Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert denies rift with Darren Bent

[Rigadon]

Darren bent was worth the money we paid - without him we would probably have gone down .  We will not get back what we paid for him now though in my opinion.

Bent delivered when we had downing and young, it's not his fault they have left and his supply line has all but gone.

I like Darren bent and would love us to be playing a style where he's getting good balls into the box and banging in the goals, but the manager has his own style of play and we have to allow him to set up the team how he wants to play .

Can't see much wrong with this to be honest.

But I'd add that a few goals would add to either his value (arbitrary as a premier league strikers value can be) or his confidence and so his effectiveness in the current Villa side.  It's too early in to this incarnation of Claret and Blue to judge anybody too harshly but Bent needs a goal as does Gabby and Benteke.  Hopefully they get one in the Norwich game.

[Percy McCarthy]

Well, yes, I didn't realise when we bought him how one-dimensional he was. I think I was a bit fooled by his stats.

[Monty]

Well, yes, I didn't realise when we bought him how one-dimensional he was. I think I was a bit fooled by his stats.

I remember having a debate on here (pretty sure it was with Maz, among others) where I pointed out that Bent's personal goals tally across his career has risen as his team's falls, and falls as his team's rises. He doesn't add goals to a team, he takes them from the rest of the side - he demands to be the sole focus of attacks in whichever team he's playing for, and as such there tends to only be one route to goal when he's playing. I don't want to proved right in this old suspicion, and he has put in some very good all-round displays, but it seems that those games were the exception, sadly.

[Merv]

No suggestion Bent is getting itchy feet? You don't think? It's all hearsay at the moment but the momentum is building. It feels quite disruptive right now. January will be interesting.

So, because the internet is full of hearsay there is momentum building. That doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

No. My feeling of unease about the situation is that Bent has said, more than once, in interviews since the West Brom game, that he's not happy with what's happening. Lambert's saying everything is okay, the player is taking a different stance. Bent hasn't reacted well at all, I don't think - which is why I wouldn't be surprised to see him leaving.

[hilts_coolerking]

I remember having a debate on here (pretty sure it was with Maz, among others) where I pointed out that Bent's personal goals tally across his career has risen as his team's falls, and falls as his team's rises. He doesn't add goals to a team, he takes them from the rest of the side - he demands to be the sole focus of attacks in whichever team he's playing for, and as such there tends to only be one route to goal when he's playing. I don't want to proved right in this old suspicion, and he has put in some very good all-round displays, but it seems that those games were the exception, sadly.

That's quite true Mont, although when we signed him you also said that he had added elements to his game and was now a more complete player.

[Monty]

I remember having a debate on here (pretty sure it was with Maz, among others) where I pointed out that Bent's personal goals tally across his career has risen as his team's falls, and falls as his team's rises. He doesn't add goals to a team, he takes them from the rest of the side - he demands to be the sole focus of attacks in whichever team he's playing for, and as such there tends to only be one route to goal when he's playing. I don't want to proved right in this old suspicion, and he has put in some very good all-round displays, but it seems that those games were the exception, sadly.

That's quite true Mont, although when we signed him you also said that he had added elements to his game and was now a more complete player.

He had. Like I said, he put in some great all-round performances, particularly Arsenal away under GMac's caretakership. He does seem to have reverted to type somewhat - maybe a year under Eck's retrogressive management sent him backwards as a footballer. Maybe, then, he can re-adapt under Lambert's better tutelage, but his attitude right now suggests that might be a lost cause.

[Hookeysmith]

he can re-adapt under Lambert's better tutelage

Although i grant that we do at least try to win games (well i thought we did) i cannot see how PL can be consdered a better tutor so far if i am honest
And this is from a perspective of liking PL and not being able to stand TSM

[supertom]

Right now Bent reminds me of Baros in his second season. He'd come for the money pretty much, and probably with the hope of moving on to a bigger side after the move.
Baros just looked disinterested and far less effective. His strengths seemed to be waning, perhaps in part to the fact his heart wasn't in it, but I remember Baros coming back after his spell out injured and he'd lost a few yards of pace and any desire to do something unexpected which he was at least capable of.
Bent in the last year or so just looks a shadow of his former self. He doesn't look hungry. Houllier got the best out of him and in turn Bent was always busting a gut to get into positions, make himself available. His concentration was right on to pull those runs on the last man.
Now he looks miserable. He's offside almost as much as JPA used to be. I mean he's a limited footballer, we all know that, but the lack of desire is really annoying.
The West Brom game was farely typical of Bent lately, in that he didn't offer too much and looked like he'd rather be elsewhere. The only time it looked like he had some blood pumping through him was when he scored and (perhaps) wanted to make his point to the manager.
I don't like all the blame the other players are getting and the manager for Bents own failings. If you want to be a top Prem player you have to have a bit of adaptability. If we're not supposedly playing to his strengths, then he's got to try and impact the game in other ways. It's not like he's been totally bereft of chances either. He's missed a fair few this season, probably the sort of chances that in his pomp he'd have put away.
To be fair, it's partly lack of confidence but I've never had a sense from day one that Bent came here for the right reasons. In the last year I've also felt he seems to want out. Maybe without the injury in Jan, he'd have tried getting a summer move. Dunno.

If he's here next season I'll be very surprised. That said too, even though he's been poor so far this season. If he stays the whole season I'm pretty sure he'll be our top scorer. But I'd guess at around 10-15, as opposed to the 20+ we all hoped he'd deliver year on year.

[kippaxvilla2]

We've cried out for a player like Bent for years and now he's here we want to get rid? the simple problem is were not creating enough chances for him, Im willing to bet if he'd been on the pitch at spurs we'd have been 2 up given the Benteke chances (this is not knocking Benteke) he needs the correct service and he's not getting it. He's never worked hard or put a big shift in, it's not his game and it never will be

Agree with all of this.

It's tantamount to incompetence that we should even consider getting rid of him, when it is plain as the nose on a person's face that if you supply this player enough ammunition he will score more than he misses.  I would love to see what his goals to chances ratio is since he joined.  Because honestly, since that first season the actual chances he has received has been pitiful.  It really is just dreadful having made the investment we did at the time to have an asset such as him wasted. 

[Monty]

We've cried out for a player like Bent for years and now he's here we want to get rid?

He's never worked hard or put a big shift in, it's not his game and it never will be

In which case he's not the player we've been crying out for for years. If we want to improve, we can't afford any passengers. The way Bent is talked about, the way he seems to want to have the team built around him, you'd have thought he was Zlatan or something. But he's not: he's a decent finisher and mover inside the penalty area, he's not world class, he's not the finished article and I hope he recognises this and works hard to improve.

[SoccerHQ]

I think Bent will be gone as soon as Benteke starts scoring regularly (it will happen) and maybe Weimann starts popping in a few.

Bit dangerous to sell a proven premier league goalscorer when the other strikers aren't scoring plus the message of selling him in January when we'll probably be in a relegation battle but it wouldn't shock me at all.

[ciggiesnbeer]

I am grateful to Bent. He kept us up for a season and has plugged away for us when asked. But enough is probably enough, he has his career to think of and getting relegated or being a rotation option for a bottom 5 side is probably too much to ask. For Lambert well he plays a modern style, I like that a lot, but maybe Bent doesnt fit into it, if so then we should move on.

I will say though that I thought Bent was getting more involved than ever before he was dropped. Hopefully he can get clicking with Lambert and sticks around, but I wouldnt blame him or Lambert if we parted ways.

[jeowje]

The one and only premier league class player we have left. All the others have gone. Lets sell him as well.

[1874]

I don't get all this 'play to his strengths' talk. Sadly we no longer have quality wide players in the squad so how exactly can we do that? Sometimes you have to deal with the hand you are dealt with. 

[JUAN PABLO]

Is it any coincidence that he has not been picked up by any of the "top" teams considering how good his record was.
The fact of the matter is outside of the  box and you may as well play with 10 men - he offers nothing as part of the team so to accomodate him emand we have to be light elsewhere

He does not tackle
Not good in the air
Does not track back
His positional sense is questionable

Thats not to say he is not a great goal poacher - he is, but just like Rush, Lineker, Owen et al in the modern game the striker has to be more than that - they have to be an allround player - Henry, RVP, Bergkamp, Rooney, Tevez etc

The ideal time to have bought Bent was when we had both Young / Milner and even then it was the pace of Gabby that made that front 3 very dangerous

blimey , I would have had owen . Lineakar or Rush down the Villa.