I've said this before and I'll say it again. Gohan to me, who is my favorite character, can be a scholar and it wouldn't matter as long as he still receives focus. There are plenty of ways for his character to be useful to the plot without being the strongest or being able to be the one that can defeat the major villain.
And really, I'm sort of satisfied with how much I got of him. I consider Gohan the main protagonist from the Saiyan arc to the Cell arc and a main character in the Buu arc and that's good enough for me. I'll always be able to rewatch DBZ, its movies and Kai anytime I want and have the Gohan that I really liked. I hate to tell these fans this, but sometimes you have to be satisfied with what you have and I certainly am.