http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-sport/football/article-23915521-as-aston-villa-sink-their-pond-is-just-the-right-size-for-darren-bent.doProbably best not to read this if you want to avoid an embolism.Quote from: James Olley in the Evening StandardAs Aston Villa sink, their pond is just the right size for Darren BentSunderland may be reeling from Darren Bent's somewhat baffling decision to jump ship for Aston Villa but they can console themselves with the knowledge that the club have outgrown him.Bent's desire to exchange the high seas of the Stadium of Light for the troubled waters of Villa Park suggests that he simply relishes life as the big fish in a small pond.Such has been Sunderland's improvement that perhaps their rivers now run too deep. Bent moved to the north-east in August 2009 for a club record £10.5million and has scored a remarkable 32 goals in 58 Premier League appearances to date as the Black Cats progress under Steve Bruce.Bent was integral to that development and in the first part of the present campaign, he continued to carry the side's only consistent goalscoring threat.He stood out as the talisman of a side so reliant on his prowess to keep them afloat. No longer.Asamoah Gyan has made a hugely promising start to his Sunderland career - after usurping Bent as the club's most expensive asset - and the former Rennes striker appears well-equipped to thrive in English football.Sunderland's 3-0 victory at Chelsea earlier in the season was sensational in itself - the thought of achieving such a result without Bent would have been incomprehensible before Gyan arrived.Of course, Bruce envisaged Bent and Gyan tearing into opponents in tandem but their partnership failed to ignite, their movement did not complement each other and they played like strangers. Bruce would have hoped that understanding would have been developed over time but Bent removed that possibility when signing for Villa last night in a £24million deal after handing in a written transfer request following Sunday's 1-1 draw against Newcastle United.Bent thrives best when a team are built around him but Sunderland have grown to the extent they no longer need to rely on one weapon to attack - Gyan and the hugely promising Danny Welbeck, on loan from Manchester United, have added fresh dimensions to their play. Consequently, Bent has had to adapt as the team developed but he appeared unwilling or incapable of that adjustment.His career suggests the latter. Of his two seasons at Tottenham, the first was a huge disappointment and even though he finished the second as the club's top scorer with 17 goals in all competitions, Harry Redknapp remained unconvinced of his ability to settle into life as part of a pool of four rotated strikers that exist at nearly all the top sides.It is a harsh judgement of a player who has scored goals throughout his career but it is hugely questionable whether he can cut it at the highest level; perhaps the world's leading clubs agree given his sudden availability has not provoked a transfer scramble to rival Villa's huge offer.(Incidentally, a penny for Martin O'Neill's thoughts after leaving Villa over the summer due to a refusal to invest in the playing squad as owner Randy Lerner preached frugality over free spending).Similarly, his case to play for England remains unconvincing as although he could do little more in terms of scoring goals, it is debatable whether he has the versatility required to succeed at international level.Bent needs a side to be built around him - it was in such circumstances that he made his name at Charlton and Gerard Houllier should do the same at Villa in a 4-5-1 system with his new man in the limelight at the apex.In all likelihood, Bent will therefore thrive but that does not qualify the wisdom of the move from the player's perspective.A full explanation will no doubt emerge over the coming weeks - Bent reportedly asked to leave in the summer only to be talked round by Bruce and the club's hierarchy - but it is hard to believe his England credentials will be enhanced by trading a fight for Europe for a relegation dogfight.Villa are undeniably a bigger club in terms of their history but their present malaise cannot surely hold greater appeal to a player at a club enjoying such heights as Sunderland are at present.Cynics would argue the move is about money - Bent is thought to have doubled his wages to £80,000 a week (again, O'Neill must be lost for words) - while the striker has also moved to slightly warmer climes in the Midlands but it appears an odd time to have forced through a move based solely on salary and lifestyle.Despite protestations from Bruce that the striker let everyone down at the Stadium of Light by moving to Villa, the opportunity to double your money by selling is good business in anyone's book. At least in the two seasons he was at the club he scored more than 30 Premier League goals.Perhaps Bent lacks ambition. He turns 27 next month and enters the prime of his career with the probability that he has one more big move ahead of him after joining Villa.All indications suggest that won't be to a leading club and that seems something of a shame.But then, it is always harder to swim upstream.
As Aston Villa sink, their pond is just the right size for Darren BentSunderland may be reeling from Darren Bent's somewhat baffling decision to jump ship for Aston Villa but they can console themselves with the knowledge that the club have outgrown him.Bent's desire to exchange the high seas of the Stadium of Light for the troubled waters of Villa Park suggests that he simply relishes life as the big fish in a small pond.Such has been Sunderland's improvement that perhaps their rivers now run too deep. Bent moved to the north-east in August 2009 for a club record £10.5million and has scored a remarkable 32 goals in 58 Premier League appearances to date as the Black Cats progress under Steve Bruce.Bent was integral to that development and in the first part of the present campaign, he continued to carry the side's only consistent goalscoring threat.He stood out as the talisman of a side so reliant on his prowess to keep them afloat. No longer.Asamoah Gyan has made a hugely promising start to his Sunderland career - after usurping Bent as the club's most expensive asset - and the former Rennes striker appears well-equipped to thrive in English football.Sunderland's 3-0 victory at Chelsea earlier in the season was sensational in itself - the thought of achieving such a result without Bent would have been incomprehensible before Gyan arrived.Of course, Bruce envisaged Bent and Gyan tearing into opponents in tandem but their partnership failed to ignite, their movement did not complement each other and they played like strangers. Bruce would have hoped that understanding would have been developed over time but Bent removed that possibility when signing for Villa last night in a £24million deal after handing in a written transfer request following Sunday's 1-1 draw against Newcastle United.Bent thrives best when a team are built around him but Sunderland have grown to the extent they no longer need to rely on one weapon to attack - Gyan and the hugely promising Danny Welbeck, on loan from Manchester United, have added fresh dimensions to their play. Consequently, Bent has had to adapt as the team developed but he appeared unwilling or incapable of that adjustment.His career suggests the latter. Of his two seasons at Tottenham, the first was a huge disappointment and even though he finished the second as the club's top scorer with 17 goals in all competitions, Harry Redknapp remained unconvinced of his ability to settle into life as part of a pool of four rotated strikers that exist at nearly all the top sides.It is a harsh judgement of a player who has scored goals throughout his career but it is hugely questionable whether he can cut it at the highest level; perhaps the world's leading clubs agree given his sudden availability has not provoked a transfer scramble to rival Villa's huge offer.(Incidentally, a penny for Martin O'Neill's thoughts after leaving Villa over the summer due to a refusal to invest in the playing squad as owner Randy Lerner preached frugality over free spending).Similarly, his case to play for England remains unconvincing as although he could do little more in terms of scoring goals, it is debatable whether he has the versatility required to succeed at international level.Bent needs a side to be built around him - it was in such circumstances that he made his name at Charlton and Gerard Houllier should do the same at Villa in a 4-5-1 system with his new man in the limelight at the apex.In all likelihood, Bent will therefore thrive but that does not qualify the wisdom of the move from the player's perspective.A full explanation will no doubt emerge over the coming weeks - Bent reportedly asked to leave in the summer only to be talked round by Bruce and the club's hierarchy - but it is hard to believe his England credentials will be enhanced by trading a fight for Europe for a relegation dogfight.Villa are undeniably a bigger club in terms of their history but their present malaise cannot surely hold greater appeal to a player at a club enjoying such heights as Sunderland are at present.Cynics would argue the move is about money - Bent is thought to have doubled his wages to £80,000 a week (again, O'Neill must be lost for words) - while the striker has also moved to slightly warmer climes in the Midlands but it appears an odd time to have forced through a move based solely on salary and lifestyle.Despite protestations from Bruce that the striker let everyone down at the Stadium of Light by moving to Villa, the opportunity to double your money by selling is good business in anyone's book. At least in the two seasons he was at the club he scored more than 30 Premier League goals.Perhaps Bent lacks ambition. He turns 27 next month and enters the prime of his career with the probability that he has one more big move ahead of him after joining Villa.All indications suggest that won't be to a leading club and that seems something of a shame.But then, it is always harder to swim upstream.
he spoke... said nothing of any interest apart from hinting that we tapped him up, without being brave enough to actually say it, and then crying because he didnt get a phone call flowers and chocolate after we butt fucked him...same old potato face, blaming everyone else and hypocritically whinging like a bellend...
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Topic: Breaking News: Bent Signs (Read 353414 times)
