Darren Bent

[Monty]

Since Bent was dropped, we drew with Fulham, Norwich and Arsenal then beat Sunderland.

That's 6 points from our 10 (yes Bent scored against Fulham)

I'm a  bit confused

we lost to fulham 1-0

I think he means West Brom, where Bent's usefulness coming off the bench was shown.

[Risso]

If Lambert was half as good as he's being made out to be, surely he'd be able to come up with a system that suited Darren Bent's strengths?  Just about every other manager who's worked with him has managed it.  It's not like dropping him has led to a huge upturn in performances and results.

[ez]

£24m for a bench player is ridiculous. Start him, he guarantees goals.

Agreed. Last season we were rubbish but Bent was still scoring. We've got him and we're lucky to have him.

[ozzjim]

I am fairly confident there is more to this than meets the eye, and I don't think money or formation are necessarily the reasons. I think work rate in training, attitude around the place and a bit of a sulk, and even a transfer request that has yet to be disclosed have a lot to do with the situation, but that is speculating.

[Shrek]

£24m for a bench player is ridiculous. Start him, he guarantees goals.

Agreed. Last season we were rubbish but Bent was still scoring. We've got him and we're lucky to have him.

If only life were that simple.

[JUAN PABLO]

Natural goalscorer and we need goals- I'd bring him in for gabby.

ditto

I dont care If players can run a marathon , they cant win games , we need goals.  Bent might not move enough for some people  , who cares , he is in the right place at the right time and scores the goals.

[ozzjim]

Oh and I put him on the bench. For all the stick I give Gabby, and much of it through frustration, his work rate in the wide role is vital. He started to sulk out there under Eck but has not done so under Lambert yet, I just wish we could get him to be a bit more aware.

Oh and 30 minutes to go, in a tight game, the ability to go 3-5-2 or 4-4-2 and get Bent up with Benteke would be very useful.

[JUAN PABLO]

Simple fact is we have no conventional wide player and are poor at creating chances for the likes of Bent to thrive on. No invention in the final third, hence only 10 goals scored. We don't play to Bent's strengths.

He's a complete forward though not just a finisher, I see no reason why Benteke can't play out wide with Bent in the middle. Gabby can also be used on the wing.

WHAT.! Complete forward??? Darren Bent is a poacher, that is all.

He can't hold up the ball, he can't head the ball and he doesn't work to try and win the team back.

He is nowhere near the complete forward.

He's certainly a goal scorer though. Something we haven't got n the team at the moment. 10 goals in 13 league games. A shameful stat.

So is it about Bent scoring goals or Villa winning? Southampton Bent scored, but we lost, we need a balance. If that means playing Gabby and him only getting 6 goals, then fine if they get us more points.

The facts are, in the current system, we are a better team without Bent.

in the bottom 3?

[JUAN PABLO]

If Bent had come on for 20 mins against Arse , we might have won that gamel .

[Dave]

The facts are, in the current system, we are a better team without Bent.

How is that a fact? It's a fact that the current manager appears to think so.

As we've seen from previous managers though, they're not always right about everything.

[nigel]

You could have asked Everton fans, after they'd just avoided relegation, about selling Rooney.
I reckon over 90% would have feared relegation once he'd gone.
Look at them now.
We have to trust Lamberts judgement on this, just as Everton had to trust Moyes.
We are moving forward, Villa will survive.

[eastie]

The facts are, in the current system, we are a better team without Bent.

How is that a fact? It's a fact that the current manager appears to think so.

As we've seen from previous managers though, they're not always right about everything.

The facts are that the league position, wins total and lack of goals suggest we are not a better team - it's results that count not how well we play.

[eastie]

You could have asked Everton fans, after they'd just avoided relegation, about selling Rooney.
I reckon over 90% would have feared relegation once he'd gone.
Look at them now.
We have to trust Lamberts judgement on this, just as Everton had to trust Moyes.
We are moving forward, Villa will survive.

Rooney wanted to go though , it's not the same with bent as the manager is the one who doesn't seem to want him.

[peter w]

Doesn't fit into the way we play. He won't drift out wide like Weimann or Gabby and isn't adept at holding up the ball. If Benteke has apoor game or two then Bent comes in.

[Shrek]

If Bent had come on for 20 mins against Arse , we might have won that gamel .

And we might have lost it due to the ball not sticking up front.