Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert denies rift with Darren Bent

[olaftab]

3 games as captain = zero goals
3 games as not captain = 2 goals
You work it out Darren!

[Ron Manager]

Darren should know how this manager works. After all he dropped Grant Holt a few times last season. He made the right decision this match
but both Agbonlahor and Benteke didnt over impress. Against Spurs it will be Bent and Agbonlahor.

[Phil from the upper holte]

I thought Agbonlahor was crap yesterday as well

[damon loves JT]

I get the feeling that Bent is the kind of player who gets out of form and then just *waits* for things to go well for him. We don't have time for that.

[PeterWithesShin]

3 in 7 so far this season means i'd be starting with him. Maybe try him with Benteke and then we have the option to bring Gabby on for the last half hour or so.

[peter w]

The only thing i noticed  after he scored he seemed to be heading in Lamberts direction until he was stopped, by Holman.

I honestly think if the right offer comes in for him in January he will be gone.

And in Berlin in 81 Morley ran to the bench flicking v's at Saunders. Means feck all.

[JJ-AV]

The rift story was so predictable. After Wednesday it was apparent that Bent might miss out.

I love the way he's building a really competitive squad. He's shown with the Given and Bent decisions that everyone will have to fight for a place on merit. TSM, Houllier and MON all had their favourites.

[JJ-AV]

I think Bent and Gabby should get a go for the next two away games. I like Benteke but he's going to need time. Gabby needs games.

[olaftab]

I thought Agbonlahor was crap yesterday as well

WBA defended deep and when teams do that Agbonlahor is not much use to the team.

[darren woolley]

Bent will start against Spurs there's no problem.

[tomd2103]

Thought we missed Bent in the first half as we put some good balls into the box but had noone in there to get on the end of them.  When Bent came on, I was surprised that he kept pulling into wide areas, but thought he did well.  I would definitely go with Bent and Gabby against Spurs. 

[SoccerHQ]

Not sure he'll be here next season tbh, despite the goals I don't think he's Lambert's type of forward, Gabby and Benteke are imo so when Bruno the Belgain gets into a bit of form again I think we could see that combination and Bent on the bench again.

How long is left on his contract?

[Dave]

Signed a four and a half year deal. So just under three years left I suppose.

[ktvillan]

The media trying to generate a story if you ask me.    Lambert also seems to like to use all his squad, and adjust it according to the opposition.  There's a difference between rotation or tactical changes and being dropped, and I'd like to think this is why Bent was on the bench.   I hope this applies to Weimann too who looked our most lively forward in the first few games, was very unlucky not to have at least two goals, but is now assumed by some to be 4th in the pecking order.  He deserves more chances.

[SoccerHQ]

So contract up in summer 2015 then? As we've seen with our players in the last few seasons, 2 years is usually when things get twitchy if a player dosen't want to sign a new deal. I'm not convinced Bent would if we offered him a new deal in the next 6 months.