Gabby

[brian green]

Not only his playing deficiencies have to be taken into consideration, he was at the centre of dressing room discontent.  He did nothing to help the club off the field, he embodied the sickness at the end of the Lerner era.

[Pete3206]

There were 10 others who also offered jack shit yesterday. Busted flush he may be, but the team's current shiteness is not down to Gabby alone.

The other 10 weren't banned from training for being overweight twice, caught smoking a shisha in Dubai during one of those breaks and photographed in a hotel room with hookers on the day we were relegated.  They also haven't been paid to play as a striker and score 8 goals in their last 100 appearances for the club.  He shouldn't be anywhere near the team, he offers nothing and I honestly don't care if he's putting in the effort in training to lose weight, he was shit long before he got fat and running around a bit is a long way from being enough to change my opinion.

Bruce needs to remove the rose-tinted glasses and stop seeing Gabby circa 2009-10 because that player is never coming back.

He's finished yes, but the rest of the side were just as culpable for that abortion of a performance. Gabby wasn't the worst player on the pitch yesterday, I'd hand that dubious honour to his rotund, mis-firing sidekick. I take all your points about Gabby and agree with them all, but until Kodja comes back or Villa find something in the transfer market, it looks like we'll be seeing him for a while yet.

[paul_e]

Yes, but the other 10 deserve a chance to show they can do better, Gabby has used all his chances up, he's a waste of space who would've been fired for gross misconduct in any other industry, it's a disgrace that he's still at the club and I honestly don't think we'll fully recover until he's gone, he's a poisonous influence that shows you can be as shit and unprofessional as you like because the manager will be the one that pays and the next one will just give you a fresh start.

[old man villa fan]

I have been reading quite a few comments about GA working hard yesterday.  To be honest, I didn't see that at all.

What I did see was a player running from side to side looking to close players down or chasing the ball back to the keeper.  He hasn't got a clue how to close players down by splitting the player with the ball and one that the player could pass to and hence putting pressure on the player with the ball.  He just wastes his energy due to his lack of knowledge of the game.

I watched the replay of the RM missed header and looked for where GA was when Amarvi played the ball in.  He was barely in the area when the ball reached RM.  He is supposed to be leading the line.  It was not that it was a quick ball in to the box.  Everybody could see the play building so why wasn't he in a position for Amarvi to cross to.  RM was there and he is supposed to be as slow as a snail according to most.

Where was GA making runs in the channels for the midfield players to try and play balls through to him.  Even RM was putting in the effort to try and do this.

What I did see a couple of times in the match was GA in the middle of the pitch away from the ball bending over as if he had no breath in him at all.  This is not the first match I have seen him do this.  He is clearly unfit.

GA has only ever had one thing and that was pace.  That has gone and he is a nothing player.  He lacked the brain to understand that he would be nothing when he lost his pace but didn't work on his game.  I look back to Peter With who was your basic journeyman player earlier in his career and with no pace whatsoever but then worked on the technical side of his game to be a very effective player.

Is it just coincidence that our performances have got worse and worse the more GA has been involved in the team.

People say he is the only option we have at the moment.  He is Bruce's only option if he wants to play an experienced target man.  Bruce could change the way we play so that you do not have to rely on a lump of lard who is past it.  As the only option he is failing so why persist with him.

[PaulTheVillan]

Did anyone see Gabby's twitter profile picture change over the weekend?

www.twitter.com/onlymyviewz

[aj2k77]

Did anyone see Gabby's twitter profile picture change over the weekend?

www.twitter.com/onlymyviewz

What does the picture show? Someone tweet him a picture of him looking like a middle aged man playing sunday league football, then tweet him how many goals he's scored in his last 100 games, the fat donkey.

[in exile]

He really wants fucking off.
I just hope he's not in the ears of Andre Green and Rushian Hepburn-Murphy

[Phil from the upper holte]

I'm pretty sure he doesn't have twitter unless he's recently come onto it?

Someone on the wind up?

[BOB MANSFIELD]

Steve Bruce is trying everything he knows to get something out of him. Why ? Because he has no options left. This is the time for Steve Round to prove his worth.

[chrisw1]

I personally have no problem with Bruce trying to utilise the assets as his disposal and if re-integrating Gabby would help with promotion then it's something I'd be happy to live with.

The problem is, he seems utterly, utterly shit and I just can't see how he can how even the slimmed down Gabby is a better option than one of the kids.  Just wish we had used RHM before he got his head turned.

[eamonn]

Bruce is clinging on to the Gabby he remembers when we put his shitty old teams to the sword with Gabby starring - Blose, Wigan, Sunderland etc.

The fact that he was told Gabby was doing extra hours to shed weight when Bruce first came to the club has furthered the illusion that he's a proven pro that just needs a bit of coaxing and fitness.

Unfortunately, as we are seeing, and as most of us thought/feared,  it's a big mistake to expect him to come good this month, this season or ever again.

[PaulTheVillan]

I'm pretty sure he doesn't have twitter unless he's recently come onto it?

Someone on the wind up?

That is him. He just likes to hide behind a fake profile. Probably because he wouldn't be able to handle the truth if he were to have a verified profile.

[achilles]

That is the point though you don't need to play with centre forwards, Arsenal, Liverpool do it!
So why doesn't Bruce change the system (do we have one) to suit what players he has available, that is what clever managers are supposed to do, change tactics to suit the occasion.

[frank]

That is the point though you don't need to play with centre forwards, Arsenal, Liverpool do it!
So why doesn't Bruce change the system (do we have one) to suit what players he has available, that is what clever managers are supposed to do, change tactics to suit the occasion.

Didn't Moyes play without central strikers at Everton for a while? Mind you, he did have Tim Cahill to score the goals from midfield, which I can't see our lot doing.

[BOB MANSFIELD]

When did Villa last have midfielders you could rely on for 7-10 goals per season ?
If you count the Young, Barry Downing Milner seasons, then your talking Prem Top 6 skills ....not the kind of mid Championship awful set-up we have nowadays.