PaulC Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 (edited) I can see Trentvilla's point of view about him being a victim of the malaise but I also think he's part of the malaise as he's comfortable at Villa, his place in the side isn't under pressure, yet he only performs a few games a season. What he needs is to be stretched a little bit, be more motivated. Too cosy! Edited October 27, 2014 by PaulC 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbie09 Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 He simply isn't, and never has been that good. Ball control, first touch is poor. Finishing is hit and miss, usually miss, one on ones he is very poor .Little or no movement off the ball. No guile in his play. Most of our better players were poached by other teams, no one came in for him, why is that ? Could be that other clubs see him for what he is, very limited. His career average is now in single figures, he constantly goes on long barren spells, looks disinterested more often than not. He was moved wide because we simply couldn't accommodate a centre forward who couldn't hit a barn door. If we hadn't ridiculously offered him a four year contract he would have ended up in the Championship, playing more at his level. Hopefully Grealish will be everything we are all hoping he will be, and Gabby will simply fade from the picture. Not a big fan of his then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeyAnty Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 Gabbys inclusion in the team is to force other teams to play a certain way because of the threat of his pace. It’s nothing to do with his footballing ability and what he brings to the Villa team unfortunately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodytom Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 Never in my life did I honestly think I would hear a professional footballer referred to as a victim: 'a person harmed by another person or situation'. Crazy. Sure, aston villa are going through some tough times, but the players are more than well looked after, despite the fact that they are largely responsible for the tough times. Gabby has performed well below a good standard for sometime which has no doubt affected the chance of him moving on to bigger n better things. He's had ample opportunity to prove himself - a weaker team does make things more difficult, but it also provides the opportunity to stand out. He hasn't taken it, ever. He earns an extortionate wage, that is totally undeserved IMO. The club have constantly put faith in him from a young age. He was given the opportunity to kick on in his career by being called up to the England squad - he didn't take it. Gabby is responsible for his career, and if he is a victim then there is a lot of very wealthy, very successful football players who are victims because they play in shit teams. Thanks for providing the definition of the word, it wasn't really needed though as I'm aware of the definition, its kind of why I picked the word. And yes, in my opinion in terms of his game and career Gabby has been a victim of the the way the club has been run in the post O'Neill years. I don't really think that is an outlandish thing to say or think. Had he played in a better side and actually had some decent service over the last 4 years I think he would have scored a lot more goals. That isn't to absolve him of blame for his own performances but it isn't all on him we have failed for 4 years to get the best out of him or to give him service that makes the most of his strengths. What he earns is completely irrelevant to the point in question so I'm not sure why its come into it other than a general bitterness people understandable have towards footballers and what they earn. In terms of his career as a player, in my view Gabby's game has suffered due to the way the club has been run and the way he has been used by the last three managers. You can call it crazy if you wish but it really isn't an outlandish belief at all. First of all - apologies if me defining the word 'victim' came across as patronising. It wasn't meant like that nor was it aimed at anyone in particular. A couple of posters had kind of agreed with you and I just wanted to make it clear in my own mind, as well as ensuring both sides of the argument are singing from the same hymn sheet in terms of the word. Your post has some fair points however, I remain a million miles away from you in terms of opinion. Which is of course fine, but here is why - Villa have lost some good players and become a weaker side. Of that there is no doubt. Nevertheless, prior to us losing those players, gabby hardly set the world a light in terms of being a cf. He got a few goals in spurts, and he developed areas of his game however, it was always evident to me that he was someway from being any better than a decent prem striker. His touch was poor, his finishing was poor and his runs when creating space were at times, amateurish (they still are). I've watched him ensure he is marked at most stages in a game. I take particular notice of this as I used to do this as a striker, and I believe it emerges from a need to avoid failure attitude in that if you are marked, your task is then tougher, and you find yourself in less space - giving you more excuses should you miss a chance. Have a look yourself, it's quite interesting and for a prem footballer, pretty alarming. In addition, individual effort and performance (where possible) should not be effected by the loss of players around you. I can understand why he maybe doesn't score as many due to a lack of service, but his touch, passing, finishing and effort should not be effected. So, I think the managers were right to shift him out wide. Especially given the fact we had better players in those positions. Bent scored pretty much gabby's usual goal rally in half a season, and tekkers (with the dire service gabby endures), smashed his season totals to bits in his first season and equalled it almost in his second despite a number of injuries. In short, gabby has been shoved out there for a couple of reasons. The first being: he simply isn't good enough, and gabby has to take the brunt of the responsibility for that - not the way the club is run. The second reason is that it's good for the team. For all his under achievements, he does track back well, he is an outlet and he can chip in with a goal so it does help the team. Changes happen in roles all the time, and sometime your life is made a bit harder, but you don't sulk, you embrace it and get on with it and if you've got enough about you you adapt your game and become a better player. You certainly give it everything if you are on 65k a week or whatever it is (which is where the money comes into it). Because he is contracted to aston villa and actually, he should be thankful for the wonderful opportunity he is presented with each week by the club and go and give 110%, and I don't think he could admit that he does. If gabby was good enough, he might not have been shifted in the first place. He definitely would be able to offer something there when he covers injuries and he absolutely most definitely would be able to perform better than he has out wide. The weak players around him are a bit of a non arguement as tekkers and even Kozak (in a short time) showed that goals are possible. And weimann, from out wide. The loyalty to the club is all a big load of nonsense to me as well. Nobody supposedly so loyal would take those wages and dish up shit after shit. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OutByEaster? Posted October 27, 2014 Moderator Share Posted October 27, 2014 I think Gabby takes a lot of unfair criticism, he has limitations, but he also has a lot going for him, his record for us is good and I think he's a good guy to have around the place, he's flexible and he'll play where he's put, he'll play with niggling injuries and on his day, he can win you a game. I think the question that we should be asking, and I guess more importantly that he should be asking himself is can he play better than he has done for the last eighteen months? I think the answer is yes. The biggest thing Gabby had going for him as a younger player was his ability to work hard on his weaknesses, he improved immeasurably with his back to goal, he worked hard on being better in the air, he's improved his crossing, but he seems to have hit a plateau where he's not quite sure what he should be working on or how he can improve himself. For me he should be working on the energy in his game, get back to buzzing about, upsetting players, I'd love to see that bit of cheek and mischief back in him, but I'm not a manager and there are other things he can do, he could do with finding something that motivates him I think. That said, for me he's still in the side on merit and I'm still glad he's here, glad he's in a Villa shirt and hopeful he's got a few years left in him. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodytom Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 Not even sure where he was playing but he was garbage either way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROTTERDAM1982 Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 Has he ever been coached? Never makes runs off the ball, run into space, anticipate mistakes/fumbles, makes runs across defenders, utilise his pace.An incredibly brainless player, and an incredible waste of our money. Hope we give him a contract to sell him. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulC Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 Did nothing in that game. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rbcuk Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 Needs to be dropped asap, offers nothing 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCJonah Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 Stick him upfront and tell him to play on the last defender. He's offering nothing playing in the role lambert has him in at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeyAnty Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 I want to curse in this thread but i wont. No more of this rubbish player. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeParker91 Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 I don't know what's worse, his current performances or the ingenious idea of using him as a number 10. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodytom Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 Stick him upfront and tell him to play on the last defender. He's offering nothing playing in the role lambert has him in at the moment. What role was it? I couldn't care less if he was played right back, he'd need to show more effort than he did to be in the team, especially in the position he wants to be in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCJonah Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 Stick him upfront and tell him to play on the last defender. He's offering nothing playing in the role lambert has him in at the moment. What role was it? I couldn't care less if he was played right back, he'd need to show more effort than he did to be in the team, especially in the position he wants to be in. I'm not even sure. He seemed to be popping up in central midfield most of the time. Yes we need to see more from him but while we look this bad upfront lets put him up there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farlz Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 Gabby and Weimann have got to be 2 of the worst attackers in the league, absolutely dreadful. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevo985 Posted October 27, 2014 VT Supporter Share Posted October 27, 2014 I didn't see much of tonight's game, but what I did see (the last 20 minutes or so) there were several times when the ball dropped near Gabby and he seemed to make no attempt to get it. He was walking around. At least the other players looked like they were trying, for all their faults. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeyAnty Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 Gabby and Weimann have got to be 2 of the worst attackers in the league, absolutely dreadful. I saw myself, when Weinmann got injured, hoping that he would have to come off. Very sad i know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodytom Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 I absolutely love andi, but he's horrific. Half the time I'm laughing, the other I'm cringing. Shame cause I was desperate for him to do well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Woodytom Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 I stand by my point that he most definitely is not a victim of this shambles. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farlz Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 Gabby and Weimann have got to be 2 of the worst attackers in the league, absolutely dreadful. I saw myself, when Weinmann got injured, hoping that he would have to come off. Very sad i know. I was exactly the same... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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