AGBONLAHOR HOPES FOR MORE

The Aston Villa striker, Gabriel Agbonlahor, has said that he hopes to get more opportunities to play as a striker in the current season. In the last season, Alex McLeish, who was the manager of Aston Villa at that time, had used Agbonlahor in different positions.

He had to play as a midfielder on several occasions and the English striker was not happy with that. As per Agbonlahor, he is a central striker and he always wants to play as a striker. He doesn’t want his position to be changed too often. It was frustrating to play in the midfield in the last season, and saw him being linked (by Arsenal news amonsgt others) with a move to the Emirates.

The performance of Aston Villa was very poor in the last season under the guidance of McLeish. The team managed to win only 21.4% of its matches. McLeish had to pay the price for it and he was terminated from his post and Paul Lambert was appointed as the new manager of Villa.

Agbonlahor seemed to be quite happy with the appointment of Lambert as the new manager. As per Agbonlahor, Lambert is a very supportive coach and he doesn’t try to force his decisions on to the players. He has got some very good strategies and if the players play according to his plans in the current season, the team is going to do very well.

Agbonlahor wasn’t able to play in a few matches at the start of the ongoing season due to the knee injury. But, he made a comeback in the team by playing in the match against Newcastle United. He played in his preferred striking position in that match. He didn’t manage to score any goal, but, his performance was decent. There was one goal scored by each team and the match ended in a draw. Villa will play its next match against Swansea City on 15th of September at Villa Park.

AGBONLAHOR STAYING PUT

The Aston Villa striker Gabriel Agbonlahor has dismissed the speculation linking him with a move to Sunderland after it has emerged that the Sunderland manager Martin O’Neill is keen to be reunited with his former striker.

The 24-year-old rose to prominence under the former Aston Villa manager Martin O’Neill, who is currently managing the Premier league club Sunderland. Since Martin O’Neill’s departure, Agbonlahor has never been the same. Even though he was made captain of the club last season, speculation has been growing that he will be looking for a move away from the club where he made his professional debut.

The 25-year-old has been capped by the England national team on three occasions, but it has been quite a long time since he has been in the England national team fold. Many are attributing this towards the departure of Martin O’Neill, who always got the best out of Agbonlahor. As a result, there have been suggestions that he will be joining Sunderland. The striker, though, has said that there is no truth present in the rumours linking him with a move to Sunderland and that he is extremely happy to stay at Villa Park. Agbonlahor scored six goals in 36 matches for Aston Villa last season.

“Looking at it over the summer I’m just laughing at myself thinking: ‘where do they get these links from? I’m an Aston Villa player, it’s my home club, I love the club, as long as I’m contracted to the club then I’ll continue to play for them – until I get told otherwise. When you’ve played with a manager as good as Martin O’Neill you are going to be linked with him. But, for me, it’s just speculation,” said the striker. Aston Villa are currently on a preseason tour of the United States.

BENT BACKS GABY

Aston Villa striker Darren Bent has said that he believes Gabriel Agbonlahor can be a regular player for the England national team. He has also said that the speculation that he does not get along well with the players at the club is untrue.

Gabriel Agbonlahor came through the ranks at Aston Villa and was extremely prominent in the Premier league during the Martin O’Neill era. However, he has not been in the best of form in recent times, which led to his omission from the England squad for the Euro 2012. At one stage, he was spoken of in the same breath as Wayne Rooney, but his alarming decline in the international quarters has now been dismissed by his teammate Darren Bent.

The former Tottenham striker has said that it will be only a matter of time before Gabriel Agbonlahor rediscovers his scoring form that made him a great striker. England have been eliminated from the Euro 2012 at the quarter-final stage, which has proved to be a major obstacle for the team in the last two decades. However, it is thought that Roy Hodgson would be choosing a very young squad for the upcoming 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying race that will start in September.

“He’s cool, all the lads get on with Gabby. I’d like to think me and Gabby could be picked for the same England squad again. When you’ve got that much pace and that explosiveness he’s always going to have problems with his hamstrings. If he can get over that there’s no reason why he can’t force himself in. At the start of last season his performances were fantastic. I know he maybe didn’t get the goals he would have liked in the second half of the season but it’s hard when you have injuries here and there,” said Bent.

GABY SET TO PLAY

Aston Villa manager Alex McLeish has named the side that contains both Emile Heskey and Gabriel Agbonlahor for the final match of the season against Norwich.

It has been a disappointing season for Aston Villa as they have failed to not only score goals, but they have flirted with relegation through to the campaign.

However, they recently secured their Premier league status after the 1-1 draw with Tottenham. They will be facing Norwich, who have exceeded expectations this season, on the final day of the Premier league season. It is expected that this match could well be the last Aston Villa game in charge for manager Alex McLeish.

Aston Villa fans have never accepted him as their manager even when his appointment was made in the summer. However, the fans backlash has only increased during the season due to their extremely poor tactics and style of play. Aston Villa have averaged less than a goal per game and have been rated as one of the worst teams in the division to watch. It has been a similar trait for the teams managed by Alex McLeish. Birmingham city were one of the boring teams in the division prior to being relegated to the Championship under Alex McLeish last season.

Norwich manager Paul Lambert is one of the favourites to take over from Alex McLeish. Despite being the newly promoted team, he has worked wonders with the group of players he has at the club. Striker Grant Holt has become a sensation in the Premier league after scoring 14 goals for the club this season. It is expected that many clubs including Aston Villa will be in for Lambert in the summer. Alex McLeish recently expressed confidence that he will remain in charge of the team next season, but it is unlikely that it will be the case.

AGBONLAHOR WANTS TO STAY

Gabriel Agbonlahor, one of Aston Villa’s most prized players, has requested that other clubs not bother with the bidding as he has pledged to stay with the side for as long as he plays football professionally.

The last 12 months had been difficult for the Aston Villa striker under erstwhile manager Gerard Houllier, but has started afresh under current manager Alex McLeish.

Agbonlahor has 7 goals in the Premier League for this season said that he immensely enjoyed playing for Aston Villa and that most other clubs in the tournament were probably aware of that, as there hadn’t been any bids for him although the transfer window has been open for quite some time.

The England striker added that it must be quite evident to other teams that every team has a few players in their line-up who genuinely enjoy playing for the side. As an example, he mentioned Steven Gerrard.

Discounting the fact that he is currently on loan to one of their biggest rivals, he has been at Liverpool nearly his whole life. Agbonlahor says that his loyalty to Aston Villa remains, no matter what.

Abgonlahor added that it is only natural that the top players in a side will be linked to other clubs during the transfer season and that his team-mate Darren Bent has already been linked to Liverpool. But like Gabriel, Darren has no immediate plans of switching to another team.

Besides, Bent has just signed a multi-million pound deal with his club and wouldn’t want to dishonor it. The links were obvious as Liverpool were looking for another striker after Luis Suarez was banned.

Agbonlahor said that if all the rumors were to be believed, then his club would be buying 10 players during the transfer window. All that remains to be seen is how long the allegiance stays true.