Darren Bent

[Eugene Fraxby]

If gabby wasn't a villa boy, then he would have been booed/hounded out ages ago. He has a good engine, but that is it. He's fast, however his acceleration isn't what it was. Get rid of him and Bent and get another 'gem' in to replace them.

Who would buy him and match his current wages? Can't see it happening.

He'll be here until the end of his contract I would think

[Brian Taylor]

After the Norwich result who needs him?
We may struggle in the league but we're on our way to Wem-bell-ee!!

[mrfuse]

Some people can't comprehend that concept Lee. They just think playing him would automatically add 20 to our 'goals for' column.

I'm not saying that at all.
I just don't understand the clamour to get rid of him.

What's the harm in hanging on to him, even if it's just to have him on the bench?

Because he will be fed fed up sitting on the Bench and it will hardly inspire him to play well when he does get a chance.

I agree it would be brilliant to have that tool to use and If you're one of the current Bigger clubs you can get away with having that luxury but were currently in a relegation battle and  we cant get away with having an England International on the Bench.

That doesn't mean to say I think he should be starting either, Benteke has been brilliant and playing Bent is sometimes like playing with 10.5 men at times.

[Monty]

I still like Gabby. He's not perfect in many ways, but he's well capable of causing defenders a lot of problems if he gets a little space to run into, and the better we get the more space we'll be able to engineer for him.

[LeeB]

I still like Gabby. He's not perfect in many ways, but he's well capable of causing defenders a lot of problems if he gets a little space to run into, and the better we get the more space we'll be able to engineer for him.

He's flexible too, he could quite easily fill in for Benteke as the target man.

[mrfuse]

I still like Gabby. He's not perfect in many ways, but he's well capable of causing defenders a lot of problems if he gets a little space to run into, and the better we get the more space we'll be able to engineer for him.

Yep I agree, I think we should keep hold of Gabby hes a one of ours and as long as we want him I think he will always stay. If he could engage his brain just before his feet he would be fantastic, still he provides something that not many teams have so he his a good asset.

At some point he will need to adjust his game as he gets older but he still has a good few years where he can use that blistering pace.

[Dante Lavelli]

I understand people who do not rate gabby but I'd definitely keep him.  I think he's a solid and flexible player plus, more importantly he (and players like him - bannan, clark and baker) are the dna of the club.  They've been at club all their adult lives, probably know the tea lady's name and you'd hope have the club in their hearts.

Alex Ferguson has mentioned this a few times, he'd prefer to have Johnny Evans in his squad - despite not being good enough - because he knows the Man U way.   

[SoccerHQ]

Gabby's not the player he was and hasn't been for some time. To his credit, you get a good work ethic from him but there's very little goal threat now. It's probably best for all parties for him to move on in the summer.

Yeah I'm thinking that aswell. He's sort of become our Ameobi, Anchiebe, Carlton Cole striker, someone who can be a nuisance to defences when he feels like it but generally dosen't really score that many goals.

Disappointing as first couple of seasons I really did believe he'd mature into a 20 goal a season striker, barely gets to 5 nowadays.

Clearly some of the spark went with MON.

[Monty]

Bent out until the New Year apparently. The conspiracist in me thinks this is convenient, but the Villa fan thinks how typical it is that he gets injured 35 minutes into a match where he's finally looking like he could fit into the Lambo system. Ah well.

[Concrete John]

Bent out until the New Year apparently. The conspiracist in me thinks this is convenient, but the Villa fan thinks how typical it is that he gets injured 35 minutes into a match where he's finally looking like he could fit into the Lambo system. Ah well.

We've picked up some better form without him, so it shouldn't disrupt things too much for us.

I think he'll be off in January.

[Monty]

Bent out until the New Year apparently. The conspiracist in me thinks this is convenient, but the Villa fan thinks how typical it is that he gets injured 35 minutes into a match where he's finally looking like he could fit into the Lambo system. Ah well.

We've picked up some better form without him, so it shouldn't disrupt things too much for us.

I think he'll be off in January.

Oh agreed, and his replacement on Tuesday didn't exactly do badly! It's just always nice to have options. However, if we get some decent money for him, I'm sure Lambert could use the proceeds better than any Villa manager in years.

[N'ZMAV]

Well now he's injured it gives us all a chance to brush this under the carpet for a while.

[Tuscans]

Sky Sports News

Aston Villa striker Darren Bent has been ruled out of the club's Christmas programme of fixtures with a hamstring injury.

Bent has been out of favour under new boss Paul Lambert but made his return to the team in the midweek Capital One Cup victory at Norwich.

However, he limped out of what was his first game in six weeks after only half an hour.

The England international underwent a scan on Wednesday and Lambert is resigned to being without the club's record signing until the New Year.

Lambert said; "He went for a scan on Wednesday and he has got a problem with his hamstring which will keep him out for a few weeks.

"I think a few weeks. Maybe four weeks, I'd say, before we see him back."

Meanwhile, Villa skipper Ron Vlaar is to undergo a scan on Friday on the calf problem which has sidelined him for the past month.

[martin o`who??]

The problem for DB and Villa is that he seems to need regular football to get match sharp, coming off the bench just doesnt work for him, he`s no Dzeko, its a chicken/egg situation now. and it says it all that he can`t get in a side thats the lowest scoring in the premiership. bye bye DB i reckon.

[Lizz]

TSM has just been on SSN saying that Darren Bent will have to make a difficult decision about his Villa future in January.