Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Heroes Discussion => Topic started by: Rip Van We Go Again on July 20, 2011, 01:14:07 PM
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sportinglife.com
Aston Villa striker Darren Bent insists there are no hard feelings between him and his England team-mates who left the club this summer.
Wingers Ashley Young and Stewart Downing joined Manchester United and Liverpool respectively for a total of £35million, much to the disappointment of Villa fans.
However, Bent believes his international colleagues are entitled to move in search of major honours.
He said: "You're always going to be disappointed when you see players like Ashley and Stewart leave because they are top players, which is why the big clubs want them.
"But at the same time I wish them all the best and I hope they go on to achieve great things. Everyone wants to play in the top competition, which is the Champions League."
Bent, who moved to Villa Park from Sunderland in January, has backed the team's youth and fringe players to step up and fill the gaps created by the departures.
He said: "We've got top players that are still here and I'm sure they'll go on to do well as well, and we'll grow as a team.
"We've still got players here like Marc Albrighton who's coming through, Gabby (Agbonlahor), Nathan Delfouneso and Stephen Ireland's going to be like a new signing.
"So I'm sure this season will be better than last season."
Bent was speaking at the launch of Aston Villa's new home shirt, which is sponsored by Genting Casinos.
Hundreds of supporters turned out at Birmingham's Star City leisure complex to catch a glimpse of their heroes and Bent sees this as a sign that the animosity towards the appointment of former Birmingham boss Alex McLeish has well and truly abated.
"It shows by how many people are out there to support the players that the fans are behind Alex McLeish 100%," he said. "I think he's been fantastic.
"We haven't had too many sessions with him but he's brought a freshness to the place, told us what he expects of us and the lads are behind him 100%.
"It shows his character coming from Birmingham to Villa. The boys are behind him and we just can't wait to get going."
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Darren Bent = Happy Clapper
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and the pr spin excercise begins....
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and the pr spin excercise begins....
Yes, because it's absolutely disgraceful that a player should say he's happy or that the club should be positive. How dare they.
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Thank you Darren for a bit of positivity, please don't leave.
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Football is a simple game.
At its most simplest, you'd imagine that a man like McLiesh, given all his experience in the game, could fashion a defence capable of the fundamentals so lacking in last years un-cohesive displays.
You’d also expect that a player as good as N’Zogbia and one as good as crossing as Albrighton (the best in the league, bar none) would be able to supply enough quality into Bent for him to do what he does.
We have a top goalkeeper.
The elephant’s in the room is whether Ireland is sincere in his attitude. If so, then that most certainly is a plus. But the question remains about him and this can be expanded to Delph and Makoun. Can Fabian deliver on the high promise he has shown? Can Makoun become more attuned to the pace of the Premier league.
If the answer is yes, and I believe it to be so, then shy of a central nutcase to provide much needed steel, then Mr Bent is right.
The other elephant is the small squad, but then why change a habit?
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and the pr spin excercise begins....
Yes, because it's absolutely disgraceful that a player should say he's happy or that the club should be positive. How dare they.
i never said it was, or that they shouldnt...
it just appears to me that whenever there is what would appear to be some bad news, there is almost immediately a positive spin article put out to the media...
not saying that is necessarily a bad thing, merely commenting on the predictability of it all... and if its predictable, then that begs the question about its sincerity...
i hope that darren bent is right...
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Stephen Ireland's going to be like a new signing
I hope that is based on something Benty has seen at Bodymoor Heath that so far we have never seen at Villa Park.
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At its most simplest, you'd imagine that a man like McLiesh, given all his experience in the game, could fashion a defence capable of the fundamentals so lacking in last years un-cohesive displays.
But at what cost Ads?
Playing boring, sterile anti-football with 11 men behind the ball?
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Stephen Ireland's going to be like a new signing
I hope that is based on something Benty has seen at Bodymoor Heath that so far we have never seen at Villa Park.
I think he was referring to the fruitcake's multiple personality disorder.
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and the pr spin excercise begins....
Yes, because it's absolutely disgraceful that a player should say he's happy or that the club should be positive. How dare they.
i never said it was, or that they shouldnt...
it just appears to me that whenever there is what would appear to be some bad news, there is almost immediately a positive spin article put out to the media...
not saying that is necessarily a bad thing, merely commenting on the predictability of it all... and if its predictable, then that begs the question about its sincerity...
i hope that darren bent is right...
That's the point of a PR department.
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Everyone wants to play in the top competition, which is the Champions League."
Uh oh.....
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I also think McLeish will foster a greater sense of togetherness, which I think the personalities in our squad need.
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and the pr spin excercise begins....
Yes, because it's absolutely disgraceful that a player should say he's happy or that the club should be positive. How dare they.
i never said it was, or that they shouldnt...
it just appears to me that whenever there is what would appear to be some bad news, there is almost immediately a positive spin article put out to the media...
not saying that is necessarily a bad thing, merely commenting on the predictability of it all... and if its predictable, then that begs the question about its sincerity...
i hope that darren bent is right...
That's the point of a PR department.
so on the one hand when club doesn't do a good job with PR they get lambasted. Then when they send out something positive, they get lambasted. Oh, I see how it works...
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Everyone wants to play in the top competition, which is the Champions League."
Uh oh.....
Exactly what I thought.
He knows full well that he'll never make it with us.
A good season of around 20 goals and he'll be as good as gone, two minutes after McLeish and Fuckner announce he's not for sale at any price.
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and the pr spin excercise begins....
Yes, because it's absolutely disgraceful that a player should say he's happy or that the club should be positive. How dare they.
i never said it was, or that they shouldnt...
it just appears to me that whenever there is what would appear to be some bad news, there is almost immediately a positive spin article put out to the media...
not saying that is necessarily a bad thing, merely commenting on the predictability of it all... and if its predictable, then that begs the question about its sincerity...
i hope that darren bent is right...
That's the point of a PR department.
so on the one hand when club doesn't do a good job with PR they get lambasted. Then when they send out something positive, they get lambasted. Oh, I see how it works...
I think they fucked up with this PR.
Darren mentioning about everybody wanting to play in the Champions League was a bit dodgy.
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It's quite a mature statement, but clear that he's short term also if he has a 20 goal season.
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and the pr spin excercise begins....
Yes, because it's absolutely disgraceful that a player should say he's happy or that the club should be positive. How dare they.
i never said it was, or that they shouldnt...
it just appears to me that whenever there is what would appear to be some bad news, there is almost immediately a positive spin article put out to the media...
not saying that is necessarily a bad thing, merely commenting on the predictability of it all... and if its predictable, then that begs the question about its sincerity...
i hope that darren bent is right...
That's the point of a PR department.
so on the one hand when club doesn't do a good job with PR they get lambasted. Then when they send out something positive, they get lambasted. Oh, I see how it works...
I think they fucked up with this PR.
Darren mentioning about everybody wanting to play in the Champions League was a bit dodgy.
publicly or privately, every footballer on the planet wants to play at the top level in their profession. We shouldn't get so intimidated by it when they say it. Darren Bent could have angled for a move to clubs other than Sunderland and Villa after Spurs yet he's always seemed more comfortable playing outside of the spotlight. I'm sure if he kicked up a Downing style fuss he could have joined a CL contender last season, but he came to us or even this summer. He might want another kick at the can at some point, but the comment about the CL doesn't bother me. I would expect Albrighton, Clark, Makoun, Ireland etc etc, to all harbour the exact same ambitions.
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Carries about as much weight as Downing's comments last season. If Citeh/Arsenal/liverpool/chelsea/Mancs come calling in January, he'll be off
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Football is a simple game.
At its most simplest, you'd imagine that a man like McLiesh, given all his experience in the game, could fashion a defence capable of the fundamentals so lacking in last years un-cohesive displays.
Yes but he has typically done that by bringing in defenders that he would like. At Blues he saw something in Dann and Johnson and so he signed them. Here he has Warnock and Dullins foisted upon him due to his lack of financial backing. I have no doubt he can spot a good defender but he's not being asked to do that.
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That's the point of a PR department.
indeed, which is what i said originally...
so lets leave it at that...
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[it just appears to me that whenever there is what would appear to be some bad news, there is almost immediately a positive spin article put out to the media...
I wish we did get positive spins in the media .... all I've read in the last 3-4 weeks has been over-the-top negative stuff.
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Carries about as much weight as Downing's comments last season. If Citeh/Arsenal/liverpool/chelsea/Mancs come calling in January, he'll be off
On the plus side, if they do come calling in January, it will mean that Bent has had a cracking first half of the season and scored lots of goals. That will mean there's a strong chance that Villa will be in a good position. If Villa are in a good position then we could either persuade Bent to stay until the end of the season or at least get an And Carroll type sum for losing him.
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Ireland's going to be like a new signing
Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
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Everyone wants to play in the top competition, which is the Champions League."
Uh oh.....
its worrying but not that much so, no current top 6 side would want him maybe liverpool, so unless an offer from over seas arrives we're safe
que the why not argument, bent has been knocking around the prem for a decade and no top 4 club has ever shown interest due to his tendency to miss a total sitter, its ok doing it for us vs bburn in the league but doing it vs barca in the satanic cup(cl) semi would be to much of a risk, at least that how the top managers in the prem see it i hope
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I've never seen Torres or Rooney miss total sitters.
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I've never seen Torres or Rooney miss total sitters.
everyone does but the fact fergie and wenger have passed up on him 5 or 6 times tells you they dont want him, his names not fancy enough for man city, spurs ruined him once chelsea can sign anybody in the world so why buy bent? liverpool maybe after andy carol fall flat on his face, unless its a new challenger to break from the pack i cant see him moving to anyone in the prem unless we cock it up and get relegated with the exception of maybe liverpool
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Uh oh.....
Yeah that's what I thought. Best hope no clubs in the top four show any interest else we wont see him for dust.
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For Bent to leave it will ahve to be a top 4 club as no one else coudl afford him. Let's face it if he is to attract one fo them he needs to score 20+ next season in which case his value will be in the £40m bracket in terms of market value. Which for us means if we did sell it would give us a load of money to reinvest.
I'm accepting of our status for now and think we just have to make it work for us. If we keep selling players at a huge profit and reinvest then we aren;t going to struggle.
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Ah, "Every player wants to play in the champions league and I'm no different". The catch-all pre-cursor to a move to Manchester Utd, Manchester CIty, Arsenal, Chelsea or (if the money's good enough) Liverpool.
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I also hope Darren Bent is right.
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We have got top players here.
The problem is, two weeks ago, we had more top players here than we have now.
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We have got top players here.
The problem is, two weeks ago, we had more top players here than we have now.
To my mind we had 3 'top' players.
2 of them have fucked off.
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I really can't see Bent leaving unless it's to another top four side. In which case, he's impressing them, and will be doing that by scoring lots.
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I also think McLeish will foster a greater sense of togetherness, which I think the personalities in our squad need.
I agree, I think we'll have a strong spirit & more professionalism.
Everything that was lacking last season.
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Bottom line is he must look at what's happened since he joined and thought "this wasn't what was in the brochure." If he knocks 'em in next season i can't see us keeping him beyond next summer. If he doesn't knock them in, then we'll probably be in deep shite anyway.
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Everyone wants to play in the top competition, which is the Champions League."
Uh oh.....
Exactly what I thought.
He knows full well that he'll never make it with us.
A good season of around 20 goals and he'll be as good as gone, two minutes after McLeish and Fuckner announce he's not for sale at any price.
More than likely.
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The other elephant is the small squad, but then why change a habit?
I don't call a squad of 22 small for a club not involved in European football this season.
Whether the players in that 22 are good enough to be competitive is a different arguement.
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Football is a simple game.
At its most simplest, you'd imagine that a man like McLiesh, given all his experience in the game, could fashion a defence capable of the fundamentals so lacking in last years un-cohesive displays.
Yes but he has typically done that by bringing in defenders that he would like. At Blues he saw something in Dann and Johnson and so he signed them. Here he has Warnock and Dullins foisted upon him due to his lack of financial backing. I have no doubt he can spot a good defender but he's not being asked to do that.
Warnock, Dunne and Collins have proven they can defend.
I've seen them do it.
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I've seen Warnock, Dunne and Collins defend like a bunch of incompetent clowns.
I've seen them do it.
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I also think McLeish will foster a greater sense of togetherness, which I think the personalities in our squad need.
I agree, I think we'll have a strong spirit & more professionalism.
I've seen no evidence of this with Fucking Eck.
The night before the Spurs game, some of the Dog Shit players were apparently out on the lash.
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There are top players here! yea Shay Given, dont think he can play on the wing though.
Mcleish says there's only one more signing and then the players who have left will be replaced by players already at the club. The other signing looks like its Nzogbia, but will he want to come? Sunderland i think will get him.
Even so we need to hope that the first 11 stays fit/not suspended for 40+ games, if not we're in real trouble.