Club that cannot stop scoring lets yesterday's man go forth.

[Dave]

Has anyone done a breakdown of what Torres and Carroll cost the clubs who signed them at the same time?

My main problem with this line of thinking is that it didn't matter as much for them because they didn't have the transfer-money tap turned off shortly after they signed them.

Carroll hasn't worked out? Fine, well we'll just spend £25m and buy Daniel Sturridge and Fabio Borini instead. And still get £16m of our money back when we sell Carroll on to some other bunch of mugs. Torres seems to be broken? Fine, well let's just get any number of other expensive shiny trinkets that might work instead.

Spending £18m on Bent was basically our last hurrah before the money started to be turned off - had we carried on spending money like we did under O'Neill over the few years just gone then I bet there wouldn't be as much made about the money that he cost us.

Without his goals in the Houllier/McLeish era we would almost certainly have gone down, so I agree that the signing wasn't a bad one. It was just an expensive one.

[dave.woodhall]

Has anyone done a breakdown of what Torres and Carroll cost the clubs who signed them at the same time?

My main problem with this line of thinking is that it didn't matter as much for them because they didn't have the transfer-money tap turned off shortly after they signed them.

Carroll hasn't worked out? Fine, well we'll just spend £25m and buy Daniel Sturridge and Fabio Borini instead. And still get £16m of our money back when we sell Carroll on to some other bunch of mugs. Torres seems to be broken? Fine, well let's just get any number of other expensive shiny trinkets that might work instead.

Spending £18m on Bent was basically our last hurrah before the money started to be turned off - had we carried on spending money like we did under O'Neill over the few years just gone then I bet there wouldn't be as much made about the money that he cost us.

Without his goals in the Houllier/McLeish era we would almost certainly have gone down, so I agree that the signing wasn't a bad one. It was just an expensive one.

That's not the point I was making. From the minute Bent was signed the press decided that he was over-priced,  yet at the same time two other players went for almost double and treble respectively what we paid for him, and between them they delivered a fraction for their new clubs of what Bent did for us.

[Dave]

That's not the point I was making. From the minute Bent was signed the press decided that he was over-priced,  yet at the same time two other players went for almost double and treble respectively what we paid for him, and between them they delivered a fraction for their new clubs of what Bent did for us.

But it's something that should be analysed in the context of what those clubs are spending. If a club has the resources to go out and spend £100m in one summer as both Liverpool and Chelsea do (and have),  then writing off a stupid amount of money for their record signing isn't such a problem as it would be for a club about to go into half a decade of self-enforced austerity.

If I'm a footballer earning £50,000 per week and I write off my brand-new Ferrari then it's going to have less of an impact on me than if I'm on £50,000 per year and I've just remortgaged my house in order to buy it.

As an aside, I do think that there has been quite a lot of comment in the press over the last few years about the money wasted on Carroll and Torres.

[dave.woodhall]

That's not the point I was making. From the minute Bent was signed the press decided that he was over-priced,  yet at the same time two other players went for almost double and treble respectively what we paid for him, and between them they delivered a fraction for their new clubs of what Bent did for us.

But it's something that should be analysed in the context of what those clubs are spending. If a club has the resources to go out and spend £100m in one summer as both Liverpool and Chelsea do (and have),  then writing off a stupid amount of money for their record signing isn't such a problem as it would be for a club about to go into half a decade of self-enforced austerity.

If I'm a footballer earning £50,000 per week and I write off my brand-new Ferrari then it's going to have less of an impact on me than if I'm on £50,000 per year and I've just remortgaged my house in order to buy it.

As an aside, I do think that there has been quite a lot of comment in the press over the last few years about the money wasted on Carroll and Torres.

Once again, it doesn't matter how well off Chelsea or Liverpool are. It wasn't being said then and it isn't being said now. Bent was called an over-priced panic buy. Carroll and Torres weren't. He did better for us than they did for their clubs. Neither of them got a "cost £x per touch" comment.

[ez]

Off instagram
Want to say thanks to Aston villa football club for allowing me to play for such a great club. Have had fantastic times playing for this great club. Thank you to there fans who have stuck by me through hard times. It has been a pleasure to play for you.
Thank you

[Matt Collins]

Torres and Carroll have both been regularly ridiculed for being over priced. Bent was praised as one of the signings of that season once he'd kept us up, was a regular for England etc

He is now the only one of the three not playing top flight football

[ciggiesnbeer]

Off instagram
Want to say thanks to Aston villa football club for allowing me to play for such a great club. Have had fantastic times playing for this great club. Thank you to there fans who have stuck by me through hard times. It has been a pleasure to play for you.
Thank you

Nice of him. I think he still has something good to offer for Derby.

[PeterWithesShin]

Fun fact, only once in his career has Torres scored as many, or more, in a season than the 23 Benteke got for us in his first season. I only know that because this thread made me check what Torres was up to and I looked at his stats.

[Dave]

Once again, it doesn't matter how well off Chelsea or Liverpool are. It wasn't being said then and it isn't being said now. Bent was called an over-priced panic buy. Carroll and Torres weren't.

Sorry, I just don't think that's correct.

I would wager a lot of money that more media articles and comment pieces have been written during the last four years about how Carroll and Torres were money wasted than pieces written about how Darren Bent was money wasted.

[silhillvilla]

Thanks for keeping us up DB9.
Worth every penny.

[aj2k77]

Torres has pretty much become a figure of fun and took a real piss taking at Chelsea.

Bent's had a lot easier ride than either of those two.

[Diablo]

Off instagram
Want to say thanks to Aston villa football club for allowing me to play for such a great club. Have had fantastic times playing for this great club. Thank you to there fans who have stuck by me through hard times. It has been a pleasure to play for you.
Thank you

Nice of him. I think he still has something good to offer for Derby.

Best of luck Darren Bent! Thanks for the goals and for leaving in such a dignified manner. Pity some of our other players (who have been treated far better than DB was) don't have the respect for the club that DB has.

[old man villa fan]

Anybody any idea how much the transfer fee was in the end.  From what was reported it seemed to start at £18m and with add-ons going up to £24m.  Can't believe one of the add-ons was keeping us up and as we had no successes, possibly only his England appearances and total appearances for Villa would have attracted any increase on the initial fee.

[paul_e]

Anybody any idea how much the transfer fee was in the end.  From what was reported it seemed to start at £18m and with add-ons going up to £24m.  Can't believe one of the add-ons was keeping us up and as we had no successes, possibly only his England appearances and total appearances for Villa would have attracted any increase on the initial fee.

Someone (I think it was Risso but I might be wrong) pointed out years ago that virtually all the clauses on him had been paid by the end of McLeish's season (it's in the accounts, under liabilities I believe) so I guess it was avoid relelgation and score x goals as the main ones. Someone who is better at reading accounts than me could probably check the 10/11 and 11/12 accounts and confirm it.

[kippaxvilla2]

Our ever so friendly local paper the Meaning Evil's take on Darrent Bent.  He cost us £568,000 per goal.  Not, he saved Villa from certain relegation in at least one if not two seasons potentially costing them millions and years of relative oblivion.