Gabby

[Ger Regan]

He let us down badly last season, but if he stays it's because the new management team have seen his dedication to change his ways. There's no such thing as too late in that regard, and especially in football when so much is tied to contracts and the ability to move a player on. If Gabby comes back determined to put right what he did, he appears to have shown in that in his willingness to become fit again, then he's going to be an asset to us. The fat wanker he became was no use, but his appearance and attitude over the past few years was what Aston Villa became. No better person to embody it than our longest serving active player.

Or more likely can't find a buyer.

[Le Lapin]

He needs to get out of our club. Out of the dressing room. His professionalism last season when we needed him most was non existent. I can understand a player being in bad form. But for a professional player not to be physically conditioned to play, that is inexcusable. Out out out!

Look, I totally get the sentiment - I don't like the guy either.  But if the manager wants to play him, what then?  Will you seek undermine this because of the way you feel, or let the manager make decisions he believes are best for the team?

That is the simple point I am making.

The guy has been a drain on our club for too many seasons now. The disrespect he showed to the club and fans last season while we struggled to stay up was the last straw. How many half arsed seasons do we need to give Gabby?

[ClaretAndBlueBlood]

I think grow up is fair enough.  It's pretty immature to put your hatred of a player over the needs of the team - assuming the manager does want to use him.

We needed him last season though, mate. And he let us down, immensely. I completely understand your point of view, but surely we are done with such players and such attitudes?

Hopefully yes we are. But if we do not find a willing buyer what do you suggest?

Good point. I'd suggest paying him off and releasing him/cancelling his contract. Whether that scenario is a possibility in the modern game, I've no idea.

I just feel that he's been a trouble maker, hasnt had the clubs best interests at heart, and has made a mockery, somewhat, of the fans who've paid good money to support the team.

I guess we just have to see what happens.

So waste £5-6m (or whatever the total cost of his contract is) paying off a player who the manager may find useful?  So we actively waste a sizable portion of our transfer budget to weaken the squad?  That makes no sense to me.

I would suggest that with the perceived effect that he has on the dressing room and the general malaise around the club, paying him off is the second best option if we cant find any takers. Also sends out a message to the rest of the squad that the management is back in charge

[chrisw1]

Look, he's not going to be paid off.  It simply isn't going to happen.

So, if the manager wants to use him, what now?

[Le Lapin]

Plus a professional footballer deciding to "change his ways" should be reason enough to get rid of him. By making this statement he has admitted he fucked the club over last season. Happily watching the club that pays his sixty odd grand a week wages go down. This "I promise to try this season" statement condemns him as a spent force. Strolling around the pitch against Citeh last season disgusted me.

[peter w]

Okay. We'll get rid of him. To whom do you suggest? We have a budget of 30m or so, you want to spend 5-6m that on getting rid of a player or buying one or two?

[Ger Regan]

Look, he's not going to be paid off.  It simply isn't going to happen.

So, if the manager wants to use him, what now?

Personally speaking, nothing, I hope. No booing (perhaps other than at the start of his first game, or when he comes on just to let him know we don't forget), then absolutely nothing. No chants for him, no booing of him. If he somehow manages to score for us, then the cheers should be for the fact that villa have scored, and nothing more.

[tony scott]

If as it appears ,the club's hands are tied due to players contacts, we don't have applaud these players, even if they are playing well.  I hope the club doesn't renew the contracts of these players, so eventually they will leave at no cost to the club. Ideally we could pay them off but that would appear to leave our transfer severely dented.  Now I know it's a big, but if these players show some we are better off running down their contracts.

[old man villa fan]

Look, he's not going to be paid off.  It simply isn't going to happen.

So, if the manager wants to use him, what now?

If the manager weighs up the pros and cons of keeping him and decides to keep him, that's his decision.  That decision will come back to bite him if it goes tits up.  Saying that everybody gets a clean slate as he is a new person in at the club, will not cut it with the supporters if things go wrong.

From the outside, I would say the cons outweigh the pros.  Putting a value on that, I would say around £2-3m would be worth it to not take on the risk.  That would mean that we would need to find a buyer that would pay him the equivalent of about half his current salary.  In that situation, the encouragement for him to leave would be the signing on fee he could get in lieu of a transfer fee we would normally get.

[Le Lapin]

Okay. We'll get rid of him. To whom do you suggest? We have a budget of 30m or so, you want to spend 5-6m that on getting rid of a player or buying one or two?

The club, in a moment of madness a few years ago has found itself bound to Gabby for another one or two years. The club has to live with this drain on our resources. I understand that we won't find any takers for him. Thank you Paul Lambert. But what has Gabby done for the club  for the last four or five seasons that entitles him to another chance? Nothing. If he is happy picking up his wages and contributing nothing (like he did last season), he should be left with the reserves until he leaves or his contract expires. He was found out last season, his commitment to the club was found out, his lifestyle as a professional sportsperson was found out. This mealy mouthed statement from him just highlights this.

[bill]

Stick him with the stiffs. Don't let him near the first team. Make him train alone. Then when his contract expires, wave goodbye. We don't have to play the lazy, fat, wast of space.

[peter w]

And by doing that we risk the cancerous spread that has affected the club over the past 4 years with bomb squads, cliques, and those thinking they can come and go as they please. If we can't sell them then their punishment must be hard labour. If that hard labour transforms into effort in training and attitude to match aptitude then they go into the squad and then the side. Whatever else has gone on we must draw a line under the shite of Lerner/Lambert/et al and start again with Di Matteo and Clarke.

[cheltenhamlion]

I think with Gabby it is a sense of injustice. If Di Matteo believes he could get something useful out of Lescott then many would accept it because at least he got what he deserved last season.

The fact that Gabby was the worst behaved and then went into hiding whilst the others were getting the brunt from the support, with his series of fictitious injuries and illnesses, whilst acting the prick off the pitch, that leaves supporters feeling like there is unfinished business.

[brian green]

The smart move, and at long last we have some shrewd guys in the dugout, is to let him come back, he will score a few at Championship level.  Once he appears to have made a come back, flog him.  Preferably in the upcoming January window.

[cheltenhamlion]

My preference is to fuck him off on loan to a team in somewhere like Greece or Turkey. Someone will be daft enough to take on most of his wage  (which is now 50% down on last season).

Unless he has undergone some sort of Damascene Conversion in terms of attitude, he cannot remain in the dressing room.