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Above: Gabby's last 10 years - in numbers

When Gabby Agbonlahor introduced himself to the world with a goal on his Aston Villa debut, the claret and blue faithful instantly had a new hero.

It’s 10 years to the day since the Lozells-born hitman opened up his account with a consolation in a defeat at Everton and since then he's gone on to become Villa’s top all-time Premier League goal-getter.

Whether you love or hate him, Agbonlahor is a Villa legend.

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The work that he did as the ambassador of the Acorns charity was exceptional and while his goals have dried up in recent years the ex-England international has still chipped in with vital contributions to keep the club in the Premier League.

It’s thought that this campaign could be Agbonlahor’s last at Villa Park as the relegation-threatened side look to pastures new with the Championship looming.

So on the ten-year anniversary of the 29-year-old’s goalscoring debut, our man at Villa, Gregg Evans, looks backs at his decade in claret and blue.

Burst onto the scene

When fresh-faced Agbonlahor smashed in his debut goal, some commentators couldn’t even pronounce his name. Loan spells at Watford and Sheffield Wednesday had gone largely unnoticed but here in the Birmingham, supporters had heard all about the talented teenager.

Here was a striker who had beaten Darius Vassell’s previous youth-team record by scoring 40 goals in a season including five strikes en route to the FA Youth Cup Final. When he was first called up into the senior set-up by David O’Leary, Academy

Director Bryan Jones said: ‘Gabriel can be as good in the game as he wants to be.’ After making the substitutes bench he got his first start on March 18 ‘2006 against Everton at Goodison Park and the hotshot wasted little time introducing himself.

“I thought I was offside to begin with, but I thought I’d just hit it and see about the offside afterwards,” Agbonlahor said when interviewed after scoring on his debut. Had luck been on his side he could have bagged a hat-trick that day. It wasn’t until six months later before he added to his tally but the strike against Charlton was extra special for a number of reasons. Not only was it his first at Villa Park, Agbonlahor’s family were also there watching and that moment has long been cherished.

Established as a regular

O’Leary’s replacement, Martin O’Neill, took an instant shine to Agbonlahor and played him in every minute of his first 31 games in charge. Midway through the campaign the Northern Irishman said: "I am getting to the stage now where I still expect him to do something even if he has three defenders on him."

That was a sign of the youngster's progression. The jet-heeled forward, still only 19 at the time, had enjoyed a incredible rise to fame. At 14-years-old he was turning out for Great Barr Falcons but now, just five years on, he was emulating heroes such as Tony Daley and Ian Wright by ripping apart Premier League defences.

An England U21 call-up was a proud moment after Agbonlahor decided against representing Nigeria and he completed his first full season with the seniors with an impressive ten goals. The best was still to come as Agbonlahor bulked up, used his pace to great advantage and started to bully opposing defenders.

In his pomp

Agbonlahor’s career reached lift-off in 2007/08. Not only did he score in both games against bitter rivals, Blues, he also received a first call-up to the full England squad. Arsenal were monitoring him very closely at this point as he thrived in an attack-minded set-up alongside John Carew and Ashley Young.

The striker’s blistering pace made him a nightmare to deal with and England captain John Terry revealed in an interview how it was the claret and blue star who had caused him more problems than most during the battles between Villa and Chelsea. Agbonlahor had developed a healthy habit of scoring in big games against tough opponents and by 2008/09 his goals had Villa flying high in the Champions League places until an almighty collapse saw them surrender fourth place to Arsenal and eventually finish sixth.

Agbonlahor scored a memorable hat-trick on the opening day of that season against Manchester City and also fired in a crucial strike in a win at The Emirates. In that season he also made his three England appearances but would later lose his place in the side despite enjoying his most prolific season to date in the following campaign.

Loss of form

O’Neill’s departure didn’t just knock the stuffing out of Villa, it also affected Agbonlahor’s displays, too. He suffered a 10-month goal drought in the Premier League as new boss Gerard Houllier moved him from his usual centre-forward position out onto the wing.

The pair never saw eye-to-eye with Houllier dropping him at times and telling him to slim down after the striker packed on some serious muscle in the gym. Agbonlahor would later say that training under Houllier was ‘like being at school’ due to all the rules he imposed. Five goals under the Frenchman was a poor return for Agbonlahor and it didn’t get much better under Alex McLeish either.

Paul Lambert’s first season in charge saw a better goals-return as the hitman smashed in six crucial goals in the final nine games to keep Villa in the Premier League but the relationship between the pair was never as good as it should have been. It was in 2013/14 when supporters started becoming frustrated with Agbonlahor’s performances.

He also received death threats from One Direction fans after flying into a tackle on Louis Tomlinson during a charity match but it was the criticism from those on the Villa Park terraces that affected him the most.

Worshipped by the claret and blue army for so long, Agbonlahor was now having to prove his worth and he wasn’t getting much joy in front of goal. When Tim Sherwood replaced Lambert there was an initial injection of life from the striker with crucial goals in the wins over Albion and Sunderland.

However it was only last month that he ended an embarrassing record that had seen him register more cards than goals over the past five seasons after current boss Remi Garde had questioned his commitment to the cause.

What does the future hold?

If Remi Garde is still in charge he will look to move on the club’s longest-serving player but a new manager could have different ideas. Agbonlahor has two years left on his current deal and could consider offers abroad as the Championship looms for Villa.

While it’s hard to imagine him playing for any other team, it seems a new challenge would be good for his career. Agbonlahor brought joy to the lives of Villa fans on the pitch in his younger days and his work with Acorns left young fans like Moin Younis in much brighter spirits.

He's gone stale in recent times and for someone who was once so explosive and full of life, it's sad to see. Opinion is split on the terraces but Villa fans would love nothing more than to see him shine once again. Whether that will ever happen is another matter.