Darren Bent - so what now?

[Steve67]

We already have two strikers who couldn't be bothered in Gabby and Wiemann, if Bent realises that his career is going nowhere, perhaps he might consider coming back and working his nuts off to get a new deal or a potential free transfer from next year to a club who might pay him a decent salary.

[silhillvilla]

Yep. If ever there's a year for getting some performance out of Bent it's the last year of his contract.

[Steve kirk]

A new manager may use Bent next season and I think he would have something to prove after the last 2 years, it was a disaster at Fulham but his goals to games ratio for us was excellent,  I still think he something to offer us especially with Benteke out for the first few months of the season.

[Californian Villain]

Most ludicrous U-turn in the clubs history?

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/may/20/aston-villa-paul-lambert-darren-bent-u-turn

Paul Lambert has made a U-turn by opening the door to Darren Bent and Alan Hutton being reintegrated into Aston Villa’s first team while confirming that the midfieder Marc Albrighton has been released. The Villa manager, whose future remains in doubt because of the possibility of a takeover, said “everyone is on the same level playing field” when they report for pre-season.

Lambert’s previous position was to freeze out Bent and Hutton in the hope of selling them to reduce the wage bill. It is understood that Randy Lerner, the Villa owner, has encouraged Lambert to utilise both players during the final 12 months of their contracts. “Everybody’s even now, everybody’s level,” Lambert said. “It’s public knowledge what’s happened [in the past] and now everyone is on the same level playing field.”

Bent, Villa’s record signing when he joined from Sunderland in January 2011 for a fee rising to £24m, was loaned out to Fulham last season after being used sparingly by Lambert in the previous campaign. Hutton, who was signed by Alex McLeish in 2012, has not kicked a ball for Villa under Lambert and there was no indication that situation would change. “It will be unlikely he will ever play here, he knows that, but we need to get the [wage] structure down to a level,” Lambert said in February.

The manager is now taking a different view, perhaps mindful that there is no guarantee what transfer deals will go through if the club has not been sold this summer and, as a result, what sort of squad he will have at his disposal going into the new campaign. “The only uncertainty we’ve got, which is the main uncertainty, is how long before [the club’s] sold,” Lambert said.

[Matt Collins]

I like to think I'm not prone to hyperbole

But I genuinely can't think of a time when villa has been so rudderless, farcical, doomed

Lambert has completely changed his youth first policy. He's panicking I think. That's never good.

Surely bridges are pretty much burned with Hutton and perhaps bent by now? I never understood why n'zogbia was in the bomb squad. Happy to sell him. But he was playing and contributing at the back end of last season. What did he do so wrong?

If this turns out well I'd be pretty damn surprised. Surely our better players must all be starting to look at options to move elsewhere

[sid1964]

Well Lambert did say he was looking to bring in experienced players!

So these are our summer 'new signings'

What an absolute shambles, it is going to get a lot worse in my opinion unless the club is sold quickly.

I will be surprised if Vlaar, Delph, Benteke, Guzan want to stick around for another season of a relegation battle.

[PeterWithe]

Better late than never.

[NiiLamptey]

I have read a few articles on this....

Reading between the lines to me, when Lambert joined it appears he was orders to create the bombsquad to get players off based on wages not ability....

It appears in the states Lerner has said Lambert can now use him if he likes as that must be cheaper that buying new players i guess?

Club is in a really bad state!

[Boz]

Bent's most effective when a team plays to his strengths. How will Lambert achieve this having released our current best crosser of the ball?

[not3bad]

Bent's most effective when a team plays to his strengths. How will Lambert achieve this having released our current best crosser of the ball?

N'Zogbia? Grealish? *Takes deep breath* Tonev?

OK, N'Zogbia and Grealish.

[Clampy]

Bent's most effective when a team plays to his strengths. How will Lambert achieve this having released our current best crosser of the ball?

I must admit that did cross my mind earlier.

[pauliewalnuts]

Bent's most effective when a team plays to his strengths. How will Lambert achieve this having released our current best crosser of the ball?

And that is a perfect illustration of the lack of joined-up thinking which afflicts this club at the moment.

They honestly don't know their arses from their elbows. You think you've seen it all and things will get better, but they continue to get worse.

I don't care if we get new owners who aren't particularly loaded, just so long as they know what they're doing. This bunch of well meaning amateurs are going to ruin this club if they're in place for much longer.

[supertom]

It's funny how differing papers seemed to suggest that it was either Lamberts or Lerners insistence that the bomb squad be utilized. One day I'd like to get a clearer picture just which genius came up with the idea and enforced it. Most sources point to Lambert it would seem.
That said, even if it's Randy who has insisted they are used again, Lambert still picks the team. He still may never play any of them again.

[MoetVillan]

He should be employed as the squad nominated shopper.  He has history here, and gives the rest of the squad time to practice 1) throw ins 2) passing out from back, 3) crossing the ball into the box 4)defending set pieces 5) attacking set pieces.  These are the little things that make the difference between 15th and 14th in the league

[pooligan]

I  know one thing for certain, i would rather have Bent to bring on from the bench than the likes of Bowery and Holt