Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Heroes Discussion => Topic started by: richardhubbard on January 02, 2015, 04:07:06 PM
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I know Darren Bent past his best but surely his proved by scoring 2 in 5 goals for Brighton in a poor team his not completely finished
With a team that scored 11 goals in 20 odd games and Gabby/Andi having goal scoring ability of Heskey , surely that Lambert at his peak of proving how useless he is
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It doesn't matter, our problem is not taking chances, it's making chances.
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Lambert made a decision quite early on that Darren Bent just wasn't the type of player for him and even those of us who find fault with a lot of what he (Lambert) does, could eventually see where he was coming from.
Bent is all about movement in and around the six yard box (his finishing is actually a bit hit and miss) and unless he's in a team that makes lots of chances he will look a passenger a lot of the time like he has done with us since McLeish's season.
Derby is a great move for him, it's his last chance to flourish at a decent level and he has every chance. It doesn't make it a bad decision by Lambert to dismiss him so readily, just a bit frustrating for all concenred.
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He's scored something like 6 in his last 50 top flight appearances. Prolific he ain't. Ever since that injury at Wigan he's been a shadow of the player we signed. I'd rather play Robinson than Bent.
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I know Darren Bent past his best but surely his proved by scoring 2 in 5 goals for Brighton in a poor team his not completely finished
With a team that scored 11 goals in 20 odd games and Gabby/Andi having goal scoring ability of Heskey , surely that Lambert at his peak of proving how useless he is
2 in 4 actually. Also had a reasonable shout for a third goal which was disallowed. But Lambert prefers Agbonlahor who also doesn't move around and Weimann who does move around but why god only knows!
At least Bent can still get in the right positions to finish as he has proved at Brighton.
We should be giving Callum Robinson a chance to prove he is capable at this level. I think he could be.
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Has he gone to Leeds
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Has he gone to Leeds
Off to Derby.
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I think he's finished at Villa. Lately, he hasn't been particularly prolific anywhere he's been. At least Agbonlahor and Weimann generally work hard. If Bent isn't scoring, he isn't contributing. Of course there is the chance that he could rediscover the knack but a loss of pace coupled with an awful, sitter-missing, performance in his last full game against Leyton Orient suggest otherwise.
We're not in a position where we can afford to pick out-of-form players who contribute very little on the off-chance he suddenly starts to look like the player he was three years ago.
If Kozak isn't likely to be fit any time soon I'd sooner we switched to 4-4-2 with Agbonlahor, Weimann and Robinson competing for the spot alongside Benteke.
Or, failing that, sign another forward.
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Has he gone to Leeds
Off to Derby.
What a joke
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What a silly thread title. He's as lethal as Ivanho these days.
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Has he gone to Leeds
Off to Derby.
What a joke
He's no Beckford.
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I know Darren Bent past his best but surely his proved by scoring 2 in 5 goals for Brighton in a poor team his not completely finished
With a team that scored 11 goals in 20 odd games and Gabby/Andi having goal scoring ability of Heskey , surely that Lambert at his peak of proving how useless he is
2 in 4 actually.
2 in 5. Fulham, Derby, Millwall, Wolves and Reading.
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Has he gone to Leeds
Off to Derby.
What a joke
How is it a joke?
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Prolific a few years ago when he kept us up. He's not the same player now but no worse than Agbonlahor.
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Prolific a few years ago when he kept us up. He's not the same player now but no worse than Agbonlahor.
Actually he is now. Worse scoring rate over the last 45-50 games since his injury, despite Gabby playing wide and Bent playing through the middle.
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I'll be glad when he leaves for good. £70k a week for what?
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I think he's finished at Villa. Lately, he hasn't been particularly prolific anywhere he's been. At least Agbonlahor and Weimann generally work hard. If Bent isn't scoring, he isn't contributing. Of course there is the chance that he could rediscover the knack but a loss of pace coupled with an awful, sitter-missing, performance in his last full game against Leyton Orient suggest otherwise.
We're not in a position where we can afford to pick out-of-form players who contribute very little on the off-chance he suddenly starts to look like the player he was three years ago.
If Kozak isn't likely to be fit any time soon I'd sooner we switched to 4-4-2 with Agbonlahor, Weimann and Robinson competing for the spot alongside Benteke.
Or, failing that, sign another forward.
You actually believe Agbonlahor works hard? I really don't understand that thinking. Callum Robinson needs to be utilized and right now.
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An unnecessary thread.
As someone said if we were missing chance after chance than there is some merit in this but that is not the case and any how Bent is long past his best before date!
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I agree Aftab. As far as I am concerned Darren Bent can finish his career at Derby I just wish Agbonlahor would disappear as well.
Lets get the kids in. Kids have no fear of failure.
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What a silly thread title. He's as lethal as Ivanho these days.
Didn't he get the winner on his debut for Bolton last week?!
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What a silly thread title. He's as lethal as Ivanho these days.
Didn't he get the winner on his debut for Bolton last week?!
An equaliser I think. Either that or, the first goal.
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Imma start a thread on the scandal of an Irish international goalkeeper spending two and a half years on the bench.
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I'll be interested to see how he gets on under McLaren.I think Derby look a really good footballing team, and i would like McLaren as the next Villa manager tbh.
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Good luck to him. I still think he has it in him (if fit) at our level. I don't think Lambert's style is good for any players however.
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I'll be interested to see how he gets on under McLaren.I think Derby look a really good footballing team, and i would like McLaren as the next Villa manager tbh.
Me too but it was a very unpopular suggestion a while back!
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As this loan means we almost certainly won't see Bent in a Villa shirt again i'd like to wish him well and thank him for helping keep us up 2 years running. The great "if only" of recent times. If only we'd bought Bent instead of Heskey.
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What a silly thread title. He's as lethal as Ivanho these days.
Didn't he get the winner on his debut for Bolton last week?!
He also got the winner for us on his debut, I think?
Do you fancy us resigning Emile then Risso? ;)
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Prolific a few years ago when he kept us up. He's not the same player now but no worse than Agbonlahor.
Actually he is now. Worse scoring rate over the last 45-50 games since his injury, despite Gabby playing wide and Bent playing through the middle.
That surprises me with the amount of starts each has had but ok i'll take your word for it.
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Has he gone to Leeds
Off to Derby.
What a joke
How is it a joke?
Well he's taken a £24m prolific striker , mismanaged him for years (see the Hutton files and others ) and now we can't buy a goal he's got a devalued , demotivated prolific striker who now is only available to loan to championship clubs .
The club is a shambles .
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Has he gone to Leeds
Off to Derby.
What a joke
How is it a joke?
Well he's taken a £24m prolific striker , mismanaged him for years (see the Hutton files and others ) and now we can't buy a goal he's got a devalued , demotivated prolific striker who now is only available to loan to championship clubs .
The club is a shambles .
I'd say this is more down to the player. Injury, form and attitude can't be blamed on Lambert.
Hutton on the other hand has taken his chance and used it.
Bent has been to other clubs and still is not the player he once was. Sad to say but true.
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As this loan means we almost certainly won't see Bent in a Villa shirt again i'd like to wish him well and thank him for helping keep us up 2 years running. The great "if only" of recent times. If only we'd bought Bent instead of Heskey.
Pretty much this.
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When did bent last start a league game for us ?
I recall the 2-2 at Wigan on Petrov day, one of his last starts surely ? He scores a beauty out of nothing .
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It would have suited everyone all round for Lambert to have sold Bent when he took over. People would have moaned, but if he's as past-it as people say then it would have ended up with his career fizzling out like it has anyway, right? We could have got £10mil for him from someone and would have saved us a fortune in wages. Who knows?!
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It would have suited everyone all round for Lambert to have sold Bent when he took over. People would have moaned, but if he's as past-it as people say then it would have ended up with his career fizzling out like it has anyway, right? We could have got £10mil for him from someone and would have saved us a fortune in wages. Who knows?!
"Hindsight United have never lost a match." (C) John Gregory.
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Really? I might start supporting them then.
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As others have said he hasn't been the same since the injury he sustained in the McLeish season away at Wigan.
There are plenty of issues and things to use to beat the club with at the moment but Darren Bent going to Derby on Loan isn't one of them.
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Has he gone to Leeds
Off to Derby.
What a joke
How is it a joke?
Well he's taken a £24m prolific striker , mismanaged him for years (see the Hutton files and others ) and now we can't buy a goal he's got a devalued , demotivated prolific striker who now is only available to loan to championship clubs .
The club is a shambles .
I'd say this is more down to the player. Injury, form and attitude can't be blamed on Lambert.
Hutton on the other hand has taken his chance and used it.
Bent has been to other clubs and still is not the player he once was. Sad to say but true.
When was the last time he's had a run in the team to prove himself though?
Then again he'd probably struggle as much as the other strikers do. We simply don't make enough chances.
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It would have suited everyone all round for Lambert to have sold Bent when he took over. People would have moaned, but if he's as past-it as people say then it would have ended up with his career fizzling out like it has anyway, right? We could have got £10mil for him from someone and would have saved us a fortune in wages. Who knows?!
"Hindsight United have never lost a match." (C) John Gregory.
Whatever, but it's a shame that one of the last times we've shown any ambition it ends up not working. Sums up the whole club recently. Total disappointment.
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Bent's last appearance for us was thoroughly abject. I'm glad we won't see him play again for us, largely because I wouldn't want an overriding last impression of him to be negative. Despite the last 3 seasons not going his way he kept us up in Houlliers season and likewise his early goals in the McLeish season pretty much played a key role in keeping us up then too. I think despite being the record signing and being our highest earner (you'd imagine) he's probably just about justified the outlay given he's kept us up in two seasons.
I wish him well at Derby. His legs have gone and a lot of his desire but Derby create lots of chances and play good football. He may just get a second wind, and may also get another shot in the Premiership with them next season, if they choose to do a permanent deal.
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It would have suited everyone all round for Lambert to have sold Bent when he took over. People would have moaned, but if he's as past-it as people say then it would have ended up with his career fizzling out like it has anyway, right? We could have got £10mil for him from someone and would have saved us a fortune in wages. Who knows?!
"Hindsight United have never lost a match." (C) John Gregory.
Whatever, but it's a shame that one of the last times we've shown any ambition it ends up not working. Sums up the whole club recently. Total disappointment.
When Lambert arrived Bent was still recovering from the injury that ended up ruining his career and I can't see any way in which that reflects badly on the Villa.
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Has he gone to Leeds
Off to Derby.
What a joke
How is it a joke?
Well he's taken a £24m prolific striker , mismanaged him for years (see the Hutton files and others ) and now we can't buy a goal he's got a devalued , demotivated prolific striker who now is only available to loan to championship clubs .
The club is a shambles .
You can hardly blame Lambert for the injury Bent had at Wigan before Lambert was even at the club. Since that injury he hasn't been anything like the player we signed. You may as well blame Fulham as well as he was shit there last season.
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It would have suited everyone all round for Lambert to have sold Bent when he took over. People would have moaned, but if he's as past-it as people say then it would have ended up with his career fizzling out like it has anyway, right? We could have got £10mil for him from someone and would have saved us a fortune in wages. Who knows?!
"Hindsight United have never lost a match." (C) John Gregory.
Whatever, but it's a shame that one of the last times we've shown any ambition it ends up not working. Sums up the whole club recently. Total disappointment.
I don't think it was about ambition. It was about getting us out trouble, and it did work.
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It's mismanagement on steroids. He didn't even have a squad number last season and had Jordan Bowery ahead of him just to rub salt in.
Pathetic.
So he scored on his last PL start for us ?
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It would have suited everyone all round for Lambert to have sold Bent when he took over. People would have moaned, but if he's as past-it as people say then it would have ended up with his career fizzling out like it has anyway, right? We could have got £10mil for him from someone and would have saved us a fortune in wages. Who knows?!
"Hindsight United have never lost a match." (C) John Gregory.
Whatever, but it's a shame that one of the last times we've shown any ambition it ends up not working. Sums up the whole club recently. Total disappointment.
When Lambert arrived Bent was still recovering from the injury that ended up ruining his career and I can't see any way in which that reflects badly on the Villa.
It would have suited everyone all round for Lambert to have sold Bent when he took over. People would have moaned, but if he's as past-it as people say then it would have ended up with his career fizzling out like it has anyway, right? We could have got £10mil for him from someone and would have saved us a fortune in wages. Who knows?!
"Hindsight United have never lost a match." (C) John Gregory.
Whatever, but it's a shame that one of the last times we've shown any ambition it ends up not working. Sums up the whole club recently. Total disappointment.
I don't think it was about ambition. It was about getting us out trouble, and it did work.
It worked a treat in the short term :)
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Bent hasn't done a thing in his sub appearences this season.
So people say, why not start him? Well we've seen countless times under Lambert and McLeish, in an uncreative team the bloke barely touches the ball.
Even on his debut v Man. City I think the stat was he touched it 23 times in a much better team than we had now but of course he scored the winner so it didn't matter.
He's finished at this level but we'll probablty see him back next season with Derby.
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Bent will do really well there if they can find a way to get him the ball and accept that the other 9 players will put in the extra shift to compensate for what Bent lacks. If all they need is a 6yd box finisher then this will work out well for all concerned. However he's not got any pace or jump so he'll rely mainly on his instincts to be successful.
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It's mismanagement on steroids. He didn't even have a squad number last season and had Jordan Bowery ahead of him just to rub salt in.
Pathetic.
So he scored on his last PL start for us ?
What he managed 18 months ago is irrelevant. It's what he can do now that matters. Which isn't much apart from waddle around looking for stray cream buns.
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It's mismanagement on steroids. He didn't even have a squad number last season and had Jordan Bowery ahead of him just to rub salt in.
Pathetic.
So he scored on his last PL start for us ?
What he managed 18 months ago is irrelevant. It's what he can do now that matters. Which isn't much apart from waddle around looking for stray cream buns.
Your opinion.
Can you confirm he scored on his last PL start ?
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What point are you making? That he is still PL standard? Because if he was then Brighton and Derby wouldn't have followed his previous loan spells that didn't work out.
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It's mismanagement on steroids. He didn't even have a squad number last season and had Jordan Bowery ahead of him just to rub salt in.
Pathetic.
So he scored on his last PL start for us ?
What he managed 18 months ago is irrelevant. It's what he can do now that matters. Which isn't much apart from waddle around looking for stray cream buns.
Your opinion.
Can you confirm he scored on his last PL start ?
No he didn't as his last PL starts were for Fulham. He did score in his last for us, which was nearly 20 months ago. Again, what he did 20 months ago is an irrelevance. Andi Weimann was scoring a fair few for us that season, doesn't mean shit now does it.
Can you confirm he looked shit in his last start for us against Leyton Orient? That he looked shit in his sub appearances for us? That he looked shit at Fulham last season?
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We have scored 11 in 23 competitive games. We need a proven striker who is capable of scoring the odd chance we actually create. Someone to help ease the burden of Benteke. We do create the odd chance and they are generally being missed by Gabby, Andi and even dare I say it a benteke who missed a sitter yesterday.
Is DB9 still PL standard ? Not sure ? Is he worth a go in our current state ? Yes . He is still a capable goalscorer as demonstrated at Brighton.
There's also a reason why arguably the best Championship side and manager have snapped him up.
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There's also a reason no one in the top flight wants him.
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He is no longer up to dealing with PL defenders so dropping down a level is his best chance of getting a few games.
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We have scored 11 in 23 competitive games. We need a proven striker who is capable of scoring the odd chance we actually create. Someone to help ease the burden of Benteke. We do create the odd chance and they are generally being missed by Gabby, Andi and even dare I say it a benteke who missed a sitter yesterday.
Is DB9 still PL standard ? Not sure ? Is he worth a go in our current state ? Yes . He is still a capable goalscorer as demonstrated at Brighton.
There's also a reason why arguably the best Championship side and manager have snapped him up.
He scored on his debut for Fulham as well, but that meant shit all for the rest of the season last season at the highest level. Tell me, do you want N'Zogbia* to start matches for us, after all, he has the potential to get a goal but won't do anything else for the team. That is what you get with Bent now. I expect he will score on his debut for Derby and have a little run at the start to get this argument going again and then will not do anything afterwards.
*(Talking of Charles, weren't you one of the ones questioning why Lambert wasn't playing him last season and saying he should do as he would create goals and get us scoring again?)
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It doesn't really matter now as we will never know. Still let's persevere with Andi and Gabby and see how it goes.
We go again.
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He was poor in the PL with Fulham last season and as others have said, what's the point having him here if we aren't making any chances, it would in fact make him look far worse than he actually is.
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I think he's finished at Villa. Lately, he hasn't been particularly prolific anywhere he's been. At least Agbonlahor and Weimann generally work hard. If Bent isn't scoring, he isn't contributing. Of course there is the chance that he could rediscover the knack but a loss of pace coupled with an awful, sitter-missing, performance in his last full game against Leyton Orient suggest otherwise.
We're not in a position where we can afford to pick out-of-form players who contribute very little on the off-chance he suddenly starts to look like the player he was three years ago.
If Kozak isn't likely to be fit any time soon I'd sooner we switched to 4-4-2 with Agbonlahor, Weimann and Robinson competing for the spot alongside Benteke.
Or, failing that, sign another forward.
You actually believe Agbonlahor works hard? I really don't understand that thinking. Callum Robinson needs to be utilized and right now.
Robinson can't be utilised right now because he's cup-tied. It's a shame because Blackpool would've been an ideal game to try him out (no doubt most Preston fans would want him to score too).
Gabby doesn't always work hard, but does occasionally. More so than Bent.
I'd rather just get a new bloke in though. Even it's just on loan.
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Please tell me - one of his staunchest defenders - what Bent has done in the past two years to make him worth keeping.
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Nothing. :) - we've done well to get rid to be honest. I didn't think anyone would take him - do we know how much of his wages Derby are paying. I wouldn't imagine it be 100%?
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Please tell me - one of his staunchest defenders - what Bent has done in the past two years to make him worth keeping.
Not defending him necessarily but how many chances has he been given in that time ? Has lambert handled him well ? I don't think so
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I wanted Bent to get another go, particularly after a fairly promising pre-season, but his performances this season have been dreadful. His last outing was awful to watch. It was like watching Apollo Creed staggering around the ring in Rocky 4, but Ivan Drago wasn't around to put Bent out of his misery. His legs were gone, he looked out of shape and more than anything he played with a look of deflated indifference. He didn't look like he cared at all. That could well be down to how he's been treated here, and I do think there has been more use we could have got out of him, particularly in Lamberks first season. Though his legs had gone he didn't look woefully out of shape on top of that. This season however he's just looked ready for the knackers yard. Having only just turned 30 too, that's quite a shame really.
His last goal for us was the best and worst of Bent. One chance against Wigan. Brilliantly taken. He then did nothing for the rest of the game. Trouble is too, he's not fit enough to start games at this level anymore, and he's never been great as an impact player really. It takes him too long to get into a game.
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Bent has always been a bit languid.
His first game for us - 1 goal not much else , 19 touches all game.
His last PL start for us - very similar - a goal and not much else.
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Please tell me - one of his staunchest defenders - what Bent has done in the past two years to make him worth keeping.
Not defending him necessarily but how many chances has he been given in that time ? Has lambert handled him well ? I don't think so
He made him Captain and started him in most early matches. However he then wasn't doing it after an initial goal scoring burst (sound familiar) and Benteke showed more up front, then injuries, poor form and potentially poor attitude in training meant his chances became limited. The goal you have so often quoted came when Benteke was suspended for the last match. It was the last decent contribution he did but for the other 89 minutes of that match he showed the same frustrating no show he had for most matches after the injury. He then had several managers at Fulham, none of whom rated him as guaranteed starter, even when they were struggling including the one who I assume signed off the loan.
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If Bent was so prolific & such a goal threat then why has he only been able to get a loan move to Brighton /& now Derby? Surely other PL teams would be queueing up to sign him.
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The situation now is comparable to McLeish's season given how horrible we are to watch.
Bent scored at a steady rate that year but he was a passenger in a lot of games as he offers little beyond the 6 yard box and we still weren't winning many games back then either.
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We only won 1 of the last 12 after Bent got injured. In fairness to McLeish, losing Bent and then Petrov a month later was a real loss.
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We only won 1 of the last 12 after Bent got injured. In fairness to McLeish, losing Bent and then Petrov a month later was a real loss.
I imagine if they'd stayed fit we'd have gone on to finish mid table , McLeish would still be here and Karl Henry would be captaining the side.
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Good signing for Derby, smart move for Bent - good luck to him.
Hopefully it frees up wages we can use to make signings. We need them.
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Prolific a few years ago when he kept us up. He's not the same player now but no worse than Agbonlahor.
Actually he is now. Worse scoring rate over the last 45-50 games since his injury, despite Gabby playing wide and Bent playing through the middle.
That surprises me with the amount of starts each has had but ok i'll take your word for it.
He has only made 61 appearances overall for us and hardly any of them have been in the last two years (and when he has played, it's usually been from the bench). He made 24 appearances for Fulham and I would guess at least half were as a substitute. So I severely doubt that the record being referred to here counts starts.
He isn't really the answer but he is an option. We didn't have a senior striker on the bench yesterday. But overall, I'm pretty ambivalent towards this one.
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It's mismanagement on steroids. He didn't even have a squad number last season and had Jordan Bowery ahead of him just to rub salt in.
Pathetic.
So he scored on his last PL start for us ?
What he managed 18 months ago is irrelevant. It's what he can do now that matters. Which isn't much apart from waddle around looking for stray cream buns.
Your opinion.
Can you confirm he scored on his last PL start ?
Kieran Richardson scored (what I think was his last goal) on Darren Bent's last Premier League start.
Didn't really help either of them though as they lost 4-1 to Stoke.
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This surely means we will sign a n other striker in January's window?
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This surely means we will sign a n other striker in January's window?
We've been linked with a loan move for Sanogo of Arsenal.
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This surely means we will sign a n other striker in January's window?
We've been linked with a loan move for Sanogo of Arsenal.
Don't know much about him but I'd take him.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/30657286
The former Charlton, Tottenham man has scored 25 goals in 72 appearances for Villa.
Thanks Darren and good luck.
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This surely means we will sign a n other striker in January's window?
We've been linked with a loan move for Sanogo of Arsenal.
Don't know much about him but I'd take him.
I've just looked him on the t'internet and it seems he's injured. So he'll fit right in!
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This surely means we will sign a n other striker in January's window?
We've been linked with a loan move for Sanogo of Arsenal.
Don't know much about him but I'd take him.
Why would you take him if you don't know much about him?
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This surely means we will sign a n other striker in January's window?
We've been linked with a loan move for Sanogo of Arsenal.
Don't know much about him but I'd take him.
Why would you take him if you don't know much about him?
Good enough for Wenger ?
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So was Francis Jeffers ;)
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So was Francis Jeffers. Djemba-Djemba was good enough for Ferguson to sign and so on. I know next to smeg all about Sanogo but I don't think signed for Arsenal automatically makes him good enough for us.
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Snap Dave S!
And jinx!!
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Snap Dave S!
And jinx!!
Just pulled up Jeffers stats 235 appearances 40 goals. 18 in 49 appearances for Everton.
Poor Wenger, no wonder he doesn't buy many English players
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So was Francis Jeffers ;)
Yep, I'd probably take him too at the moment .
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This surely means we will sign a n other striker in January's window?
We've been linked with a loan move for Sanogo of Arsenal.
Don't know much about him but I'd take him.
Why would you take him if you don't know much about him?
If he's got two legs he'll probably offer more than any of our strikers at the moment.
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This surely means we will sign a n other striker in January's window?
We've been linked with a loan move for Sanogo of Arsenal.
Don't know much about him but I'd take him.
Why would you take him if you don't know much about him?
Good enough for Wenger ?
It must be very peaceful living in such a straightforward world.
I assume you'd be just as happy signing Marouane Chamakh and Park Chu-Young to be our new attack then?
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This surely means we will sign a n other striker in January's window?
We've been linked with a loan move for Sanogo of Arsenal.
Don't know much about him but I'd take him.
Why would you take him if you don't know much about him?
If he's got two legs he'll probably offer more than any of our strikers at the moment.
Two legs, using all the budget then?
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Chamakh i would take on loan, don't know the other player unless you meant Jung Si Park ?
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don't know the other player unless you meant Jung Si Park ?
*sigh*
But Wenger signed him even if you've never heard of him. Surely he's worth bringing in for that reason alone?
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don't know the other player unless you meant Jung Si Park ?
*sigh*
But Wenger signed him even if you've never heard of him. Surely he's worth bringing in for that reason alone?
Is he a striker ? Or indeed a creative midfielder ?
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Yes. But it doesn't matter, because Wenger once signed him. Which apparently is enough to mean that we should.
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It's January. Pickings will be slim. Permanent signings will be massively inflated. We will need to take our chances with loanees and I'd prefer they were from the stable of Wenger or say Mourinhio or Pelligrini. Is that such a mad rationale.
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Is that such a mad rationale.
Yes, it's completely ridiculous to want to sign a player just because somebody else might have signed them once upon a time.
Besides, why don't we just bring Beckford in?
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So, we should be keeping a player because the judgement of managers a division down from us is that he'll work well for them, and we should sign loan players from the clubs at the top of our league who can't get a game, because their managers have signed them but don't want to play them.
I like it Baldrick.
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Is that such a mad rationale.
Yes, it's completely ridiculous to want to sign a player just because somebody else might have signed them once upon a time.
Besides, why don't we just bring Beckford in?
Well I'd like to hear your thoughts on who we should bring in bearing in mind the complexities and contrition that are represented in the January silly season window.
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The Darren Bent boat sailed a long time ago. I'd like to see us proactive now and get some forward business done asap.
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"Most prolific striker"
The man who, in his last 66 games has 14 goals, despite a good chunk of them being in the lower divisions.
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Our problem isn't even that we lack a decent striker, we don't, we've got a really good one.
Our problem is that we're utterly incapable of getting the ball to him in the right parts of the pitch. We could sign Aguero and it wouldn't change a thing if we didn't get him the ball.
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He kept us up and paid back the money we spent on him. I hope he does well at Derby. Its not going to work out with us though.
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He's gone to play second fiddle to the lead singer of Coldplay in the second division. As ridiculous thread titles go, this one is up there.
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Lambert dismissing him virtually as soon as he came in was one of his countless bad decisions. At that point, Bent's scoring record goals per game in a shit Villa team and having had injuries was very good.
I do feel that now Bent is no spring chicken in football terms and hasn't looked too interested or particularly good so far this season means that we are better with Benteke, Gabby, Kozak (once fit) and possiblly even Weimann so there would be no point trying to bring him back in now. Unfortunately its not going to happen for him here now, but i don't recall us wasting a talent more in my 25 villa supporting years. The only one that comes close for baffling ommisions from the Villa team is when we had Mustafa Hadji.
Lambert, you really are useless.
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That's the thing. Managed correctly we could of perhaps sold Bent for £10m 18 months ago.
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Lambert dismissing him virtually as soon as he came in was one of his countless bad decisions. At that point, Bent's scoring record goals per game in a shit Villa team and having had injuries was very good.
Didn't Lambert make him captain? From memory, Bent's goals dried up at that point as well.
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Lambert dismissing him virtually as soon as he came in was one of his countless bad decisions. At that point, Bent's scoring record goals per game in a shit Villa team and having had injuries was very good.
Didn't Lambert make him captain? From memory, Bent's goals dried up at that point as well.
He did , then there was a rumored bust up behind the scenes between the pair.
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This surely means we will sign a n other striker in January's window?
We've been linked with a loan move for Sanogo of Arsenal.
Don't know much about him but I'd take him.
Why would you take him if you don't know much about him?
Just to wind you up.
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Lambert dismissing him virtually as soon as he came in was one of his countless bad decisions. At that point, Bent's scoring record goals per game in a shit Villa team and having had injuries was very good.
Didn't Lambert make him captain? From memory, Bent's goals dried up at that point as well.
That's right making him a captain is really dismissing him as soon as he got here.
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That's the thing. Managed correctly we could of perhaps sold Bent for £10m 18 months ago.
That is true. The whole bomb squad fiasco has been a joke. Had we not made it so obvious that Bent was not wanted at all, we might have had someone come in and give us some money for him. Now he's going to leave for nothing. We've devalued certain players a lot, and ultimately for what? They've ended up back in the squad after an acknowledgement the whole plan had backfired. As rapid as Bent's decline has been, he could have probably been useful as opposed to getting bumped behind Bowery in the pecking order.
We also sent him out to Fulham completely unfit having ostracised him from first team training in pre-season. He never quite recovered from that. Psychologically to go from being record signing somewhere and top scorer in two (half) seasons to being left with the kids can't have done much for his confidence. Bent might be a busted flush now but Lambert has certainly left a few steamers in the bowl over the last 2 years.
I hope for Bent's sake he sucks it up and really has a go like Hutton has. It's too late for him here, but he could do well at Derby. Good luck to him.
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Lambert dismissing him virtually as soon as he came in was one of his countless bad decisions. At that point, Bent's scoring record goals per game in a shit Villa team and having had injuries was very good.
Didn't Lambert make him captain? From memory, Bent's goals dried up at that point as well.
That's right making him a captain is really dismissing him as soon as he got here.
We really struggled in Lamberts first half season. We created very little for Bent and it wasn't just him struggling to find the net. Much like now it was the whole team. Of course we then went and won at Anfield, in no small part thanks to Benteke absolutely ripping them apart. It then became abundantly clear we couldn't cater for a player like Bent, but needed to play around Benteke who can essentially do it all on his own if he has to. Like picking the ball up and just bulldozing his way through the Liverpool defence. Andi also began hitting some form at that point too.
Personally I'd have liked to have seen a little more of Bent and Benteke. I think Bent may have had a field day feeding off the scraps and that bit more space afforded to him with the Beast around. It always seem a case of one or the other at that time though. Never together.
Bent obviously was on his way down the hill, but I don't think Lambert necessarily should have put him in a trolley and pushed him down.
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Lambert hasn't mishandled Bent at all. His career ended at Wigan in March 2012, only somebody forgot to tell him he was done.
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Lambert hasn't mishandled Bent at all. His career ended at Wigan in March 2012, only somebody forgot to tell him he was done.
Hmm, not too sure about that. For starters, he was one of the bomb squad, which we've pretty much all agreed since was a properly bad idea.
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Lambert hasn't mishandled Bent at all.
Oh yes he has .
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Our issue isn't the lack of a striker, it's the lack of genuine chances created. So Bent going doesn't really matter. As far as he goes he did great to keep us up for a couple of years. It was a shame we didn't sign him when we still had ambition.
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Lambert hasn't mishandled Bent at all.
Oh yes he has .
Oh no he hasn't.
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Lambert hasn't mishandled Bent at all.
Oh yes he has .
Oh no he hasn't.
HES BEHIND YOU!
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Lambert dismissing him virtually as soon as he came in was one of his countless bad decisions. At that point, Bent's scoring record goals per game in a shit Villa team and having had injuries was very good.
Didn't Lambert make him captain? From memory, Bent's goals dried up at that point as well.
That's right making him a captain is really dismissing him as soon as he got here.
We really struggled in Lamberts first half season. We created very little for Bent and it wasn't just him struggling to find the net. Much like now it was the whole team. Of course we then went and won at Anfield, in no small part thanks to Benteke absolutely ripping them apart. It then became abundantly clear we couldn't cater for a player like Bent, but needed to play around Benteke who can essentially do it all on his own if he has to. Like picking the ball up and just bulldozing his way through the Liverpool defence. Andi also began hitting some form at that point too.
Personally I'd have liked to have seen a little more of Bent and Benteke. I think Bent may have had a field day feeding off the scraps and that bit more space afforded to him with the Beast around. It always seem a case of one or the other at that time though. Never together.
Bent obviously was on his way down the hill, but I don't think Lambert necessarily should have put him in a trolley and pushed him down.
They started together at Norwich in the League Cup, just before the Liverpool game. Bent missed an absolute sitter, clean through with nobody near him, he then pulled his hamstring with us a goal down. Weimann came on for him, and we subsequently played as well as I 've seen us under Lambert.
I and a few others that were there had made our minds up about Bent at that point, I think the manager did too.
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There was also the Bradford miss, I think it was at 1-0 when he went up for a totally free header about five yards out and pulled a muscle jumping.
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There was also the Bradford miss, I think it was at 1-0 when he went up for a totally free header about five yards out and pulled a muscle jumping.
Easily done .
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You don't have to look back even that far. He has played for us this season, quite a few times. He looked absolutely awful.
It is worth repeating this is a player who was so bad last season he made Fulham fans angry enough that they singled him out for abuse during games when he was playing for them. Fulham fans, how bad do you have to be to get Fulham fans to turn on you?
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There was also the Bradford miss, I think it was at 1-0 when he went up for a totally free header about five yards out and pulled a muscle jumping.
I have a vague recollection of this as the mind bleach is never 100% perfect.
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There was also the Bradford miss, I think it was at 1-0 when he went up for a totally free header about five yards out and pulled a muscle jumping.
I have a vague recollection of this as the mind bleach is never 100% perfect.
Oh god I remember now, it was that bad I actually thought he'd done it on purpose. I don't get why he's recalled Robinson then given him no time whatsoever, Agbonlahor & Weimann have done nothing so why not introduce him slowly?
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We might as well let him go to Derby as it's clear Lambert either does not like him or rate him and won't play him. My issue is ,we are left woefully short of strikers. Benteke,struggling to score,Gabby and Wiemann who just don't score goals, Robinson,who clearly Lambert does not rate and a injured Kojak.To let Bent leave and not replace him is just stupid in my opinion
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Lambert hasn't mishandled Bent at all. His career ended at Wigan in March 2012, only somebody forgot to tell him he was done.
Hmm, not too sure about that. For starters, he was one of the bomb squad, which we've pretty much all agreed since was a properly bad idea.
He was played, he was rubbish, replaced, went on loan to Fulham the following season and was utter rubbish for them. Nobody was going to sign him because he was finished as a top flight player. That's not Lambert's fault, it's Wigan sharing their pitch with the shit version of rugby.
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We might as well let him go to Derby as it's clear Lambert either does not like him or rate him and won't play him. My issue is ,we are left woefully short of strikers. Benteke,struggling to score,Gabby and Wiemann who just don't score goals, Robinson,who clearly Lambert does not rate and a injured Kojak.To let Bent leave and not replace him is just stupid in my opinion
Stupid how? What is it that Bent offers? What have you seen him do in the top flight since his injury?
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We owe him a debt of gratitude for the goals he's scored but he's a busted flush at this level.
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We owe him a debt of gratitude for the goals he's scored but he's a busted flush at this level.
I wouldn't go as far as to say we owe Bent anything, he has trousered millions up millions for around 40 good games if that.
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We owe him a debt of gratitude for the goals he's scored but he's a busted flush at this level.
I wouldn't go as far as to say we owe Bent anything, he has trousered millions up millions for around 40 good games if that.
about £15mil in wages probably over the period from signing to leaving. Or somewhere near that figure?
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I think I got it right when I said we should sell him in the January window of the McLeish season and everyone said I was mental. We'd have got nearly all our money back and he's been shite ever since.
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Yep - you would have been right, Percy.
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I think I got it right when I said we should sell him in the January window of the McLeish season and everyone said I was mental. We'd have got nearly all our money back and he's been shite ever since.
I believe we disagreed over Bent the summer Lambert arrived, and it took me about three months to eat a massive humble pie.
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I think I got it right when I said we should sell him in the January window of the McLeish season and everyone said I was mental. We'd have got nearly all our money back and he's been shite ever since.
I believe we disagreed over Bent the summer Lambert arrived, and it took me about three months to eat a massive humble pie.
I think we've all had moments like that. Dorset Villan came up to me when I was selling the fanzine and accused me of running a hate campaign against Bent. (In the nicest possible way I hasten to add - Dorset Villan is a genuinely lovely bloke).
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You certainly did get that spot on Percy. I'd have argued against that call too, fair play.
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You certainly did get that spot on Percy. I'd have argued against that call too, fair play.
Cheers, I've got plenty wrong.
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I think I got it right when I said we should sell him in the January window of the McLeish season and everyone said I was mental. We'd have got nearly all our money back and he's been shite ever since.
I believe we disagreed over Bent the summer Lambert arrived, and it took me about three months to eat a massive humble pie.
I think we've all had moments like that. Dorset Villan came up to me when I was selling the fanzine and accused me of running a hate campaign against Bent. (In the nicest possible way I hasten to add - Dorset Villan is a genuinely lovely bloke).
Lambert can't get anything out of Bent another fail.
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Without wanting to go over the last how many pages, it would the seem the consensus is that this you can't blame the admittedly haphazard manager for this one as it seems clear to anyone with eyes that Darren Bent is shot.
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We went to Burton to see the reserves play Wolves in November(?) last year. Bent was playing and was absolutely f*cking awful. On his best form, he might have had four/five goals from the chances he had, including a penalty. On one occasion, the Villa lads were tip-tapping it in the box and a fan behind me shouted, "Shoot!" I replied, "Not you, Bent!!" it got a big laugh.
As we know, Bent contributes little aside from goals; now, even those appear to have dried up.
In a phrase, he appears to be finished at the top level at thirty.
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Who do we want?
Bent - or Gil ?
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Who do we want?
Bent - or Gil ?
Gil.
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I'd rather have Weimann, Gabby, Helenius, Heskey, Holt, Burke, an injured Kozak (you get the idea) than Bent.
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Bent was getting abuse today on R5 for not tracking back. Derby fans will have to get used to that.
I think he is just rich and couldn't give a shit. Shame when you're only 30. His goal scoring record is up there with the best but very few of the clubs fans he has played for will remember him fondly
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I was at Derby today.
Bent came on for the last twenty.
he touched the ball once!
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I think he is just rich and couldn't give a shit.
Maybe he'd be more motivated if he had a few more Blingmobiles nicked.
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Lazy, egotistical bastard with a victim complex. I'm with PeterWithesShin on this one.
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The fact that a sizeable minority of villa fans have still been calling for us to recall bent does make you wonder what game people have been watching for the last three years
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Saw a bit of the Derby game yesterday, he came on for the last 15 minutes and I really can't remember him touching the ball.
The bloke's a busted flush at most levels now.
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The fact that a sizeable minority of villa fans have still been calling for us to recall bent does make you wonder what game people have been watching for the last three years
I think it's just desperation at our pathetically weak goal threat.
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The fact that a sizeable minority of villa fans have still been calling for us to recall bent does make you wonder what game people have been watching for the last three years
Does it genuinely surprise you that fans would like to see a change up front considering we've scored just 11 goals in 22 league games?
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The fact that a sizeable minority of villa fans have still been calling for us to recall bent does make you wonder what game people have been watching for the last three years
Does it genuinely surprise you that fans would like to see a change up front considering we've scored just 11 goals in 22 league games?
Surely we want a change for the better though?
Ireland's not getting much game time either.
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The fact that a sizeable minority of villa fans have still been calling for us to recall bent does make you wonder what game people have been watching for the last three years
Does it genuinely surprise you that fans would like to see a change up front considering we've scored just 11 goals in 22 league games?
Surely we want a change for the better though?
Ireland's not getting much game time either.
Ireland's not our player.
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The fact that a sizeable minority of villa fans have still been calling for us to recall bent does make you wonder what game people have been watching for the last three years
Does it genuinely surprise you that fans would like to see a change up front considering we've scored just 11 goals in 22 league games?
Surely we want a change for the better though?
Ireland's not getting much game time either.
Ireland's not our player.
I know. I was just going along with the general thrust of getting crap players back.
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Bent only works when we're creating chances, he's not the type to win a game from creating his own goal (if that makes sense). Where as Benteke is the type to do that. Gabby & Weimann are awful though.
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This is all academic. Bent will never pull on a Villa shirt again.
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Paul Lambert has hit back at claims by Darren Bent he froze the striker out over a “personal” feud.
Striker Bent, 30, who cost Villa £24million in 2011, has not started a Premier League game for the club for 21 months.
Bent has been loaned out to top-flight Fulham last term and both Brighton and now Derby this season despite Villa struggling for goals.
But Villa boss Lambert responded: “I think Darren has got to be honest with himself. If you ask anyone here, or any of his team-mates, they’d tell you it’s nothing personal.
“I never stood in his way to go to any other club. The only clubs that came in for him were Championship clubs - not one Premier League club. That says a lot, so it was never personal.
“He went to Brighton for a month and never wanted to renew it. Went to Derby and never started a game.
“At Fulham, he never played a lot of games towards the tail end. Was it personal with me when he was at Fulham? It is what it is, but it was never personal.”
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This might be the only thing that I'm 100% behind Lambert on.
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Paul Lambert has hit back at claims by Darren Bent he froze the striker out over a “personal” feud.
Striker Bent, 30, who cost Villa £24million in 2011, has not started a Premier League game for the club for 21 months.
Bent has been loaned out to top-flight Fulham last term and both Brighton and now Derby this season despite Villa struggling for goals.
But Villa boss Lambert responded: “I think Darren has got to be honest with himself. If you ask anyone here, or any of his team-mates, they’d tell you it’s nothing personal.
“I never stood in his way to go to any other club. The only clubs that came in for him were Championship clubs - not one Premier League club. That says a lot, so it was never personal.
“He went to Brighton for a month and never wanted to renew it. Went to Derby and never started a game.
“At Fulham, he never played a lot of games towards the tail end. Was it personal with me when he was at Fulham? It is what it is, but it was never personal.”
*shudder*
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Paul Lambert has hit back at claims by Darren Bent he froze the striker out over a “personal” feud.
Striker Bent, 30, who cost Villa £24million in 2011, has not started a Premier League game for the club for 21 months.
Bent has been loaned out to top-flight Fulham last term and both Brighton and now Derby this season despite Villa struggling for goals.
But Villa boss Lambert responded: “I think Darren has got to be honest with himself. If you ask anyone here, or any of his team-mates, they’d tell you it’s nothing personal.
“I never stood in his way to go to any other club. The only clubs that came in for him were Championship clubs - not one Premier League club. That says a lot, so it was never personal.
“He went to Brighton for a month and never wanted to renew it. Went to Derby and never started a game.
“At Fulham, he never played a lot of games towards the tail end. Was it personal with me when he was at Fulham? It is what it is, but it was never personal.”
*shudder*
But he made him captain?
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Paul Lambert has hit back at claims by Darren Bent he froze the striker out over a “personal” feud.
Striker Bent, 30, who cost Villa £24million in 2011, has not started a Premier League game for the club for 21 months.
Bent has been loaned out to top-flight Fulham last term and both Brighton and now Derby this season despite Villa struggling for goals.
But Villa boss Lambert responded: “I think Darren has got to be honest with himself. If you ask anyone here, or any of his team-mates, they’d tell you it’s nothing personal.
“I never stood in his way to go to any other club. The only clubs that came in for him were Championship clubs - not one Premier League club. That says a lot, so it was never personal.
“He went to Brighton for a month and never wanted to renew it. Went to Derby and never started a game.
“At Fulham, he never played a lot of games towards the tail end. Was it personal with me when he was at Fulham? It is what it is, but it was never personal.”
*shudder*
You could argue it's a bit of an unprofessional way to speak about someone who's still in effect a Villa player.
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I was delighted when we signed Bent, and i'll be delighted in a few months when he leaves.
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Saw a bit of the Derby game yesterday, he came on for the last 15 minutes and I really can't remember him touching the ball.
The bloke's a busted flush at most levels now.
He didn't do much in fifteen minutes but he scored two in five for a crap Brighton team just last month so it's a bit much to say he's finished altogether.
He should get his agent to tout him to teams in the US or Canada...didn't Randy bond with him over the NFL or something?
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Darren Bent is finished at PL level, but the manager has handled this so unprofesionally its unreal.
The reality is that Darren might have the last laugh if Derby replace us in the PL next season.
Yet another colossal cock up by the club.
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Darren Bent is finished at PL level, but the manager has handled this so unprofesionally its unreal.
The reality is that Darren might have the last laugh if Derby replace us in the PL next season.
Yet another colossal cock up by the club.
How so?
Lambert made him captain. He was contributing nothing on the pitch and so Lambert replaced him with someone better.
He couldn't get a game here so he got loaned to another club (where he was shit).
He came back into the reckoning this season, did ok in preseason, but whenever he came on contributed the sum total of fuck all. So now he's on loan again.
I'm not sure what Lambert could've done any different (short of playing a non-contributing player in a relegation battle on the off chance he might add a few million to his transfer value).
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Darren Bent is finished at PL level, but the manager has handled this so unprofesionally its unreal.
The reality is that Darren might have the last laugh if Derby replace us in the PL next season.
Yet another colossal cock up by the club.
How so?
Lambert made him captain. He was contributing nothing on the pitch and so Lambert replaced him with someone better.
He couldn't get a game here so he got loaned to another club (where he was shit).
He came back into the reckoning this season, did ok in preseason, but whenever he came on contributed the sum total of fuck all. So now he's on loan again.
I'm not sure what Lambert could've done any different (short of playing a non-contributing player in a relegation battle on the off chance he might add a few million to his transfer value).
But surely if you make someone captain then you stick with them for a time, not just take it off them after 2 or 3 games and then bomb the player out all together.
Lambert clearly sees what we all see in that Bent is not good enough for this league now. Yet we all can see the same for Agbonlahor, who doesn't work hard enough, yet he seems to have a free pass into the first 11.
The guy is a hypocrite.
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I'm with LTA on this. Gabby has been no less shite than Benty and yet has been deemed undropable and made captain.
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I was delighted when we signed Bent, and i'll be delighted in a few months when he leaves.
Substitute the words "Bent" for "Lambert" in the above sentence.
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But surely if you make someone captain then you stick with them for a time, not just take it off them after 2 or 3 games and then bomb the player out all together.
Lambert clearly sees what we all see in that Bent is not good enough for this league now. Yet we all can see the same for Agbonlahor, who doesn't work hard enough, yet he seems to have a free pass into the first 11.
The guy is a hypocrite.
He probably shouldn't have made him captain at all, but having done it, Lambert still couldn't very well leave him in the team when he wasn't really adding anything and we had a much better player ready to replace him.
I agree with you on Gabby not really being good enough, but the differences between the two are:
a) Gabby will occasionally put the effort into helping the team by tracking back etc and occasionally-when-he-can-be-bothered is better than the never-at-all that you'll get from Bent. Also, from Lambert's point of view, Gabby has sometimes put in good performances for him, whereas Bent really hasn't, even when given the opportunity.
b) Unlike Bent/Benteke, we don't have a significant upgrade/replacement on Gabby ready to fit right into the team (although hopefully Grealish will be that player eventually.)
Of course it's Lambert and Lerner's fault that we have to have the conversation about which of our useless players are slightly less useless than the others, but like I said, I don't think Lambert was massively in the wrong on this one.
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We, as a club, no longer have anything like the Player resources to be able to afford to let a proven goalscorer like Darren Bent fade into obscurity in the way we are, Lambert and the coaching staff will, i fear, have a lot to answer for when eventually DB writes his autobiography.
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We, as a club, no longer have anything like the Player resources to be able to afford to let a proven goalscorer like Darren Bent fade into obscurity in the way we are, Lambert and the coaching staff will, i fear, have a lot to answer for when eventually DB writes his autobiography.
Utter tosh. He was a busted flush following the injury against Wigan and has delivered the grand total of bugger all since. When are people going to accept the guy is finished at the highest level? I'd concede it could have been handled better but this constant whinging that Darren Bent would be some sort of saviour is frankly bizarre. Does anyone think we would actually be better with him in the team?!
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I get the feeling that after his injury Bent had lost his England place, lost his chance of playing at the World Cup, knew he was never going to get a Champions League club and couldn't be bothered to push himself anymore.
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Paul Lambert has hit back at claims by Darren Bent he froze the striker out over a “personal” feud.
Striker Bent, 30, who cost Villa £24million in 2011, has not started a Premier League game for the club for 21 months.
Bent has been loaned out to top-flight Fulham last term and both Brighton and now Derby this season despite Villa struggling for goals.
But Villa boss Lambert responded: “I think Darren has got to be honest with himself. If you ask anyone here, or any of his team-mates, they’d tell you it’s nothing personal.
“I never stood in his way to go to any other club. The only clubs that came in for him were Championship clubs - not one Premier League club. That says a lot, so it was never personal.
“He went to Brighton for a month and never wanted to renew it. Went to Derby and never started a game.
“At Fulham, he never played a lot of games towards the tail end. Was it personal with me when he was at Fulham? It is what it is, but it was never personal.”
*shudder*
You could argue it's a bit of an unprofessional way to speak about someone who's still in effect a Villa player.
Indeed it is. But I do basically agree that Bent is finished at the top level and wouldn't be much use to us.
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Reading between the lines, it looks like Lambert wasn't the one who initiated the unprofessionalism here.
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Reading between the lines, it looks like Lambert wasn't the one who initiated the unprofessionalism here.
The only crime Lambert has in the matter was making Bent captain then not bothering to tell him he was being replaced. It was rumoured Bent took it very badly and decided to ask for a transfer.. in October!
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Reading between the lines, it looks like Lambert wasn't the one who initiated the unprofessionalism here.
The only crime Lambert has in the matter was making Bent captain then not bothering to tell him he was being replaced. It was rumoured Bent took it very badly and decided to ask for a transfer.. in October!
Oh yeah, I had forgotten about that rumour. It does sum up Villa's luck over the past few years that when we did show ambition the player gets injured and never properly recovers (for whatever reason - I suspect Dave might be right). In a parallel world Bent continues to improve and moves to Man U for 45m (then gets injured).
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But he made him captain?
It could be argued that it was one of many bad errors Lambert has made at Villa, or you could argue that he made a mistake, realised it and quickly rectified it.
Bent does seem an odd choice though, whichever way you look at it.
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When Bent was carted off at Wigan, I said that was the last time we would ever see him play football for us again and I was right.
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When Bent was carted off at Wigan, I said that was the last time we would ever see him play football for us again and I was right.
This.
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When Bent was carted off at Wigan, I said that was the last time we would ever see him play football for us again and I was right.
It didn't take a genius to work that one out. He's on massive wages and Lerner wanted the biggest earners out of the club. In my opinion it's our wage policy that has plummeted us into decline over the last 5 seasons.
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When Bent was carted off at Wigan, I said that was the last time we would ever see him play football for us again and I was right.
It didn't take a genius to work that one out. He's on massive wages and Lerner wanted the biggest earners out of the club. In my opinion it's our wage policy that has plummeted us into decline over the last 5 seasons.
And the prior wage policy that helped us run up £100m worth of debt
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When Bent was carted off at Wigan, I said that was the last time we would ever see him play football for us again and I was right.
It didn't take a genius to work that one out. He's on massive wages and Lerner wanted the biggest earners out of the club. In my opinion it's our wage policy that has plummeted us into decline over the last 5 seasons.
I think the point was, a serious achilles injury at his age, when his game is based purely on movement and speed across the first 2 yards meant that he was finished as a player at this level.
At no point throughout all of his subsequent appearances has he looked remotely like the player who kept us up with his goals across two half seasons. That's got nothing to do with wages and everything to do with being physically FUBAR.
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When Bent was carted off at Wigan, I said that was the last time we would ever see him play football for us again and I was right.
It didn't take a genius to work that one out. He's on massive wages and Lerner wanted the biggest earners out of the club. In my opinion it's our wage policy that has plummeted us into decline over the last 5 seasons.
And the prior wage policy that helped us run up £100m worth of debt
Exactly. We couldn't keep that level of spending up.
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When Bent was carted off at Wigan, I said that was the last time we would ever see him play football for us again and I was right.
It didn't take a genius to work that one out. He's on massive wages and Lerner wanted the biggest earners out of the club. In my opinion it's our wage policy that has plummeted us into decline over the last 5 seasons.
And the prior wage policy that helped us run up £100m worth of debt
Exactly. We couldn't keep that level of spending up.
So we completely gave up.
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When Bent was carted off at Wigan, I said that was the last time we would ever see him play football for us again and I was right.
It didn't take a genius to work that one out. He's on massive wages and Lerner wanted the biggest earners out of the club. In my opinion it's our wage policy that has plummeted us into decline over the last 5 seasons.
And the prior wage policy that helped us run up £100m worth of debt
Exactly. We couldn't keep that level of spending up.
So we completely gave up.
No, we cut down the spending. If we'd have 'completely given up', we'd be in League One by now.
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When Bent was carted off at Wigan, I said that was the last time we would ever see him play football for us again and I was right.
It didn't take a genius to work that one out. He's on massive wages and Lerner wanted the biggest earners out of the club. In my opinion it's our wage policy that has plummeted us into decline over the last 5 seasons.
And the prior wage policy that helped us run up £100m worth of debt
Exactly. We couldn't keep that level of spending up.
Two wages policies that I doubt would have been in force had we had some people in place to help guide Lerner in his first venture in Football. The General and MON were not professionals in the running of sports clubs and Randy having come from a sports club should have known better than to come in blind.
What he is doing now, with Fox and looking in to putting an infrastructure at various levels inside the club is what he should have been doing from the word go. Man City, ok they are on a different level, but the Arabs didn't come in and just throw cash at them and see what happened. They poached different experienced guys from big clubs to sort them out. We had MON a true 90's man and General K who was nothing but soundbites.
I applaud the club for doing what they are doing now, but it shouldn't have taken this long and we wouldn't have been so shit had he bought the club and taken a serious look at running it rather than Lazily tossing cash at Martin O'spunkmillions and doing a few things to make the fans feel good.
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The only thing that I'm unsure about is whether he was of more value on our bench than farmed out.
What goes against him is, from what I could see, he was massively over weight in pre season.
I suppose its all irrelevant, he's done here.
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When Bent was carted off at Wigan, I said that was the last time we would ever see him play football for us again and I was right.
It didn't take a genius to work that one out. He's on massive wages and Lerner wanted the biggest earners out of the club. In my opinion it's our wage policy that has plummeted us into decline over the last 5 seasons.
And the prior wage policy that helped us run up £100m worth of debt
Exactly. We couldn't keep that level of spending up.
So we completely gave up.
No, we cut down the spending. If we'd have 'completely given up', we'd be in League One by now.
Oh I disagree. It takes a lot of effort to relegate a club as big as Aston Villa, but Lerner is getting us closer to it season by season.
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When Bent was carted off at Wigan, I said that was the last time we would ever see him play football for us again and I was right.
It didn't take a genius to work that one out. He's on massive wages and Lerner wanted the biggest earners out of the club. In my opinion it's our wage policy that has plummeted us into decline over the last 5 seasons.
And the prior wage policy that helped us run up £100m worth of debt
Exactly. We couldn't keep that level of spending up.
So we completely gave up.
No, we cut down the spending. If we'd have 'completely given up', we'd be in League One by now.
Oh I disagree. It takes a lot of effort to relegate a club as big as Aston Villa, but Lerner is getting us closer to it season by season.
I don't know. While they might not have the trophy cabinet we have, Newcastle are as big a club as us and people have managed to get them relegated without trying too hard.
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https://t.co/LWxVSZepaG
Well said Darren. Treated like dirt by Aston Villa and likely to have last laugh when Derby take our place in the PL next season.
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In hind shight Lambert (not for the first time) may have dropped a clanger on this one. Even given how good Benteke is he cannot do it all on his own. And considering how poor the other strikers have been we could do with Bent around right now.
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We had Bent around this season and he was shit.
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We had Bent around this season and he was shit.
He's barely played for us this season. I think his top flight days might be behind him, but he is still a natural finisher so given how desparate things we are right now then why not give him a go?
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Not sure how much difference Bent would make to us seeing as we don't create many chances anyway.
Mind you, I think he's entitled to have a pop back after what Lambert came out with last week.
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On the Beeb highlights, see the 1 on 1 he fluffs after his goal?
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The only thing that I'm unsure about is whether he was of more value on our bench than farmed out.
What goes against him is, from what I could see, he was massively over weight in pre season.
I suppose its all irrelevant, he's done here.
He was a diabolical sub to be fair, how many times did he score after coming on? West Brom winner but apart from that?
His last sub appearance was a disgrace and he was gone hours later
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Not sure how much difference Bent would make to us seeing as we don't create many chances anyway.
Mind you, I think he's entitled to have a pop back after what Lambert came out with last week.
Thats a good point. Just think it might be worth a go. Also Benteke is the sort who will hold the ball up and bring other players into the game so if he and Bent were up front together then maybe he could create chances for Bent who does make good runs.
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We had Bent around this season and he was shit.
He's barely played for us this season. I think his top flight days might be behind him, but he is still a natural finisher so given how desparate things we are right now then why not give him a go?
He's had it though, you said it yourself so why have him back?
Our main problem is creating enough chances anyway.
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We had Bent around this season and he was shit.
He's barely played for us this season. I think his top flight days might be behind him, but he is still a natural finisher so given how desparate things we are right now then why not give him a go?
He's had it though, you said it yourself so why have him back?
Our main problem is creating enough chances anyway.
I said he might have had it. But the point is its like Michael Owen during his twilight years, even if he was far off his best, you know that he still has that strikers instinct, and that it only takes a minute for snatch a goal which could win a tight game. I just think needs must. If it doesn't work out we haven't lost anything.
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Not sure how much difference Bent would make to us seeing as we don't create many chances anyway.
Mind you, I think he's entitled to have a pop back after what Lambert came out with last week.
Thats a good point. Just think it might be worth a go. Also Benteke is the sort who will hold the ball up and bring other players into the game so if he and Bent were up front together then maybe he could create chances for Bent who does make good runs.
With Gil here now, he might have possibly been worth persevering with. It looks like they've fallen out anyway.
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With them both having a pop in the media, it's all over so this thread might as well cease to exist.
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Chesterfield lost today :(. Darren Bent scored, but he easily could have had another 2 or 3.
The CFC support was magnificent. All 5,000 of them.
ALL the Spireite boys making ALL the noise.
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I saw Simon Dawkins hit the bar in the highlights. Another gem we let slip through our grasp.
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If it doesn't work out we haven't lost anything.
Well, if it doesn't work out we've lost the opportunity for a more effective player to be in the team in his place while it wasn't working out.
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If it doesn't work out we haven't lost anything.
Well, if it doesn't work out we've lost the opportunity for a more effective player to be in the team in his place while it wasn't working out.
No because between now and the end of the season we are not signing another striker anyway. I am talking about recalling Bent for that period not beyond.
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If it doesn't work out we haven't lost anything.
Well, if it doesn't work out we've lost the opportunity for a more effective player to be in the team in his place while it wasn't working out.
No because between now and the end of the season we are not signing another striker anyway. I am talking about recalling Bent for that period not beyond.
That doesn't change his point, though, does it?
If we recall Bent and use him between now and the end of the season, and it doesn't work out, that means we'll have had him occupying a place in the team whilst proving it isn't working out, when we could be playing someone else - someone who may do a decent job.
I'm glad for Bent seeing that he scored yesterday, but it is worth remembering, he was playing against Chesterfield. In his last appearances for us, and when he was on loan at Fulham, he looked utterly hopeless.
There'd be absolutely zero point in having him here till the end of the season. That horse has bolted.
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If it doesn't work out we haven't lost anything.
Well, if it doesn't work out we've lost the opportunity for a more effective player to be in the team in his place while it wasn't working out.
No because between now and the end of the season we are not signing another striker anyway. I am talking about recalling Bent for that period not beyond.
What do signings have to do with the price of fish?
If he's in the team then he is still taking up a space in the team that somebody else could be in.
So if he is wandering aimlessly round the pitch doing very little then we've lost the potential industry of a player who will do more than that.
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I was a big fan of Bent but he has hardly made Lambert look stupid for letting him go out on loan.
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I was a big fan of Bent but he has hardly made Lambert look stupid for letting him go out on loan.
One thing I'll say for Lambert is that when he signed Benteke and started playing him instead of Bent, the football establishment were all "what the hell is he doing? he's insane, Bent should be starting"
They were proved thoroughly wrong on that front.
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If it doesn't work out we haven't lost anything.
Well, if it doesn't work out we've lost the opportunity for a more effective player to be in the team in his place while it wasn't working out.
No because between now and the end of the season we are not signing another striker anyway. I am talking about recalling Bent for that period not beyond.
What do signings have to do with the price of fish?
If he's in the team then he is still taking up a space in the team that somebody else could be in.
So if he is wandering aimlessly round the pitch doing very little then we've lost the potential industry of a player who will do more than that.
But putting aside the fact that he scored today Weimann has been useless so far this season and so has Gabby. So I would like to know who it is at the club currently who you think would be better. Benteke needs support (even he is going through a dodgy spell) so I can think of worse ideas than giving him and Bent a few games together.
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4 goals, 2 assists for Weimann this season, plus all the donkey work of chasing defenders etc. I have no confidence at all that Bent would have contributed more, and he certainly isn't capable of the donkey work. I'd like better than Weimann, but that isn't Bent.
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So I would like to know who it is at the club currently who you think would be better.
Benteke central and in support two or three of Weimann, Gil, Grealish, pushing Delph further forward, pushing Bacuna further forward, Robinson...
All would be things I would go for over Bent at the moment.
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I can't see where the argument is, he barely has match time outside of this division, not many managers want him, he has struggled everywhere he's been since his injury so why would we play him?
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Well I have been one of Weimann's supporters actually. Agree he has not been good enough, but people forget that he is still a young player. Think is Bent is an old school striker the sort who you don't sign for the donkey's work. I think with things the way they are right now he might be worth a few games, but you disagree which is fair enough.
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So I would like to know who it is at the club currently who you think would be better.
Benteke central and in support two or three of Weimann, Gil, Grealish, pushing Delph further forward, pushing Bacuna further forward, Robinson...
All would be things I would go for over Bent at the moment.
Chances are I would too, but history says than Lambert just isn't going to go down that route. Maybe with Gil's performance today things might change, but of course we were only playing a championship side, he might revent back to type next week.
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So I would like to know who it is at the club currently who you think would be better.
Benteke central and in support two or three of Weimann, Gil, Grealish, pushing Delph further forward, pushing Bacuna further forward, Robinson...
All would be things I would go for over Bent at the moment.
Chances are I would too, but history says than Lambert just isn't going to go down that route. Maybe with Gil's performance today things might change, but of course we were only playing a championship side, he might revent back to type next week.
I think one thing that we can be pretty certain of is that Lambert isn't going to go down the route of playing Bent and Benteke as a partnership.
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Derby finished the game with an ex-Villa front three of Bent, Dawkins and Jamie Ward.
How low have we sunk, etc.?
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Went to yesterday's game, by the way, and Bent missed two good chances to go along with his two-yard goal.
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Well done Darren, another 2 goals tonight. Showing Lerner Fox and Lambert for the idiots they are.
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4 goals in 7 for Brighton and Derby in the Championship is quite impressive. 3 in 24 for Fulham in the PL less so. I think we have seen the best of him at the very top level and PL managers seem to agree.
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Out of the many things we can moan about at Villa, the departure of Darren Bent is not one of them.
I hope he enjoys a successful end to his career but his prem days are long gone
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Well done Darren, another 2 goals tonight. Showing Lerner Fox and Lambert for the idiots they are.
Ha! Relentless criticism. What next? Next time Joe Bennett whips in a cross we should burn the three at the stake? Should I look out for how Sylla's doing at the African Cup of Nations to find something else I can criticise them for?
Come on - there's plenty we can criticise Lerner and Lambert for (not sure why we're whacking Fox in there? Fun?), but this isn't one of them. The only time I've seen Bent for Villa in the last few years is him waddling on the pitch, standing round a bit and walking back off. Then he has the audacity to do the BMW (bitch, moan and whine) to the media that he isn't having the red carpet rolled out for him. Nice work if you can get it for £60,000 a week.
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Good to see some get so excited at a striker knocking the ball into the net twice from inside the six-yard box at the second-tier level.
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Last time Derby got promoted their leading scorer was Steve Howard with sixteen. The season after in the top flight he mnaged... one goal.
Moral is, don't get too excited about a bloke scoring in the second tier (and against a lower division club in the cup).
The truth is that even Bent at his best would struggle in our current line up as we need a player who creates chances for himself due to our not-very-creative midfield. A Bent that is well past his best and missed a hatful on his last full appearance against Leyton Orient is no use to us at all.
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We'd all be excited if he was scoring two yard tap ins for us. Instead, our stubborn managers pride has to get in the way. No doubt Lerner and Fox sanctioned the move and there's clearly no attempt made to mediate between the manager and player to sort this petty feud out (and it is a feud, no matter what Lambert tries to tell us otherwise).
Bottom line is Bent is a proven goal scorer. We are the lowest scorers in all 4 leagues. Aston Villa logic I guess.
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Bent's a proven goalscorer. So's Pele. Maybe sign him up? Pretty sure he'd keep us up.
(Sorry)
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Well done Darren, another 2 goals tonight. Showing Lerner Fox and Lambert for the idiots they are.
Is that Derby at the top of Serie A or Derby in the Championship?
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Bent's a proven goalscorer. So's Pele. Maybe sign him up? Pretty sure he'd keep us up.
(Sorry)
Come again?
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Who in their right mind seriously thinks that Bent should be starting for us? What on earth has he shown post Wigan 2012 that has convinced you of this? Was it is form with us or his form with Fulham? So what if he is scoring goals in the second division, it doesn't mean he is up to it in the top flight.
There are plenty of things to criticise the club on, but shipping Bent out clearly isn't one.
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Who in their right mind seriously thinks that Bent should be starting for us? What on earth has he shown post Wigan 2012 that has convinced you of this? Was it is form with us or his form with Fulham? So what if he is scoring goals in the second division, it doesn't mean he is up to it in the top flight.
There are plenty of things to criticise the club on, but shipping Bent out clearly isn't one.
We've scored 11 league goals going into February. Don't be surprised if some fans pick up the fact that one of our strikers is knocking in the goals at the top of the Championship.
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Bent's a proven goalscorer. So's Pele. Maybe sign him up? Pretty sure he'd keep us up.
(Sorry)
Come again?
Without wishing to put words into anyone's mouth, I think cdbullyweefan is saying that Bent is a spent force like Pele is.
And he's right. Bent scored twice in the Championship. It doesn't disguise from the fact that he's a bit shite in the Premier League nowadays. Even if Derby come up and he starts banging them in regularly in the top division (if you believe that, then get down the bookies - you'll be in for a treat come next May), he's still the ultimate square peg in a round hole for us. Fans picking up on the fact that he has scored a brace in the Championship may be understandable in our current predicament, but it smacks of desperation.
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Who in their right mind seriously thinks that Bent should be starting for us? What on earth has he shown post Wigan 2012 that has convinced you of this? Was it is form with us or his form with Fulham? So what if he is scoring goals in the second division, it doesn't mean he is up to it in the top flight.
There are plenty of things to criticise the club on, but shipping Bent out clearly isn't one.
We've scored 11 league goals going into February. Don't be surprised if some fans pick up the fact that one of our strikers is knocking in the goals at the top of the Championship.
Exactly. Plus the irritation of seeing Bent not get a chance, while Agbonlahor not only gets a free passage into the team, but also given the captaincy despite offering bugger all the the cause for months.
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Who in their right mind seriously thinks that Bent should be starting for us? What on earth has he shown post Wigan 2012 that has convinced you of this? Was it is form with us or his form with Fulham? So what if he is scoring goals in the second division, it doesn't mean he is up to it in the top flight.
There are plenty of things to criticise the club on, but shipping Bent out clearly isn't one.
We've scored 11 league goals going into February. Don't be surprised if some fans pick up the fact that one of our strikers is knocking in the goals at the top of the Championship.
Exactly. Plus the irritation of seeing Bent not get a chance, while Agbonlahor not only gets a free passage into the team, but also given the captaincy despite offering bugger all the the cause for months.
I think the "Is Gabby good enough" discussion is entirely separate to "will Bent score loads of goals in the premier league?"
Bent cant play with Benteke, Benteke is better and will play all available games. Bent is too expensive to be a non-playing sub hence loan him out.
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I agree that Gabby isn't pulling up any trees, but I think that we could say that about Weimann too. If all of our strikers were fit and ready to play, I'd only keep Kozak and Benteke in an ideal world. The rest need replacing ASAP.
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Who in their right mind seriously thinks that Bent should be starting for us? What on earth has he shown post Wigan 2012 that has convinced you of this? Was it is form with us or his form with Fulham? So what if he is scoring goals in the second division, it doesn't mean he is up to it in the top flight.
There are plenty of things to criticise the club on, but shipping Bent out clearly isn't one.
We've scored 11 league goals going into February. Don't be surprised if some fans pick up the fact that one of our strikers is knocking in the goals at the top of the Championship.
Exactly. Plus the irritation of seeing Bent not get a chance, while Agbonlahor not only gets a free passage into the team, but also given the captaincy despite offering bugger all the the cause for months.
Our problem isn't converting chances, it is creating them.
If we were supplying a plethora of balls into the box from out wide, then yes, Darren Bent would be worth considering, but the fact is, we are not, and we haven't for a long time.
I am as convinced as the next man of our tendency to mix up our arses and elbows in terms of the way the club is run, but the fact a striker who has been demonstrated pretty clearly to have been left behind by change in the Premier League is playing for a team at the top end of the second flight and has managed to score against a League One side and a mid table championship side isn't really worth wailing about.
Bent is a busted flush.
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Bent cant play with Benteke, Benteke is better and will play all available games. Bent is too expensive to be a non-playing sub hence loan him out.
Precisely.
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My point is Bent was a plan B, as he can score.
Yes he may be a spent force but
This season he scored 4 in 7 games in the division below . So off the bench he may have done a job
We don't use Callum Robinson as a plan B
Gabby looks a spent force with 7 in 41 games in 2 seasons
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I'd forgotten about Robinson. Yes, him. That's who I'd use instead of Bent.
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My point is Bent was a plan B, as he can score.
Yes he may be a spent force but
This season he scored 4 in 7 games in the division below . So off the bench he may have done a job
We don't use Callum Robinson as a plan B
Gabby looks a spent force with 7 in 41 games in 2 seasons
The simple counter argument is that in 7 subs appearances he's managed 1 shot, which suggest he wouldn't have 'done a job' from the bench, as he clearly didn't when given the chance.
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I hope we haven't dropped a major bollock here
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Don't worry, we haven't.
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I hope we haven't dropped a major bollock here
We have, and then we let it go on loan to Fulham and Derby.
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My point is Bent was a plan B, as he can score.
Yes he may be a spent force but
This season he scored 4 in 7 games in the division below . So off the bench he may have done a job
We don't use Callum Robinson as a plan B
Gabby looks a spent force with 7 in 41 games in 2 seasons
The simple counter argument is that in 7 subs appearances he's managed 1 shot, which suggest he wouldn't have 'done a job' from the bench, as he clearly didn't when given the chance.
That sums it up for me. In theory he is ideal to have on the bench as a plan B. In practice it has never worked.
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If Bent wasn't already a Villa player and we brought him in on loan now, people would be up in arms in a Grant Holt kind of way.
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Grant Holt, you say? Worth a sneaky bid?
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I have seen Bent play every home game since he signed for us. After that impressive first season he tailed off, and had plenty of chances to prove otherwise. He gambled less and got slower. And even on his good days he would miss more than he should have. It reminds me of the Richard Dunne scenario when he was injured. Every week he didn't play he got "better". Bent doesn't and wont fit into our team. Our gaffer is not a complete lunatic and knows he needs goals. If he thought Bent was going to supply them, he wouldn't have farmed him out.
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Grant Holt, you say? Worth a sneaky bid?
Thank god he's on the long term injury list.
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Bent cant play with Benteke, Benteke is better and will play all available games. Bent is too expensive to be a non-playing sub hence loan him out.
Precisely.
Why can't Bent play with Benteke? What does one striker being better than the other have to do with anything? Its about a partneship. Now I can't say for sure that the pairing would work, but that is because they have never been tried. And like I said before Bent coming back in would just be a short term, needs most thing. And like someone else said we could even just considering making him an impact sub option. Don't forget for whatever reason CB is not pulling up any trees right now.
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Grant Holt, you say? Worth a sneaky bid?
Thank god he's on the long term injury list.
Obesity?
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Do we still official still own Holt I'd completly lost track of him?
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With 31 in 68 league games, isn't Benteke our "most prolific striker"?
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With 31 in 68 league games, isn't Benteke our "most prolific striker"?
Yes and he also makes others play better. Not denaying how crucial he is. Just saying that he needs a bit of support.
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I thought so. Daft thread title.
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Why can't Bent play with Benteke? What does one striker being better than the other have to do with anything? Its about a partneship. Now I can't say for sure that the pairing would work, but that is because they have never been tried. And like I said before Bent coming back in would just be a short term, needs most thing. And like someone else said we could even just considering making him an impact sub option.
Bent and Benteke together was the partnership when Benteke first signed. It didn't seem to work, so we started on the front three that worked so well at the end of that season and now seems tired. But I don't see how something that didn't work two years ago is likely to be better at this point now that half of it is older, slower and larger.
And we've also tried Bent as an impact sub this season. And it didn't work.
Do we still official still own Holt I'd completly lost track of him?
We've never owned Holt.
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Why can't Bent play with Benteke? What does one striker being better than the other have to do with anything? Its about a partneship. Now I can't say for sure that the pairing would work, but that is because they have never been tried. And like I said before Bent coming back in would just be a short term, needs most thing. And like someone else said we could even just considering making him an impact sub option.
Bent and Benteke together was the partnership when Benteke first signed. It didn't seem to work, so we started on the front three that worked so well at the end of that season and now seems tired. But I don't see how something that didn't work two years ago is likely to be better at this point now that half of it is older, slower and larger.
And we've also tried Bent as an impact sub this season. And it didn't work.
Do we still official still own Holt I'd completly lost track of him?
We've never owned Holt.
Well maybe but I don't remember them starting that often together. I guess I would go with Weinmann along side Benteke or playing off him before Bent. Its just that I don't see Lambert going down that route exempt in the odd game.
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Why can't Bent play with Benteke? What does one striker being better than the other have to do with anything? Its about a partneship. Now I can't say for sure that the pairing would work, but that is because they have never been tried. And like I said before Bent coming back in would just be a short term, needs most thing. And like someone else said we could even just considering making him an impact sub option.
Bent and Benteke together was the partnership when Benteke first signed. It didn't seem to work, so we started on the front three that worked so well at the end of that season and now seems tired. But I don't see how something that didn't work two years ago is likely to be better at this point now that half of it is older, slower and larger.
And we've also tried Bent as an impact sub this season. And it didn't work.
Do we still official still own Holt I'd completly lost track of him?
We've never owned Holt.
The speed and bluntness of that official denial speaks volumes.
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Why can't Bent play with Benteke? What does one striker being better than the other have to do with anything? Its about a partneship. Now I can't say for sure that the pairing would work, but that is because they have never been tried. And like I said before Bent coming back in would just be a short term, needs most thing. And like someone else said we could even just considering making him an impact sub option.
Bent and Benteke together was the partnership when Benteke first signed. It didn't seem to work, so we started on the front three that worked so well at the end of that season and now seems tired. But I don't see how something that didn't work two years ago is likely to be better at this point now that half of it is older, slower and larger.
And we've also tried Bent as an impact sub this season. And it didn't work.
Do we still official still own Holt I'd completly lost track of him?
We've never owned Holt.
The speed and bluntness of that official denial speaks volumes.
Just what I was thinking! It just seems like a life time ago now and was such a pointless bit of biz than I just couldn't remember if we'd signed him and then decided to loan him out here, there, and everywhere, or if it was a loan all along...
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I believe that Huddersfield own him.
Or Wigan still own him and loaned him there.
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I believe that Huddersfield own him.
Or Wigan still own him and loaned him there.
Translation - He is up North somewhere.
Somewhere he can get pies easily and far enough away from us.
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I see the saviour himself stayed on the bench for Derby today.
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They did not need him today
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I believe that Huddersfield own him.
Or Wigan still own him and loaned him there.
He was on loan there. Nasty cruciate injury that required surgery so he's back at Wigan.
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I see the saviour himself stayed on the bench for Derby today.
3 in 2 games for Derby and he can't get a start says a lot about what he has become.
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I see the saviour himself stayed on the bench for Derby today.
3 in 2 games for Derby and he can't get a start says a lot about what he has become.
A goalscoring striker???
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Not sure what the terms of his loan at DC are, but given our lack of goals and the fact that he's scoring would you recall him?. New gaffer , New start etc??
UTV
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No
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No
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We can't.
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No
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We can't recall him. End of debate really. :)
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Did anyone see the goal he scored today, it rebounded of his knee and skanked in
He genuinly knew nothing about it
The best bit was he raised his hands and celebrated like Tardelli, as if it was all his own work
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Stupid move by Lambert. Shame he cannot be recalled as he would of been handy in the run in. He looks leaner and fitter at Derby .
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I haven't got too much of a problem with him being on loan, but we should have least have the option of calling him back if needed.
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Darren Bent wouldn't have scored in our side under Lambert - he needs chances, we don't create any.
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Darren Bent wouldn't have scored in our side under Lambert - he needs chances, we don't create any.
But under sherwood ? Error by Fox here not ensuring a recall option on Bent
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Darren Bent wouldn't have scored in our side under Lambert - he needs chances, we don't create any.
But under sherwood ? Error by Fox here not ensuring a recall option on Bent
I'd rather he tried to get the best out of Benteke. Shame we can't recall Bent but that's how it is.
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Darren Bent wouldn't have scored in our side under Lambert - he needs chances, we don't create any.
But under sherwood ? Error by Fox here not ensuring a recall option on Bent
I'd rather he tried to get the best out of Benteke. Shame we can't recall Bent but that's how it is.
I should imagine that it's common place on longer loans. Club A wants a player to go out on loan. Club B knows that club A doesn't want the player around the dressing room so club B is in a stronger negotiating position and says no recall option.
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Another bollock dropped by our esteemed board. Why wouldn't you put a clause in to allow you to recall someone on your own payroll?
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As we cannot recall him (due to someone at Villa Villa Park not thinking out of the box) this thread is completely pointless. All it does is give the Bent haters another chance to have a go at him.
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I don't think it was a bollocked dropped in not including a clause in the loan as you simply aren't allowed to recall loan players if the loan extends beyond a certain point of the season (January window maybe?). Besides we don't have space in the 25 man squad having bought Gil and loaned Sinclair.
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He's crap. No bollock has been dropped.
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He's crap. No bollock has been dropped.
No he is not!
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He's crap. No bollock has been dropped.
That's bollocks
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His recent record in the top division would suggest he's not as good as he was or as good as he thinks he is.
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I don't think it was a bollocked dropped in not including a clause in the loan as you simply aren't allowed to recall loan players if the loan extends beyond a certain point of the season (January window maybe?). Besides we don't have space in the 25 man squad having bought Gil and loaned Sinclair.
Christ, I had forgotten about Sinclair already! That should be on another thread.
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I'm not saying start him but he would be handy to have on the bench.
Our striking options are truly limited as it stands .
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His recent record in the top division would suggest he's not as good as he was or as good as he thinks he is.
Rather like Benteke?
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He's crap. No bollock has been dropped.
No he is not!
He's not crap but he is not the player he was and a few goals in the Championship, mostly from the bench, do not translate to being able to do it in the Premier League.
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I can see where you're coming from, but I think our strikers aren't great, but they're all underperforming. If Sherwood can get them playing a bit better and closer to their capabilities, we should be okay and can address it in the summer.
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His recent record in the top division would suggest he's not as good as he was or as good as he thinks he is.
Rather like Benteke?
Yes.
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I haven't got too much of a problem with him being on loan, but we should have least have the option of calling him back if needed.
I agree, but it wasn't really a loan was it? Lambert was showing bent the door.
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His recent record in the top division would suggest he's not as good as he was or as good as he thinks he is.
Rather like Benteke?
Well said. Hasn't done it for nearly two years now. Yes, there have been mitigating factors, but he looks to be playing with a sense of entitlement, which is a disgrace off the back of one good season.
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No I wouldn't and no we can't
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As we cannot recall him (due to someone at Villa Villa Park not thinking out of the box) this thread is completely pointless.
Nobody has a lower opinion of the competence of our board at the moment than me, but this isn't their foul.
Any loan longer then 28 days cannot have a recall option. S'in the FA rules, innit.
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DB is far from crap, and in an ideal situation I think it would be great to give him a go with a new start/style of football (hopefully a new style, anyway!).
Definitely a shame he's gone.
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DB's exile was emblematic of how estranged Lambert had become to the reality of our goalscoring woes.
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Yet he wouldn't have solved them. The issue was creating chances.
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How would Sherwood have been able to bring him in? Up front with Benteke in a 4-4-2? That system leaves you with enough gaps already, without having a player up front doing nothing but wait for the ball to come to him eight yards out.
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Why on earth would we? He's a busted flush that's scored a couple of goals in the league below. He's lazy, offers nothing else to the team and isn't worth it.
He was worth buying at the time though.
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As we cannot recall him (due to someone at Villa Villa Park not thinking out of the box) this thread is completely pointless.
Nobody has a lower opinion of the competence of our board at the moment than me, but this isn't their foul.
Any loan longer then 28 days cannot have a recall option. S'in the FA rules, innit.
I was about to mention this - it is quite common to see loans of a month because of this rule but I'm not sure how old the rule has been in place for, but it's a good rule. You can't have a player loaned out - potentially to another team in your division - who scores left right and centre against your rivals for someone else, and then you take them back for yourself.
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I'll be glad when he's off our books because then we can stop going round and round with this endless debate.
Some people think that as he's scoring goals then there should be a place for him in the team that famously cannot score goals. Fair enough.
To this I would reply that its a lot easier to score goals for (arguably) the best team in a weaker league than it is for one of the poorer teams in a tougher league. Also, we can't create chances - how is Bent going to help with chance creation?
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If Bent was still up to the job he'd still have the job. It's another case of the longer someone is out of the first team the better they become in many people's imagination.
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As we cannot recall him (due to someone at Villa Villa Park not thinking out of the box) this thread is completely pointless.
Nobody has a lower opinion of the competence of our board at the moment than me, but this isn't their foul.
Any loan longer then 28 days cannot have a recall option. S'in the FA rules, innit.
Will you stop letting the facts get in the way of a good whinge.
We've only had this debate about 5 times already. If the message hasn't got through by now, it's not going to.
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If Bent was still up to the job he'd still have the job. It's another case of the longer someone is out of the first team the better they become in many people's imagination.
I feel sorry for Bent. It's not like he's particularly done much wrong, but the way the game has evolved in the last few years has marginalised him.
I am glad he's doing OK at Derby County, but there has been ample proof of his inability to offer much in the top flight these days.
He just does one thing, which he does very well, but it's not a thing many PL clubs will pay the price (in terms of the rest of the team) for these days.
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If I could I would recall him. If we can get the likes of Gil, Sinclair, Bacuna making things happen then he might have had a few chances, but either way its going to be touch and go whether we stay up or not.
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He lost all motivation with us it also appeared suggested by his weight ballooning up. He looked simply awful on his last outing, like looking forward 10 years as he rolls out for a local Sunday league team or charity game. Glad he's doing well, but it's his level now. He'd be quickly nullified in the PL by much better and quicker defenders.
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Savage got that right...rubbish!
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Fellow Villains, i never meant to stir up the DB debate again just mearly asking the question! Everyone is entitled to an opinion, mine is based on fact, we cant score goals, he can given the opportunity. I believe that under Sherwood our midfield will do just that and give the guys up top chances to score. I'm not saying that he should start every game but having a goalscorer on the bench isnt a bad thing to have as an option surely? He's lazy yes but isnt CB??
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He's lazy yes but isnt CB??
At his best, no.
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Fellow Villains, i never meant to stir up the DB debate again just mearly asking the question! Everyone is entitled to an opinion, mine is based on fact, we cant score goals, he can given the opportunity. I believe that under Sherwood our midfield will do just that and give the guys up top chances to score. I'm not saying that he should start every game but having a goalscorer on the bench isnt a bad thing to have as an option surely? He's lazy yes but isnt CB??
But it still doesn't matter, as he's at Derby and will be staying at at Derby until his Villa contract expires.
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He's lazy yes but isnt CB??
At his best, no.
Correct. Can you imagine Bent scoring either of Benteke's league goals this season? It's a poor return admittedly but both were high quality strikes that were all his own work.
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Fellow Villains, i never meant to stir up the DB debate again just mearly asking the question! Everyone is entitled to an opinion, mine is based on fact, we cant score goals, he can given the opportunity. I believe that under Sherwood our midfield will do just that and give the guys up top chances to score. I'm not saying that he should start every game but having a goalscorer on the bench isnt a bad thing to have as an option surely? He's lazy yes but isnt CB??
Yours is based on a fact - we struggle to score goals - but that doesn't mean your mooted solution is factual.
We can't score goals because we don't create chances, not because we don't have a finisher.
Bent is doing ok in the championship, but there's a reason he's in the championship in the first place.
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Fellow Villains, i never meant to stir up the DB debate again just mearly asking the question! Everyone is entitled to an opinion, mine is based on fact, we cant score goals, he can given the opportunity. I believe that under Sherwood our midfield will do just that and give the guys up top chances to score. I'm not saying that he should start every game but having a goalscorer on the bench isnt a bad thing to have as an option surely? He's lazy yes but isnt CB??
Yours is based on a fact - we struggle to score goals - but that doesn't mean your mooted solution is factual.
We can't score goals because we don't create chances, not because we don't have a finisher.
Bent is doing ok in the championship, but there's a reason he's in the championship in the first place.
To be fair Bent looks to have improved out of all recognition in some of those clips, excellent movement to the front post for that goal. Something which seems beyond Benteke at the moment.
Tom Ince has failed at multiple clubs but looks a player reborn at Derby.
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There just seems something not quite right with Bent. He can perform, but I wonder if he fits in well with team members? Issues at Spurs, issues with us...?
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It's a shame Lambert made it a personal vendetta against bent.
We could do with him here , in the squad.
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It's a shame Lambert made it a personal vendetta against bent...
did he?
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It's a shame Lambert made it a personal vendetta against bent...
did he?
Well he went from club captain to not having a squad number.
Something has gone on.
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It's a shame Lambert made it a personal vendetta against bent...
did he?
Well he went from club captain to not having a squad number.
Something has gone on.
The chairman telling him to get him off the wage bill, I imagine.
That's not to say Lambert had a personal problem with him, though, let alone a vendetta. After all, Hutton was also in the same situation as Bent, and look at his rebirth.
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Out of interest, who would people drop to make space for Bent, and while we're at it, how would the chronic problem of lack of supply that we saw hinder him last time he played for us with any regularity be any better now?
It's all well and good looking the part in a team at the top end of the second flight, but it's another thing entirely in the premier league. Which is probably why Tom Ince looks the part, as well.
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It's a shame Lambert made it a personal vendetta against bent...
did he?
Well he went from club captain to not having a squad number.
Something has gone on.
Yes the employment of all high earners being dumped in the bomb squad.
Although Bent was given more of a chance than some of the other members.
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As much as I loved him and wanted him to be a Villa hero DB just didn't look arsed when he played in the last 2/3 seasons and I admit to having written him off because that's what he seemed to have done himself!
I console myself with the idea that we have moved on and he is no longer any part of our plans.
Whereas, Christian Benteke most definitely is!
UTV!
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It's a shame the Bent / Benteke partnership was never really tested. I can't think of many games they've started together ? Southampton away (1-4) was one, bent scored and then they both missed a few chances , on another day we'd have been 4-0 up in that game. As it was we capitulated after the misses and I don't recall them playing many more games together.
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It's a shame the Bent / Benteke partnership was never really tested. I can't think of many games they've started together ? Southampton away (1-4) was one, bent scored and then they both missed a few chances , on another day we'd have been 4-0 up in that game. As it was we capitulated after the misses and I don't recall them playing many more games together.
This was my thing with Lambert two seasons ago when we first got Benteke. At the time he was unproven and it took him a bit of time to adapt to the English league, and at the time Gabby and Weinmann weren't firing. Based on that Bent warrented at least a few games along side Benteke to see how their partneship would have worked and even some games on his own.
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It's all well and good looking the part in a team at the top end of the second flight, but it's another thing entirely in the premier league. Which is probably why Tom Ince looks the part, as well.
Hell, even Simon Dawkins doesn't look out of place in that team.
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The clamour for Bent amazes me. Got mate who watches Fulham every week and described him as completely finished in the modern game. He still looks a good stone overweight and is finding space atv the end of games against some very poor defenders. Around him the Dutch has intelligently put pace to create when he comes on. There is nothing to sugest he would get a chance a game let alone the six in ten minutes he is getting there.
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He's got a few tap ins in the championship
Is anyone clamouring for us to sign darryl Murphy or Chris Martin?
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All DB's goals have been four yards out or less.
Those are the only goals he can score now.
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All DB's goals have been four yards out or less.
Those are the only goals he can score now.
Thats a bad thing how? With the change in manager I wouldn't do it now anyway. With a bit luck Sherwood will be able to get more out of the likes of Benteke and Gabby, and will use more width to create chances and open up defences.
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So the only goals Bent can score now are from 3 or 4 yards . Jimmy Greaves spent a whole career doing just that. A player has to be there in the right place to tap them in,Bent has that knack,the likes of Gabby and Andi just dont
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All DB's goals have been four yards out or less.
Those are the only goals he can score now.
Sounds exactly what we need
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All DB's goals have been four yards out or less.
Those are the only goals he can score now.
Sounds exactly what we need
And yet, still something that we cannot do as he cannot be recalled from his loan and is then out of contract with us.
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Yes I appreciate that, just think with our goal scoring record it was stupid allowing him to leave . In my opinion he should be in our squad and sat on our bench today for example .
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Agree 100% with you Silhillvilla
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But the last few managers have been instructed by Randy to reduce the wage bill so with the high wages DB is on our not so illustrious owner will be happy that another club is paying part of his wages.
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But the last few managers have been instructed by Randy to reduce the wage bill so with the high wages DB is on our not so illustrious owner will be happy that another club is paying part of his wages.
Good point, but then because he is only on loan at Derby then doesn't that mean that we still pay his wages? Not sure how it works.
Think we should have recalled him after his spell at Brighton. The boat has sailed now and will not be returing to habor for quite sometime if at all.
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He won't play for us again yet we will still be paying a huge chunk of his wages til the summer when our record signing will walk on a free
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He won't play for us again yet we will still be paying a huge chunk of his wages til the summer when our record signing will walk on a free
I know it isn't great, but the clubs hands are a bit tied at this stage because of Bent's lack of form of recent seasons it would hard to presuade anyone of note to buy him straight out without a loan first. If his good form keeps up then I think he will stay at Derby next season.
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Can we get him back from Derby? He would be the type to gamble on those balls we played to the front post yesterday.
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Yes I appreciate that, just think with our goal scoring record it was stupid allowing him to leave . In my opinion he should be in our squad and sat on our bench today for example .
Spot on.
Someone above mentioned he only scores tap ins. Jesus, how we could do with some of that now. Still, if he's only Championship standard, he could do a job for us next season. No?
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You do realise that having a striker around who scores tap-ins doesn't necessarily mean that the rest of the team will suddenly gain the ability to create the tap-in opportunities necessary for him to be able to score, right?
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You make a good point there mate
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Can we get him back from Derby?
Fast becoming this year's 'Why didn't Barry take the penalty' question (the loan deal won't allow it).
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As has been asked before, which of our 'chances' yesterday would Bent have scored?
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Can we get him back from Derby?
Fast becoming this year's 'Why didn't Barry take the penalty' question (the loan deal won't allow it).
Thanks pal, I didn't know that.
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Yes, like others, I struggle to recall the plethora of six-yard box tap-ins that our Darren would have capitalised on last Saturday.
As for the comparison between DB and Jimmy Greaves, I have now really heard it all!!!
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Yes, like others, I struggle to recall the plethora of six-yard box tap-ins that our Darren would have capitalised on last Saturday.
As for the comparison between DB and Jimmy Greaves, I have now really heard it all!!!
They both played for Spurs, both owned sports shops and both drove rally cars.*
*I don't actually know if Darren Bent has ever owned a sports shop or driven in a rally but I wanted to 'flesh out' the comparison a bit more than just the Spurs link.
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Yes, like others, I struggle to recall the plethora of six-yard box tap-ins that our Darren would have capitalised on last Saturday.
As for the comparison between DB and Jimmy Greaves, I have now really heard it all!!!
They both played for Spurs, both owned sports shops and both drove rally cars.*
*I don't actually know if Darren Bent has ever owned a sports shop or driven in a rally but I wanted to 'flesh out' the comparison a bit more than just the Spurs link.
Is 'Benty' fond of the sauce at all?
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(http://images2.snapfish.com/232323232%7Ffp83232%3Euqcshlukaxroqdfv3%3A76%3A%3Enu%3D%3B4%3C5%3E455%3E243%3EWSNRCG%3D398372%3C%3A77334nu0mrj)
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Torygraph (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/aston-villa/11511234/Aston-Villa-outcast-Darren-Bent-in-talks-for-surprise-new-deal.html)
Aston Villa outcast Darren Bent in talks for surprise new deal
Exclusive interview: On-loan Derby County striker claims Villa were '100 per cent right' to sack Paul Lambert and eyes return, once he has won promotion for the Rams
By John Percy 12:02PM BST 02 Apr 2015
Darren Bent has revealed he has had talks over a surprise new deal with Aston Villa and insists the club were “100 per cent right” to sack Paul Lambert.
Bent is rebuilding his career on loan at Derby County and enjoying playing under Steve McClaren – Villa’s £24million record signing, who was exiled by Lambert for more than two seasons, had resigned himself to a sour end to his time at the club, with his contract expiring in June.
But Lambert’s dismissal in February, and the subsequent appointment of Tim Sherwood, has raised the remarkable prospect of Bent agreeing a new deal.
“There have been conversations with Villa regarding the future and I need to have a think about things in the summer,” he told Telegraph Sport.
“I’m not ruling out going back, just like I wouldn’t rule out staying at Derby because they have given me a lifeline to play football and score goals again. But yes, there’s been discussions [with Villa] and we will have to look at it.
“I had some great times there and I loved pulling on that shirt. I know they’re not quite out of trouble but it’s great to see them going the right way in the league and at a Wembley semi-final.
“A club that size should not have had the seasons we’ve had for the last couple of seasons. I enjoyed the first few years but Paul Lambert came in and it all changed, it all went downhill for me from there.
“He made those decisions but ultimately he’s not there any more and I think it was 100 per cent right, the best thing for the football club. I know Tim Sherwood from Tottenham, he’s an unbelievable motivator and it’s the perfect job for him. He’s got that spark about him and he’s what Villa needed at the time. Maybe I could go back, this summer I’ve got a decision to make.”
Bent was nicknamed ‘The Mailman’ by Villa chairman Randy Lerner during his first 18 months at the club – because he always delivered.
But Lambert’s arrival in June 2012 and the emergence of Christian Benteke sparked a downspiral in fortunes for a player who is in the elite club of having scored over 100 Premier League goals.
The support of his father, Mervyn, helped him through the difficult days. “During the whole Lambert thing I’ve never seen my dad so frustrated in his life. He said things I can’t repeat but he was low because I obviously was too. It was hard seeing him like that,” he said.
“He was there the day I signed for Villa, he’s been there all through my career from when I started training with the Ipswich first team at the age of 15.
“He was the one telling me I couldn’t sit at Villa and rot. I needed to get regular minutes and it was my dad who advised me to get out on loan to Brighton.
“In football you get forgotten very quickly, especially when you’re not playing. I got myself back out there at Brighton, then Derby came in and it was the right move.”
Bent, 31, has already scored seven goals since joining Derby on loan in January and will face Watford on Friday determined to revive McClaren’s hopes of automatic promotion. Mention the words ‘play-offs’ to Bent and he shudders, after suffering successive semi-final defeats at Ipswich, both to West Ham United.
Though Derby have endured an untimely wobble, enduring six games without a win, they are still only six points behind leaders Bournemouth. Bent insists McClaren is one of the best managers he has ever played under.
“He’s being linked with Sunderland and Newcastle and that shows you how good he is. Whether we get promoted or not, we’ll definitely be trying to hold on to him this summer. He’s up there with the best of them,” he said.
“I don’t think I’ve come across a manager, bar maybe Gérard Houllier, who is unbelievable at managing and coaching. Iain Dowie [at Charlton] was a great coach, Steve Bruce [at Sunderland] was a really good manager but he had Eric Black who was a brilliant coach. But Steve McClaren and Houllier, they are the best at doing both.
“He’s someone you can talk to. At Villa you couldn’t have conversations with Paul Lambert, a lot of the other guys felt the same. You’d go into his office and be twiddling your thumbs, whereas with someone like Steve McClaren you can have a rapport and talk to him. That’s half the battle.
“He’s given me a chance and deserves to be in the Premier League.”
This is Bent’s first experience of a nervy promotion attempt for 10 years, yet there is an added incentive within the Derby dressing room after last season’s shattering experience at Wembley.
Derby were broken by Bobby Zamora’s late winner for Queens Park Rangers in the play-off final, despite dominating the game.
“I watched that game and it must have been heartbreaking,” said Bent. “A couple of my friends are asking me what will happen if Derby don’t go up, but I’m not even thinking about that.
“The main thing is everyone is still positive and for me personally, it would be fantastic to get back into the Premier League. I’m always telling the younger lads like Will Hughes they won’t have experienced anything like it, I’d love them to play on that stage.
“When you’re doing well in the Premier League there is nothing better. It was only a couple of months ago we were five points clear at the top so there’s no alarm bells ringing. We’ve got seven cup finals
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He and Marcus Bent were very cooperative with my son when he was making the Ipswich youth side documentary, he sent a very nice card to my brother's funeral and he made a very generous donation to Ely Cathedral for being able to have his wedding there. I have known worse Villa players (as individuals that is).
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I'd be surprised if he got another deal but then again stranger things have happened.
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If we are going to play with two wingers then Bent might not be a bad bet to have around at the club. It would be as bizarre a turnaround as you could imagine. But then again what exactly is bizarre at Villa anymore?
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I like Darren and everything, but a new deal for a 31 year old striker? If he is really willing to take such a massive pay cut to play for us then fair play to him, but I suspect he will get a better deal and more playtime if he signs up for Derby.
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I wonder did we end up paying any of the add on on top of the initial 18 million?
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I think the only circumstances in which I would offer him a new deal is if we go down. As he's showing, he's perfectly decent at that level. Two year contract with a decent pay-rise in the second season if we've been promoted.
Even if he's only on £20k per week, I don't see what he really offers in the Premier League anymore, either starting or from the bench.
edit: I do agree with Brian though, he seems like a thoroughly decent guy. The right player, two years too late.
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I got the feeling if there had been a recall clause in his deal, Sherwood would've brought him back.
This new deal thing I wouldn't bother as I think he's finished at this level and probably would be best for him having a fresh start somewhere else.
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Some pretty plain speaking in that article.
No surprises, but fascinating to hear it from the horse's wotsit....
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I wonder did we end up paying any of the add on on top of the initial 18 million?
Given where we were in the table when he signed, I bet one of the add-ons would have been for staying up. I can't imagine any others would have been met though.
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was good, but supply is what he needs.
not with this Villa
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I got the feeling if there had been a recall clause in his deal, Sherwood would've brought him back.
No doubt in my mind. He's one that Sherwood will know and probably thinks he can get a lot more from. There's a lot of games where we should be able to play with 2 up top and there could be more with a better midfield. The determining factors could be whether Derby go up (and inevitably, whether we stay up) and on agreeing a new contract that reflects reality.
As for stranger things happening, I present exhibit A - Alan Hutton.
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Followed by N'Zogbia, Charles. If Sherwood can get him firing anything is possible I suppose.
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If we are not successful in staying where the money is Benty would be a very useful signing for us in the Championship for about one season if his wage demands come down a lot. If we stay up it depends on the new owners and possibly the new team management.
Long way to go yet.
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I can see him going to the MLS.
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I think Sherwood is clear sighted enough to want Bent as an option rather than label him as the solution. That said, I'd be amazed if he was offered a new deal. Should we stay up, I wouldn't have thought he'd start the rebuilding job with Darren Bent as the alternative to Benteke.
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Bent scores from the penalty spot to make it 1 - 1 v Watford
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and that's eight in thirteen for Benty.
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Hmmmm.
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Worth pointing out that of those 8, 2 were pens and one was when the ball hit him and went in and he knew smeg all about it. I wish him well but don't want him back.
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This is in case we go down, right? He can clearly do well in the second tier, but there's no real evidence that he can still play well at the top level.
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Missed a one on one late on. No left foot.
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Worth pointing out that of those 8, 2 were pens and one was when the ball hit him and went in and he knew smeg all about it. I wish him well but don't want him back.
Do they not count? 8 in 30 in the Championship isn't very impressive as it is, there's no need to dilute it.
I was a big fan of Bent's prior to him joining, for his first couple of seasons with us and then it was a shame after that. If Sherwood was of the opinion that he could get the Bent of a couple of years back, it would be worth trying and hoping it works out.
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Of course they count, but it's also valid that he's hardly a free scoring attacker when 2 were pens and the other hit him. Some are making out we are missing out by him not being here and i'm just pointing out his record at a lower level for a side near the top of the league.
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Its a good record though, caveats or not.
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Bent cannot influence was level his picked at , but his scoring goals and that counts
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Bent cannot influence was level his picked at , but his scoring goals and that counts
He could have i fluenced what level he was picked at if he had scored more goals in the Premier League. Then he wou
D still be getting picked at the PL
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I think his confidence has probably been on the floor for the last couple of years, when he has played its been for teams who are struggling, us, Fulham, Brighton etc. Since he's been at a team doing well, until their recent hiccup, he has shown some of his old form. Of course he's lost some of the pace he used to have but his instinct and knack for being in the right place is still there - by far his strongest asset, (I think his finishing isn't much better than just above average to be honest), but it is interesting to consider how a player can go from being written-off to someone worth re-evaluating once playing for a decent team doing well.
Gardner is not a too dissimilar case - struggled on-loan at struggling clubs, most people writing him off and saying how his serious injuries have finished any promise he had, then he goes to Forest who go on a fine run of which he's an integral part of and again we're all thinking how good he could be again.
If only all players with a question mark over them could get a loan spell at a high-flying team to give them the best chance of showing what they can do...though obviously its more impressive if they help that team's ascent, which in these two lad's cases, I think they have.
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I wonder if Tim is preparing for life in Championship without CB
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I wonder if Tim is preparing for life in Championship without CB
Yeah, he's probably written off the last seven matches of the season including two home matches against teams below us.
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Sometimes this place is beyond parody.
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Bent would have buried that chance Benteke fluffed when Weimann teed him up...
...just saying like...1-1 at that point and it may have been a different outcome (okay...probably not).
And he'd have done just as little as Benteke did too.
Not that I particularly miss Benty or anything.
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Bent might have had a decent game today, given we're only ever likely to be scrabbling for half chances up there. He did score for us when he first signed. Think we lost 3-1, actually.
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Bent wouldn't have made any difference today. It's our inability to control the midfield that kills us.
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Bent wouldn't have made any difference today. It's our inability to control the midfield that kills us.
If any of our midfielders could make a basic, simple, ten yard pass against a team like United, we might stand a chance.
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Bent wouldn't have made any difference today. It's our inability to control the midfield that kills us.
For too long we've had Delph and [insert sub standard partner(s)]
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Only having two midfielders in the middle didn't help. Neither did Gabby's total immobility up front. But sure, Bent probably wouldn't have made much difference today.
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No Benty wouldn't have made the slightest difference given the teams general performance today.
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Only having two midfielders in the middle didn't help. Neither did Gabby's total immobility up front. But sure, Bent probably wouldn't have made much difference today.
I get the impression that if Sherwood had a choice, we'd probably see very little of Sanchez and Westwood. I think Sanchez playing is needs must.
He obviously rates Delph and he seems to rate TC (and had got him performing much better). The other two are too slow off and on the ball. Carlos still gets caught on the ball far too often.
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Yeah I don't really see how strikers were the issue at the weekend either. We were just so sloppy in position at times and until we brought Cole on never looked like putting a decent ball in.
Will be interesting to see Bent's next move should Derby fail to get promotion. Since I am fairly sure we will stay up now then I don't see him returning to Villa anytime soon.
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Maybe we should pick up some of derbys midfield instead like will Hughes.
Bent will always score if you create for him as he knows where the nets
is , I wouldn't have minded him on the bench for the remaining games instead of weiman to be honest .
But the key obviously is to create those chances and stick the bugger in the net.
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Oh, wow. He scored twice as many goals against Blackpool as Benteke did. Here is a comprehensive list of the circumstances, ordered by likelihood, in which I will pay attention to the career of Darren Bent:
1) If he's playing against Aston Villa
2) If he's playing for Aston Villa
I don't know why people still care. You may as well be posting a Peter Crouch highlight reel.
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So, a penalty and a one-on-one where he was put through by one of their defenders. Hardly proof that he could do it against a higher standard of defending, is it?
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Oh, wow. He scored twice as many goals against Blackpool as Benteke did. Here is a comprehensive list of the circumstances, ordered by likelihood, in which I will pay attention to the career of Darren Bent:
1) If he's playing against Aston Villa
2) If he's playing for Aston Villa
I don't know why people still care. You may as well be posting a Peter Crouch highlight reel.
Indeed.
It is bewildering. He's gone, he is never going to come back.
He's scoring some goals in the championship, but so what? Totally irrelevant.
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Yeah I don't really see how strikers were the issue at the weekend either. We were just so sloppy in position at times and until we brought Cole on never looked like putting a decent ball in.
Will be interesting to see Bent's next move should Derby fail to get promotion. Since I am fairly sure we will stay up now then I don't see him returning to Villa anytime soon.
I'm sure a Premier League team will take a punt on him. Who knows, Tim Sherwood might think he could still get the best out of him.
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Just had a thought. A thought that some of you are not going to like at all. When exactly is Benty's contract up at Villa park? Derby,s last game is 2nd May and therefore from 3rd May he is once again our player,right?
The Cup Final is on 30th May, right
Wouldnt it be useful to have the on form Championship hot shot on our bench ready to come on in the last half hour if required? Benty is fit
and scoring goals. Sherwood knows him and apparently likes him. Lets lets face it he is more likely to score than Weimann.
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Just had a thought. A thought that some of you are not going to like at all. When exactly is Benty's contract up at Villa park? Derby,s last game is 2nd May and therefore from 3rd May he is once again our player,right?
The Cup Final is on 30th May, right
Wouldnt it be useful to have the on form Championship hot shot on our bench ready to come on in the last half hour if required? Benty is fit
and scoring goals. Sherwood knows him and apparently likes him. Lets lets face it he is more likely to score than Weimann.
Cup tied?
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Yeah, played two, scored two for Derby in the cup.
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Damnation and Hell. Would have been useful.
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Don't think that the cup-tie matters anyway:
53.2.3 A Player whose Standard Loan expires (or terminates) on completion of his Loaning Club’s League Matches will not be eligible to play for his Parent Club (where it is a Member Club) in any remaining League or Cup Matches in that Season notwithstanding the fact that he is a Registered Player of that Club and that such expiry or termination occurs during a Transfer Window.
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Plus the season finishes on 30th june and not when your club finishes playing their games. So, his loan would be until june 30th.
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Not even a congratulatory tweet off Darren. That's piss poor form.
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Dear Private Eye
I couldn't help noticing the similarity between Darren Bent going to Derby and them failing to reach the play offs. Are these two events related, I think we should be told.
Yours faithfully etc etc
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Not even a congratulatory tweet off Darren. That's piss poor form.
Probably more concerned about fucking up his current teammates promotion chances, which is more than fair enough to me.
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I was listening to the Derby game on their local radio earlier and one of the commentators said something along the lines of 'the loan players from the PL may have scored some good goals since they came here, but they never put in the effort to track back and defend or do any of the dirty work'.
Which is why I like Darren Bent, but don't miss having him one bit.
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All a bit unfair on Bent, he's gone there and done what was asked.
My Derby supporting brother-in-law said he's been very good - he blames the whole season collapse on mclaren fielding a weakened team in the fa cup
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Bent missing that penalty today meant I missed out on an acca worth £176. The bastard.
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All a bit unfair on Bent, he's gone there and done what was asked.
My Derby supporting brother-in-law said he's been very good - he blames the whole season collapse on mclaren fielding a weakened team in the fa cup
Perhaps you could point him in the direction of H&V, where it was established (mainly by me) years ago that Bent has this talent for scoring goals whilst at the same time making whoever he plays for into a worse team.
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Bent missing that penalty today meant I missed out on an acca worth £176. The bastard.
Whoops.
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All a bit unfair on Bent, he's gone there and done what was asked.
My Derby supporting brother-in-law said he's been very good - he blames the whole season collapse on mclaren fielding a weakened team in the fa cup
Perhaps you could point him in the direction of H&V, where it was established (mainly by me) years ago that Bent has this talent for scoring goals whilst at the same time making whoever he plays for into a worse team.
I agree with your analysis but there were a few others who made the same diagnosis. See also Michael Owen and Jermain Defoe.
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Bent missing that penalty today meant I missed out on an acca worth £176. The bastard.
I missed out a a juicy first goalscorer/correct score double during Euro 2000. It would have come in particularly handy at the time as it was a Friday, I was pretty skint and pay day wasn't until Monday. France 3 Denmark 1 I had. Last couple of minutes and it is 3-0 to France when Denmark get a penalty. My first goalscorer pick had already done the business for me. The game is already lost so there is no pressure and he just has to tuck in a consolation goal and I am quids in. The twat missed. I must be starting to get over it though as after years of slagging him off I have forgotten the players name.
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I missed out a a juicy first goalscorer/correct score double during Euro 2000. It would have come in particularly handy at the time as it was a Friday, I was pretty skint and pay day wasn't until Monday. France 3 Denmark 1 I had. Last couple of minutes and it is 3-0 to France when Denmark get a penalty. My first goalscorer pick had already done the business for me. The game is already lost so there is no pressure and he just has to tuck in a consolation goal and I am quids in. The twat missed. I must be starting to get over it though as after years of slagging him off I have forgotten the players name.
Former toon flop Jon Dahl Tomasson.
Denmark's record goalscorer as well.
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Bent missing that penalty today meant I missed out on an acca worth £176. The bastard.
I missed out a a juicy first goalscorer/correct score double during Euro 2000. It would have come in particularly handy at the time as it was a Friday, I was pretty skint and pay day wasn't until Monday. France 3 Denmark 1 I had. Last couple of minutes and it is 3-0 to France when Denmark get a penalty. My first goalscorer pick had already done the business for me. The game is already lost so there is no pressure and he just has to tuck in a consolation goal and I am quids in. The twat missed. I must be starting to get over it though as after years of slagging him off I have forgotten the players name.
Troels Hartmann
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Fair play to Darren Bent, 14 goals in 21 games this year in the championship with Brighton and Derby. You would have got long odds on that after his form for the 2 years previous to that. Might well have earned himself a move to a top division club in the summer but it wont be with us.
Ironically, McClaren rescued the careers of Bent and Tom Ince at the same time his side started to fall apart. Maybe the likes of Chris Martin offered more without the ball. But changing his side to bring the likes of Shotton and Warnock into the full back positions was crazy stuff.
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Bent and Ince did their jobs. McLaren and some of the other players didn't do theirs in the last three months. It was quite some fall - worse than Villa's top to sixth between Jan and spring '99 under Gregory.
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Fair play to Darren Bent, 14 goals in 21 games this year in the championship with Brighton and Derby. You would have got long odds on that after his form for the 2 years previous to that. Might well have earned himself a move to a top division club in the summer but it wont be with us.
Ironically, McClaren rescued the careers of Bent and Tom Ince at the same time his side started to fall apart. Maybe the likes of Chris Martin offered more without the ball. But changing his side to bring the likes of Shotton and Warnock into the full back positions was crazy stuff.
And yet they only won 7 of those 21 games.
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Fair play to Darren Bent, 14 goals in 21 games this year in the championship with Brighton and Derby. You would have got long odds on that after his form for the 2 years previous to that. Might well have earned himself a move to a top division club in the summer but it wont be with us.
Ironically, McClaren rescued the careers of Bent and Tom Ince at the same time his side started to fall apart. Maybe the likes of Chris Martin offered more without the ball. But changing his side to bring the likes of Shotton and Warnock into the full back positions was crazy stuff.
And yet they only won 7 of those 21 games.
ah the Darren Bent conundrum. He'll score goals given the perfect set up, but the rest of the side will be facing 11 players while Dazza waits for his chances to appear.
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Perhaps he found his level? Championship.
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Fair play to Darren Bent, 14 goals in 21 games this year in the championship with Brighton and Derby. You would have got long odds on that after his form for the 2 years previous to that. Might well have earned himself a move to a top division club in the summer but it wont be with us.
Ironically, McClaren rescued the careers of Bent and Tom Ince at the same time his side started to fall apart. Maybe the likes of Chris Martin offered more without the ball. But changing his side to bring the likes of Shotton and Warnock into the full back positions was crazy stuff.
And yet they only won 7 of those 21 games.
ah the Darren Bent conundrum. He'll score goals given the perfect set up, but the rest of the side will be facing 11 players while Dazza waits for his chances to appear.
Yes, the conundrum could not be better demonstrated than what has happened at Derby. Personally success for Bent but the team has possibly got worse.
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I wouldn't be surprised to see him pitch up at Smethwick.
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Fair play to Darren Bent, 14 goals in 21 games this year in the championship with Brighton and Derby. You would have got long odds on that after his form for the 2 years previous to that. Might well have earned himself a move to a top division club in the summer but it wont be with us.
Ironically, McClaren rescued the careers of Bent and Tom Ince at the same time his side started to fall apart. Maybe the likes of Chris Martin offered more without the ball. But changing his side to bring the likes of Shotton and Warnock into the full back positions was crazy stuff.
And yet they only won 7 of those 21 games.
Blame McLaren and Newcastle fluttering their eyelashes at 'im. You've never a nice word to say about Darren, not one!
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I've said plenty of good stuff about Bent in the past.
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Sorry. Wrong information.
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Just not since Lambert finished with him.
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I wouldn't be surprised to see him pitch up at Smethwick.
If they can sign Kanu and Anelka, Bent would be a positively forward thinking signing for them.
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Just not since Lambert finished with him.
So we're agreed that your previous post was totally incorrect.
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I wouldn't be surprised to see him pitch up at Smethwick.
If they can sign Kanu and Anelka, Bent would be a positively forward thinking signing for them.
No chance. They go for cheap young prolific goalscorers now. Ideye - 10 million, and 4 goals in 22. Anichebe - 6 million and 5 goals in 43. Only 26 and 27 years old so plenty of time to blossom into world beaters.
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Just not since Lambert finished with him.
So we're agreed that your previous post was totally incorrect.
I know you often like re-quoting yourself from old threads but I'm afraid I don't keep up with everything you post. My initial comment was a little flippant but also based on the recent discussion on Bent, i.e. this thread, where I don't recall you saying anything good about him.
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If you don't read everything I post maybe you shouldn't make a statement about things you have no idea if i've said or not.
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Ok, noted for the future.
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Birmingham Mail
Darren Bent is facing a summer of uncertainty after Aston Villa boss Tim Sherwood decided not to recall him to first-team training.
The striker’s loan deal at Derby County is over following the Rams’ failure to make the play-offs and now he must wait to see whether his deal at Villa Park will be extended beyond next month.
Talks have taken place previously and both Bent and Sherwood are likely to sit down at the end of the term to discuss the future.
But unlike fellow loanees Gary Gardner, Joe Bennett and Callum Robinson, the striker will not have the chance to impress the boss at Bodymoor Heath ahead of next season.
None of the above can feature for Villa again this term but Sherwood said:
“(Some of them) will come back before the end of the season.
“I know all about Darren so he’ll go on holiday (now).
“I don’t need him back, I can’t play him any way.
“These other boys I need to find out about, I need to assess them at close hands.
“I don’t need to know anything about Darren Bent.”
That could spell the end of Bent’s time at Villa in what has been a hit and miss move.
The record signing performed well for Gerard Houllier and became Lambert’s captain when he first arrived.
But the ex-England man was then frozen out by the Scot and forced to look for regular football elsewhere.
Sherwood has not yet ruled out the possibility of a contract extension after watching Bent bag 12 goals in 17 appearances for Derby but the possibility is starting to look less likely.
Any new deal would mean a significant cut on his current £70k-a-week wages.
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I'm still convinced he could play an important role this season. He must have some contacts for cup final tickets.
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Darren Bent and Enda Stevens have both been released by Villa.
Bent and Stevens are at the end of their claret and blue contracts and are now on free transfers.
Bent joined in January 2011 in a record-breaking deal from Sunderland.
He scored on his debut against Manchester City in an enthralling 1-0 victory at Villa Park.
Bent went on an inspired run of form at the beginning of his claret and blue career, including goals at the Emirates in a 2-0 win for Villa - and he also netted in games against Manchester United, Bolton and Everton to guide the club to a ninth-place finish.
He completed the term as joint top scorer with nine goals in 16 Barclays Premier League appearances, despite only joining in the New Year transfer window.
Even though he missed the last three months of the season due to injury, striker Bent still did well in the 2011-12 term.
He once again found himself at the top of the club's scoring charts, finishing the season with 10 in 25 appearances.
Bent didn't feature much under Paul Lambert - as the then boss brought in Christian Benteke, who generally partnered the likes of Gabby Agbonlahor and Andreas Weimann.
He spent the previous season on loan at both Brighton and Derby County.
In total, Bent scored 25 goals in 72 appearances.
Stevens joined Villa from Shamrock Rovers in January 2012.
The deal to sign Stevens was agreed back in August 2011, but the Republic of Ireland U21 starlet remained with the League of Ireland champions to participate in their Europa League campaign.
One of former manager Alex McLeish's first signings, Stevens collected nine appearances in total in claret and blue - including starting against Man Utd in November 2012 in the absence of Joe Bennett and Eric Lichaj.
During his time with us, he spent time on loan at Notts County, Doncaster and Northampton.
U21 players Graham Burke, Alfie Crooks, Craig Hill, Brad Lewis, Isaac Nehemie, Daniel O'Brien, Thomas Strain and Courtney Wildin have also been released alongside academy youngsters Dylan Forth, Harry Lewis and Ryan Strain.
Villa have offered a new contract to Ron Vlaar, whose previous deal expires at the end of this month.
Chris Herd, whose contract also expires at the end of this month, will be monitored during pre-season by Tim Sherwood after completing his injury rehabilitation over the summer.
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Cost us just over a million quid per goal for Bent then, wages excluded
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And saved us way more than his transfer fee by keeping us up 2 seasons running. I'm glad he's gone, but he goes with my best wishes.
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Best of luck Darren. Thanks for keeping us up in 2010/2011 and didn't deserve the disgraceful treatment you received in Lamberts reign of terror.
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(https://33.media.tumblr.com/0f33263a57c57985ff140ef174e07ad8/tumblr_inline_na64su40sz1qcdp2y.gif)
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didn't deserve the disgraceful treatment you received in Lamberts reign of terror.
Yep - like farming Bent out on loan and then getting Grant Holt in on loan? I'd almost forgotten how much of a useless twat Lambert really was
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didn't deserve the disgraceful treatment you received in Lamberts reign of terror.
Yep - like farming Bent out on loan and then getting Grant Holt in on loan? I'd almost forgotten how much of a useless twat Lambert really was
Was Bent a proper man though? You know, kind of broad at the shoulders and slim at the hips.
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I'd give him (bent) a season on a pay as you play deal, with bonuses for goals scored.
We'd see how 'young and hungry' he is then.
If he really backed himself to come good, then why not take it?
Not like arsenal, Chelsea, or, erm, Albion will come sniffing is it?
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didn't deserve the disgraceful treatment you received in Lamberts reign of terror.
Yep - like farming Bent out on loan and then getting Grant Holt in on loan? I'd almost forgotten how much of a useless twat Lambert really was
Was Bent a proper man though? You know, kind of broad at the shoulders and slim at the hips.
Weirdly, I always thought there was something slightly effete in Darren Bent.
Maybe his beard was a little too neat.
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He has now signed a permanent two year deal at Derby.
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Good luck in the future Darren.
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Benty great goal getter and was always doing alot behind. Scenes with villa when not in teamm and squad. Good community guy and one of the better professionals who knew. The score. Best wishes to him.
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Good luck Bent, always liked you
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Bye Darren
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Sentiment aside, this is sensible.
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"Darren Bent cost Aston Villa £27,000 per touch"
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/aston-villa/11659791/Revealed-Darren-Bent-cost-Aston-Villa-27000-per-touch.html (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/aston-villa/11659791/Revealed-Darren-Bent-cost-Aston-Villa-27000-per-touch.html)
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"Darren Bent cost Aston Villa £27,000 per touch"
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/aston-villa/11659791/Revealed-Darren-Bent-cost-Aston-Villa-27000-per-touch.html (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/football/teams/aston-villa/11659791/Revealed-Darren-Bent-cost-Aston-Villa-27000-per-touch.html)
Or £9 million per avoided relegation. The media never got over the fact that little Aston Villa could have given the money to St Martin.
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I suppose, in fairness, it's not like no other player on the planet could've kept us up for £18-£24 million.
His purchase looks poor value in hindsight.
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I suppose, in fairness, it's not like no other player on the planet could've kept us up for £18-£24 million.
His purchase looks poor value in hindsight.
They might have, but he did. It wasn't our fault, or his, that he got a career-ruining injury.
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I doubt there's many we could have signed that would have got 9 in 16 like he did when he first arrived.
Lambert could have handled him a lot better so as we got some money back, but there's no denying that signing Bent when we did was massively important. As far as i'm concerned he paid his fee and wages in playing a major role in keeping us up twice. We'd have probably gone under Houllier without him and take his goals away from the McLeish season and we'd have been comfortably relegated. After his injury at Wigan at the end of Feb we won one game and rarely scored.
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I suppose, in fairness, it's not like no other player on the planet could've kept us up for £18-£24 million.
His purchase looks poor value in hindsight.
They might have, but he did. It wasn't our fault, or his, that he got a career-ruining injury.
Yeah, that's true. I think the injury took away a lot of his pace which was a key attribute.
If we'd known, when he signed, what sort of football we'd attempt to play in the next few years we'd probably have been better spending the money on a more physical player, rather rhan a goal-poacher. That wasn't really Houllier's fault though.
He will go down as yet another "what if" Villa player though which is disappointing considering the outlay and what high hopes we had, especially after his first part-season for us.
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Has anyone done a breakdown of what Torres and Carroll cost the clubs who signed them at the same time?
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Most annoying thing about that article is the "Transfer window open in" countdown.
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Good luck at Pride Park Darren. You have handled yourself very well considering the way you have been treated. As a bloke the supporters liked you but the wages freed up are sorely needed by Tim Sherwood. Once again thank you for the goals you provided.
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Has anyone done a breakdown of what Torres and Carroll cost the clubs who signed them at the same time?
My main problem with this line of thinking is that it didn't matter as much for them because they didn't have the transfer-money tap turned off shortly after they signed them.
Carroll hasn't worked out? Fine, well we'll just spend £25m and buy Daniel Sturridge and Fabio Borini instead. And still get £16m of our money back when we sell Carroll on to some other bunch of mugs. Torres seems to be broken? Fine, well let's just get any number of other expensive shiny trinkets that might work instead.
Spending £18m on Bent was basically our last hurrah before the money started to be turned off - had we carried on spending money like we did under O'Neill over the few years just gone then I bet there wouldn't be as much made about the money that he cost us.
Without his goals in the Houllier/McLeish era we would almost certainly have gone down, so I agree that the signing wasn't a bad one. It was just an expensive one.
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Has anyone done a breakdown of what Torres and Carroll cost the clubs who signed them at the same time?
My main problem with this line of thinking is that it didn't matter as much for them because they didn't have the transfer-money tap turned off shortly after they signed them.
Carroll hasn't worked out? Fine, well we'll just spend £25m and buy Daniel Sturridge and Fabio Borini instead. And still get £16m of our money back when we sell Carroll on to some other bunch of mugs. Torres seems to be broken? Fine, well let's just get any number of other expensive shiny trinkets that might work instead.
Spending £18m on Bent was basically our last hurrah before the money started to be turned off - had we carried on spending money like we did under O'Neill over the few years just gone then I bet there wouldn't be as much made about the money that he cost us.
Without his goals in the Houllier/McLeish era we would almost certainly have gone down, so I agree that the signing wasn't a bad one. It was just an expensive one.
That's not the point I was making. From the minute Bent was signed the press decided that he was over-priced, yet at the same time two other players went for almost double and treble respectively what we paid for him, and between them they delivered a fraction for their new clubs of what Bent did for us.
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That's not the point I was making. From the minute Bent was signed the press decided that he was over-priced, yet at the same time two other players went for almost double and treble respectively what we paid for him, and between them they delivered a fraction for their new clubs of what Bent did for us.
But it's something that should be analysed in the context of what those clubs are spending. If a club has the resources to go out and spend £100m in one summer as both Liverpool and Chelsea do (and have), then writing off a stupid amount of money for their record signing isn't such a problem as it would be for a club about to go into half a decade of self-enforced austerity.
If I'm a footballer earning £50,000 per week and I write off my brand-new Ferrari then it's going to have less of an impact on me than if I'm on £50,000 per year and I've just remortgaged my house in order to buy it.
As an aside, I do think that there has been quite a lot of comment in the press over the last few years about the money wasted on Carroll and Torres.
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That's not the point I was making. From the minute Bent was signed the press decided that he was over-priced, yet at the same time two other players went for almost double and treble respectively what we paid for him, and between them they delivered a fraction for their new clubs of what Bent did for us.
But it's something that should be analysed in the context of what those clubs are spending. If a club has the resources to go out and spend £100m in one summer as both Liverpool and Chelsea do (and have), then writing off a stupid amount of money for their record signing isn't such a problem as it would be for a club about to go into half a decade of self-enforced austerity.
If I'm a footballer earning £50,000 per week and I write off my brand-new Ferrari then it's going to have less of an impact on me than if I'm on £50,000 per year and I've just remortgaged my house in order to buy it.
As an aside, I do think that there has been quite a lot of comment in the press over the last few years about the money wasted on Carroll and Torres.
Once again, it doesn't matter how well off Chelsea or Liverpool are. It wasn't being said then and it isn't being said now. Bent was called an over-priced panic buy. Carroll and Torres weren't. He did better for us than they did for their clubs. Neither of them got a "cost £x per touch" comment.
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Off instagram
Want to say thanks to Aston villa football club for allowing me to play for such a great club. Have had fantastic times playing for this great club. Thank you to there fans who have stuck by me through hard times. It has been a pleasure to play for you.
Thank you
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Torres and Carroll have both been regularly ridiculed for being over priced. Bent was praised as one of the signings of that season once he'd kept us up, was a regular for England etc
He is now the only one of the three not playing top flight football
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Off instagram
Want to say thanks to Aston villa football club for allowing me to play for such a great club. Have had fantastic times playing for this great club. Thank you to there fans who have stuck by me through hard times. It has been a pleasure to play for you.
Thank you
Nice of him. I think he still has something good to offer for Derby.
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Fun fact, only once in his career has Torres scored as many, or more, in a season than the 23 Benteke got for us in his first season. I only know that because this thread made me check what Torres was up to and I looked at his stats.
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Once again, it doesn't matter how well off Chelsea or Liverpool are. It wasn't being said then and it isn't being said now. Bent was called an over-priced panic buy. Carroll and Torres weren't.
Sorry, I just don't think that's correct.
I would wager a lot of money that more media articles and comment pieces have been written during the last four years about how Carroll and Torres were money wasted than pieces written about how Darren Bent was money wasted.
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Thanks for keeping us up DB9.
Worth every penny.
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Torres has pretty much become a figure of fun and took a real piss taking at Chelsea.
Bent's had a lot easier ride than either of those two.
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Off instagram
Want to say thanks to Aston villa football club for allowing me to play for such a great club. Have had fantastic times playing for this great club. Thank you to there fans who have stuck by me through hard times. It has been a pleasure to play for you.
Thank you
Nice of him. I think he still has something good to offer for Derby.
Best of luck Darren Bent! Thanks for the goals and for leaving in such a dignified manner. Pity some of our other players (who have been treated far better than DB was) don't have the respect for the club that DB has.
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Anybody any idea how much the transfer fee was in the end. From what was reported it seemed to start at £18m and with add-ons going up to £24m. Can't believe one of the add-ons was keeping us up and as we had no successes, possibly only his England appearances and total appearances for Villa would have attracted any increase on the initial fee.
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Anybody any idea how much the transfer fee was in the end. From what was reported it seemed to start at £18m and with add-ons going up to £24m. Can't believe one of the add-ons was keeping us up and as we had no successes, possibly only his England appearances and total appearances for Villa would have attracted any increase on the initial fee.
Someone (I think it was Risso but I might be wrong) pointed out years ago that virtually all the clauses on him had been paid by the end of McLeish's season (it's in the accounts, under liabilities I believe) so I guess it was avoid relelgation and score x goals as the main ones. Someone who is better at reading accounts than me could probably check the 10/11 and 11/12 accounts and confirm it.
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Our ever so friendly local paper the Meaning Evil's take on Darrent Bent. He cost us £568,000 per goal. Not, he saved Villa from certain relegation in at least one if not two seasons potentially costing them millions and years of relative oblivion.
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Our ever so friendly local paper the Meaning Evil's take on Darrent Bent. He cost us £568,000 per goal. Not, he saved Villa from certain relegation in at least one if not two seasons potentially costing them millions and years of relative oblivion.
Can't be bothered to find out the details or work it out but I would take a guess that we broke even on Bent if you balanced their argument with the money lost from being relegated (even if we had been promoted the year after, big 'if' though).
I wonder how much Zigic's goals cost the shower down the road. Even before adding the cost of relegation (which was mostly due to the goals he failed to score), I bet there is not much in it. Who signed him? D'oh, we went and employed him and ended up with long term drain on finances in N'Zogbia, Given and Hutton but that's a different story.