Darren Bent joining Brighton on loan

[Clampy]

I wonder how fit he actually was going into the game. He didn't really do anything of note did he?

[Richard E]

Zog was limping down the touch line as he went off

Thanks - that hadn't registered with me, I just thought that was his usual demeanour. 

[richard moore]

Zog was limping down the touch line as he went off

Thanks - that hadn't registered with me, I just thought that was his usual demeanour. 

I said to my Villa supporting friend in the pub on Monday night how unlike a footballer he looks. With his hunched up neck and shoulders and unathletic gait. He almost looks like someone who has been entered for, and won, a competition to play for Villa but hates football. He never smiles either and looks as if he hasn't got a clue how he ended up on the pitch. Mind you, neither have I

[pauliewalnuts]

Zog was limping down the touch line as he went off

Perhaps he's got a wooden leg? He certainly played like it on Monday.

I am not usually one of his harshest critics, but I thought that was one of the worst showings by a villa player in a long time.

[supertom]

Zog was limping down the touch line as he went off

Thanks - that hadn't registered with me, I just thought that was his usual demeanour. 

Constantly running into defenders takes it's toll in the end.

[supertom]

I reckon Bent has touched the ball less in his entire Villa career than your average decent Prem midfielder will in one game.

[bob]

An enigma almost from the start. Him at £18 million was "overpriced" yet in the same window £50 million for Torres and £35 million for Andy Carroll were perfectly fine. He ht the ground running, scored goals at a rate we hadn't seen since Andy Gray at his peak, yet for some reason he was never idolised by our supporters like he should have been. What was even stranger was that somehow, during his first summer, we started saying he cost too much as well. He was always about to be sold, right up until the injury which in hindsight ruined his career. And if he hadn't got injured we would probably have finished a few places higher up the league and McLeish may well have stayed. The best natural goalscorer England could boast, finished at thirty. 

He was very popular when he first arrived. Although he scored at a very fine rate he didn't do it for long enough to be idolised, as you put it. It became apparent too quickly that we didn't have the players to supply him with enough service, and that he wasn't going to do a whole lot for the team other than goal hang.

The bit about him being "always about to be sold" is just wrong.

[richard moore]

Funny how some players never seem to settle long at a club. We were saying the same about Shane Long on Monday night in the pub. You wonder what it is that makes them not be at a club for longer than about a season at a time. And if it's the same reasons each time why they seem to move on.

[Clampy]

An enigma almost from the start. Him at £18 million was "overpriced" yet in the same window £50 million for Torres and £35 million for Andy Carroll were perfectly fine. He ht the ground running, scored goals at a rate we hadn't seen since Andy Gray at his peak, yet for some reason he was never idolised by our supporters like he should have been. What was even stranger was that somehow, during his first summer, we started saying he cost too much as well. He was always about to be sold, right up until the injury which in hindsight ruined his career. And if he hadn't got injured we would probably have finished a few places higher up the league and McLeish may well have stayed. The best natural goalscorer England could boast, finished at thirty. 

He was very popular when he first arrived. Although he scored at a very fine rate he didn't do it for long enough to be idolised, as you put it. It became apparent too quickly that we didn't have the players to supply him with enough service, and that he wasn't going to do a whole lot for the team other than goal hang.

The bit about him being "always about to be sold" is just wrong.

No, I agree with what Dave said about him 'always about to be sold'. I lost count the number of times people on here posted that they were convinced that he would be sold off. You only have to look back at Benteke's first season and people on here were convinced that he wouldn't be around for long. Bent in his first full season was linked away quite a lot of the time.

[supertom]

An enigma almost from the start. Him at £18 million was "overpriced" yet in the same window £50 million for Torres and £35 million for Andy Carroll were perfectly fine. He ht the ground running, scored goals at a rate we hadn't seen since Andy Gray at his peak, yet for some reason he was never idolised by our supporters like he should have been. What was even stranger was that somehow, during his first summer, we started saying he cost too much as well. He was always about to be sold, right up until the injury which in hindsight ruined his career. And if he hadn't got injured we would probably have finished a few places higher up the league and McLeish may well have stayed. The best natural goalscorer England could boast, finished at thirty. 

He was very popular when he first arrived. Although he scored at a very fine rate he didn't do it for long enough to be idolised, as you put it. It became apparent too quickly that we didn't have the players to supply him with enough service, and that he wasn't going to do a whole lot for the team other than goal hang.

The bit about him being "always about to be sold" is just wrong.

I'm not sure about the being sold part in terms of genuine links or the player himself seeming like he wanted out, but personally I felt that when we lost both Young and Downing (having only expected Young to go, and after four good years he'd earned his move) that Bent would be looking to move on pretty sharpish. Particularly when we hired a manager who'd just relegated another club.

I worried he'd be sold that summer or want to move. And I worried in the January window. I worried about the following summer until he got injured (Feb?). To some extent that may just have been a symptom of having lost Milner, Downing and Young within a year, but we could all see the decline and keeping hold of an 18 million pound England player seemed like a tall order.

As it was that injury ruined him anyway.

[SamTheMouse]

A shame. But he ceased to be of any real benefit the moment Young and Downing left. With a player like Bent, if you've got nobody to pick a pass in the final third, you might as well forget it.

[supertom]

An enigma almost from the start. Him at £18 million was "overpriced" yet in the same window £50 million for Torres and £35 million for Andy Carroll were perfectly fine. He ht the ground running, scored goals at a rate we hadn't seen since Andy Gray at his peak, yet for some reason he was never idolised by our supporters like he should have been. What was even stranger was that somehow, during his first summer, we started saying he cost too much as well. He was always about to be sold, right up until the injury which in hindsight ruined his career. And if he hadn't got injured we would probably have finished a few places higher up the league and McLeish may well have stayed. The best natural goalscorer England could boast, finished at thirty. 

He was very popular when he first arrived. Although he scored at a very fine rate he didn't do it for long enough to be idolised, as you put it. It became apparent too quickly that we didn't have the players to supply him with enough service, and that he wasn't going to do a whole lot for the team other than goal hang.

The bit about him being "always about to be sold" is just wrong.

No, I agree with what Dave said about him 'always about to be sold'. I lost count the number of times people on here posted that they were convinced that he would be sold off. You only have to look back at Benteke's first season and people on here were convinced that he wouldn't be around for long. Bent in his first full season was linked away quite a lot of the time.

That's certainly true, and whilst Benteke is potentially the best striker we've had since Yorke I've still not really taken to him. It was a long, hard summer after his first season. Obviously his agent advised him badly too in publically pushing for a move which took him down in estimation.
He stayed but struggled with fitness the second season and it took him a while to get going, and he still never came close to some of the brilliance of the previous season.
Again this season, though he's not 100%, he's looked a shadow of his former self.

Plus with Benteke, and I suppose any of our good players, as a club we're in a catch 22. If he's fit and playing well, chances are he walks in the summer to a bigger club. If he's half fit, and his form is in fits and starts, then we might just keep him another year.

Personally I'd rather have one more spiffing season from him and sell him on. But certainly I've not taken to Bent or Benteke nearly as much as JPA or Big John, both of whom co-penned the book on inconsistency to be fair. When a striker has a genuine affinity for your club it really helps though. Bent has never seemed to. There's too much of a sense it's merely a job for him. Benteke trying to push a move after one good season showed he probably just sees us as a stepping stone. Though he definitely has more fan rapport than Bent.

[Clampy]

An enigma almost from the start. Him at £18 million was "overpriced" yet in the same window £50 million for Torres and £35 million for Andy Carroll were perfectly fine. He ht the ground running, scored goals at a rate we hadn't seen since Andy Gray at his peak, yet for some reason he was never idolised by our supporters like he should have been. What was even stranger was that somehow, during his first summer, we started saying he cost too much as well. He was always about to be sold, right up until the injury which in hindsight ruined his career. And if he hadn't got injured we would probably have finished a few places higher up the league and McLeish may well have stayed. The best natural goalscorer England could boast, finished at thirty. 

He was very popular when he first arrived. Although he scored at a very fine rate he didn't do it for long enough to be idolised, as you put it. It became apparent too quickly that we didn't have the players to supply him with enough service, and that he wasn't going to do a whole lot for the team other than goal hang.

The bit about him being "always about to be sold" is just wrong.

No, I agree with what Dave said about him 'always about to be sold'. I lost count the number of times people on here posted that they were convinced that he would be sold off. You only have to look back at Benteke's first season and people on here were convinced that he wouldn't be around for long. Bent in his first full season was linked away quite a lot of the time.

That's certainly true, and whilst Benteke is potentially the best striker we've had since Yorke I've still not really taken to him. It was a long, hard summer after his first season. Obviously his agent advised him badly too in publically pushing for a move which took him down in estimation.
He stayed but struggled with fitness the second season and it took him a while to get going, and he still never came close to some of the brilliance of the previous season.
Again this season, though he's not 100%, he's looked a shadow of his former self.

He struggled with fitness the second season because he picked up a bad injury early on at Norwich, then picked up an horrendous one later on. As for him looking a shadow of his former self this season, that's understandable, he's been out for 5 months. He was never going to come back and click straight away. He did show signs against Spurs though that it might be long before he's back to what he was.

[Duncan Shaw]

I'm not sure we'll ever really "take" to a player in that way again, especially given our position as strugglers.  If a star comes along, like the point about Benteke above, we just seem to be waiting until they want to move on to better things (or more money) and are reluctant to give that undying adulation.  If Grealish comes through and fulfils his potential with us though he might get it!!

[saunders_heroes]

A shame. But he ceased to be of any real benefit the moment Young and Downing left. With a player like Bent, if you've got nobody to pick a pass in the final third, you might as well forget it.

That's true. The decision to scrap playing with wingers and revert to hoofing the ball up the pitch was a sad day for the Villa and one of the main reasons why our football is just so painful on the eye.