Darren Bent joining Brighton on loan

[Steve67]

I don't really blame him for being fucked off with being dumped into the bomb squad having been bought for so much money and been made captain of the side albeit temporarily. Someone will write a thesis about this one day because the whole thing is so bizarre. Bent has had a pretty good career and part of him probably has mentally retired and is just seeing out his time in the game. He's made a lot of money, scored a lot of goals in the PL, played for his country and been fucked around by us. I don't blame him really for wanting out.

Totally agree with this. Lambert has messed the guy about something chronic. The only caveat is, I wonder if Bent's injury left as a lesser player and that's why he wasn't playing. Having said that, no way would I feel motivated if that's how I was treated.

[Tom_Mc9?]

I think he's bone idle and therefore find it hard to warm to him as a player. I don't think he'll ever get more than five goals in a Premier League campaign again.

[adrenachrome]

I think he's bone idle and therefore find it hard to warm to him as a player. I don't think he'll ever get more than five goals in a Premier League campaign again.

Not only is he bone idle he is b-b-b-b-aaaaaaad to the bone. He is not stupid though, and well knows on which side his bread is buttered and how to work his ticket to screw the most return for the least effort.

In one sense, I don't blame him; he is just looking after number one. When all is said and done, he was b(r)ought in on as a mercenary with a specific mission: to keep us in the top flight, which he did.  He probably thinks: I did the job, and now they have changed the rules sold all the mofockin wingers and expect me to track back and put my foot in and run around like a demented dervish. Fork that for a game of soldiers. Shudda asked for the money for the whole contract up front.

People talk about Lineker and Greaves and Gilzean and foxes in boxes but the game has moved on and, as Monty has argued, he is now about as much use as a marzipan fireguard. For fuck sake, one of the managers at Fulham, a very well respected coach, basically said Dozy Daz was a fucking fat fucker and should fuck off out of it. 

Lambo has lost it big time, to be sure, and has now achieved critical mass of unresolved bats in his belfry but don't go beating him with Dozy Daz stick.

[Matt Collins]

I can't believe anyone is arguing this is lambert's fault

Bent has been shit for three or four seasons now

He did shot at fulham

He did shit under Mcleish

Lambert was proved absolutely right in ditching him for benteke

[PeterWithesShin]

He was good under McLeish, 9 in 22 league games, until that injury at Wigan. Since that injury he hasn't been the same player. There are plenty of things to give Lambert stick for, Darren Bent isn't one of them.

[Dave]

He was good under McLeish, 9 in 22 league games, until that injury at Wigan. Since that injury he hasn't been the same player. There are plenty of things to give Lambert stick for, Darren Bent isn't one of them.

We'll never really know how things might have turned out though. At the start of Lambert's first season Bent scored three in seven, only to be hardly seen again until the end of the season.

If he hadn't been ostracised for no reason, maybe he wouldn't have decided that he couldn't really be arsed anymore.

But then if he had been used more, maybe Benteke and Weimann (at the time) wouldn't have developed as well or as quickly and we'd still have been worse off overall.

Cause and effect, innit.

[Matt Collins]

I don't remember bent scoring three in seven at all!

Even under Mcleish his lack of contribution to play was a problem. I remember several of us arguing - after or best performance under Mcleish when gabby played up top v chelsea - that bent just didn't offer the hold up, link and target play needed to play up front by himself

Lambert spotted that straight away and tried a diamond for a bit. He played bEnteke in the 4-2 win at citeh in the cup - and it's been obvious ever since that bent's days of being a good top flight player are finished

[Monty]

About the only tactical thing which Lambert has got right is to not play Bent, and he still managed to make a mistake in bringing him on against Southampton. Bent kept us up one year with his goals, but so did Marcus Allback - and Allback tracked back.

[aev]

The thing Lambert should have done is keep him away from the buffet table.

[mr underhill]

you mean he ate that as well as the grub on it? Greedy fucker

[Malandro]

I wonder if he will get a recall after scoring today. That must really fuck with Lambert's mind

[hilts_coolerking]

This notion that Bent 'just needs service' inadvertently sums up why he is, in fact, useless. This is a player who requires the entire team to be set up to give him the ball how and where he likes it, and he does nothing else for anyone else. The stats bear this out - whenever Bent has scored more for a club, the team overall has scored fewer (check his seasons at Spurs).

I'm not sure I buy that.  On that basis, the fact that he scored goals for us in his first half-season should have meant relegation.

[Monty]

Well, Bent came in when we had nobody scoring at all - essentially, we were a team set up for a goal poacher but without an actual goal poacher. Bent filled that role and we did better, but he contributes so little to the team that, essentially, if he's going to score at all then he's going to be the only one in the team doing it - everyone else has a little extra work to do away from goal in order to set him up.

[ozzjim]

I think Bent was much more motivated by England than anything else. Once the injury at Wigan wrecked his chances of being England number 9 in the Euros, he has never looked the same since.

[hilts_coolerking]

Well, Bent came in when we had nobody scoring at all - essentially, we were a team set up for a goal poacher but without an actual goal poacher. Bent filled that role and we did better, but he contributes so little to the team that, essentially, if he's going to score at all then he's going to be the only one in the team doing it - everyone else has a little extra work to do away from goal in order to set him up.

I take your point but the bit in bold is a huge exaggeration.  You can't tell me none of the clubs he played for got any benefit from him because that demonstrably isn't true.  There are circumstances in which Bent can be perfect for your team - as indeed he was when we first bought him.  He never got a crack at one of the really top clubs because a) they could afford better, and b) their other players contributed enough goals to not require what he could do, but a career record of better than 1 in 3 would do, and did, very nicely for most clubs.  Now age and injury have caught up with him he's a busted flush, obviously, but I wouldn't dismiss him quite so casually.