playing the same system.

The season where he scores more (3) with Bent in the team than before (2), so it's not as though Bent was robbing him of opportunities. I.e. he'd scored 1 league goal up to the middle of January.

The season where Emile Heskey scored more (6) from fewer appearances (25)

O

[saunders_heroes]

Gabby seems to be made a bit of a scapegoat for last night but I've said it before, he's at his best when he's got a winger whipping in crosses for him. When was the last time we had a decent winger at Villa? Look at all the wasted set pieces from last night as well. It's a bit unfair on him I think.

The problem with that, S_H, is that we became the most predictable team in the league when we relied on getting it wide and getting in crosses. If that's all Gabby can do well with, then that's not really enough.

Predictable or not, we were a better team when when we had wingers. We've played too narrow for a number of years now and look at our results!

[Villa in Denmark]

Gabby seems to be made a bit of a scapegoat for last night but I've said it before, he's at his best when he's got a winger whipping in crosses for him. When was the last time we had a decent winger at Villa? Look at all the wasted set pieces from last night as well. It's a bit unfair on him I think.

The problem with that, S_H, is that we became the most predictable team in the league when we relied on getting it wide and getting in crosses. If that's all Gabby can do well with, then that's not really enough.

Predictable or not, we were a better team when when we had wingers. We've played too narrow for a number of years now and look at our results!

See above post for year when we last played with 2 wingers.

[Monty]

I agree we need to play with more width, but not with the aim of just bunting in crosses. Width stretches defences, but if they know the cross is coming then they just bunch back into the box and wait. No, I'm excited about seeing Traore wide on the right and cutting inside, or playing passes into space.

[JUAN PABLO]

He summed me up against Bournemouth with that shit back pass shot after the run.

[Salsa Party Animal]

I am amazed managers keep picking him for the team or giving him  new contract.

[edgysatsuma89]

I am astounded so many people would keep him. Everytime I see him in a villa shirt I die a little inside.

Then there's the tash...

[Kevin_Brum12]

I think he should go.

Ultimately, he is not Premier League standard anymore.  The game has moved on, but Gabby has not moved on with it and he now looks totally unsuited to the modern PL.

The only reason for keeping him would be that he manages to score against our local rivals, but that is an expensive luxury.

Send him on a free to a Championship club like Derby.  He can help them in their promotion push, bag a few goals and hopefully plenty against B-lose.

[ktvillan]

Gabby seems to be made a bit of a scapegoat for last night but I've said it before, he's at his best when he's got a winger whipping in crosses for him. When was the last time we had a decent winger at Villa? Look at all the wasted set pieces from last night as well. It's a bit unfair on him I think.

Scapegoat implies he's blameless and being picked on unfairly.  He's not. It's not just the last few games,or even the last couple of seasons.  The same points have been made about his limitations pretty much since he broke into the team.  They just seem more obvious now he's older and a bit slower, and there are a few seasons'worth of fairly damning stats to back it up.