VillanousOne

I agree in part with this. It's funny how when Bent was in the team scoring most fans seemed to like and respect the job he did, even if it was always considered quite one dimensional. As soon as he was dropped he was suddenly painted by many as this blood sucking overpaid charlie big potatoes that we need to sell to generate transfer funds. Before he was dropped he WAS scoring goals, so it wasn't like he was playing rubbish and not doing the job he was paid to do. Following that he did have a few duff performances and his head dropped, but that was probably a direct result of losing his place and the captaincy. At which point he clearly threw his toys out of the pram and Lambert proved a point by dropping him from the squad to show Bent who is boss. I can't see any other explanation. Lambert has quickly shown that no player is immune from being dropped, but this whole Bent can't play in the system Lambert wants to play assumption is in my opinion, total dobbins. Lambert changes the formation almost every week, he was renowned at Norwich for doing that. If he wanted to he could play in a way that gets the best out of Bent, he is that good a manager. He also nearly drove Grant Holt out of Norwich the same way he is doing Bent. I also rate Weimann but i don't for one minute believe that Bent couldn't do a similar job to him alongside Benteke. The damage is done though and I think Lambert is looking to sell all the big name players such as Zog, Bent, Ireland, Dunne as I don't think he rates or wants to keep any of them. He'd rather nurture hungry young up and coming players than toil with players with a sense of ego and entitlement. Maybe he is right, but for me personally it is a balancing act, we will eventually hit a brick wall if we carry on the route we are going as we need a bit of experience and creativity to go with all this raw skill and energy. I do back Lambert though whatever he does, the way we have played without the big names we have has proved we can thrive without them, but it would be even better if we could step up a gear by re-integrating them.

everytime he gets a run of games he starts to look reasonably good and then he either gets dropped or injured. we seem to expect him to score or get an assist everytime he plays, do we expect this of Bannan, Westwood, Delph, Holmann? we don't know how high his wages are, and even if they are high - no-one forced us to pay him that. Some want Bent to stop trying to score goals in the penalty area and instead run round the pitch like a headless chicken screaming for the ball and putting in some crosses. Some want Ireland to be Steven Gerrard, he isn't, but he is still the best creative midfielder we have and if he actually played week in week out we'd probably see a lot more from him. If Lambert isn't going to play Ireland and Bent at least 1 in 2 games when fit then we have to sell them, as it's a pointless waste of potential transfer fees and wages having either on the bench or in the squad.

didn't he go to Ajax and flop or am i thinking of someone else? surely the fact he ended up at Brentford must mean he's not rated by whoever he has played for since he left us, i'm not against us signing him, i remember most saying he was good for the reserves and youth. Just saying.

i think what we expect of Ireland is unrealistic, when he does play we look a better prospect going forward. may be we could get someone better but as it is now he is the best we have and until we start finishing at least in the top half of the table there aren't many players who would flock to join us that are better, well British ones at least.

so was he was in the stands vs Liverpool but no actual word of him being injured?

I have seen enough from Clark and Baker to suggest they are very good players, may be they should be rotated a little but I have a lot more belief in them than I did last season. I agree on Bannan and Holmann though, they are good as squad players, but not starters every week.

well Downing has confirmed he has been told he can leave and allegedly Liverpool still owe us money for him, so i'd take him back in a heartbeat. yes i know the way he left was treacherous but he was really good for us and if he can come back humble and do a good job then - i say forget the past! if Stan Staunton can do it!

Wow how awesome was that, i spent the first 15 mins just waiting for Liverpool to score as they were tearing us a new one. Benteke just gets better. Did you notice how even Bannan was shooting at goal. Sterling to did run Lowton ragged though, Lichaj was pretty solid though for all those who slate him. Baker and Herd to. Westwood, Holmann and Bannan had very little of the ball though which did worry me, Delph really seems to be a different player these days - really gets his head up and drives forward - even if with varying results. Weimann and Guzan were really great as well. Who would have thought that without Vlaar, Gabby, Bent and Ireland we could beat Liverpool at Anfield. I still hope all four players come back in but I think this is the Lambert affect we were promised, it's about the TEAM not the individual players even although maybe that doesn't extend to Benteke

Robbie Keane for just over 2 months was probably paid a hefty fee a week by us, but it was money well spent No team would want to sell itself on a capped low wage, it would be ridiculous to do that, it is all about value for money and common sense. buying players like Sidwell, Shorey, NRC, Salifou giving them 40-80k a week and then not playing them - even when we had no-one else in that position was the thing that was unforgivable. or buying mediocre English players for huge transfer fees and paying them stupid wages when they have done little to earn or justify that. I have no issue paying someone like Benteke or Bent or whoever a big wage as long as they play ever week and do the business, and i'm sure the owner thinks like that. If there is a wage policy, it's 'lets not splash money up the wall on players we don't need, rate or are not worth it'

against the form prem team this is a beautiful result

yeah it seemed like he was just getting some consistency and playing well and BAM - benched. in is weird how every game Lambert seems to get more and more cautious, i figure when Dunne and Vlaar are back Lambert will sack off some more midfielders in favour of flat back 10.

That somehow implies that Bent should be tracking back and running around like a headless chicken, he's a striker - even if he isn't doing much he is drawing defenders towards him and people have to mark him. How many times on Sat was there a cross where no-one was in the box to attack it, Benteke and Gabby were creating chances to no-one. If Ireland starts he does tend to thread balls through to him and Lowton and Bannan are getting better at crossing. We should be aspiring to be the team that can accomodate him, whilst he needs to work harder for the cause. Saying the current team squad isn't equipped to supply Bent is a piss poor excuse, it is up to Lambert to find the balance.......... if he could get Zog and Ireland doing the business then job done! I still reckon he is building the foundations before he can add the penthouse suite.

yep that does make a lot of sense, just hope we can push on and adapt with Bent in the team - but the odds seem stacked against that

and Spurs? my main issue with all the people who want Bent to leave is that weren't you the same people who were desperate for us to sign a selfish fox in the box style goal poacher, and when we get one some people were then saying 'he doesn't work hard enough, he doesn't contribute enough.' yes i get the fact we sold his supply line, but surely aside from the recent spell out of the team and crappy attitude/ego aside - Bent has pretty much done what he was bought for and scored goals, even when we have lacked a creative line. He may not be Messi, he may be not the best all round striker but aside from Defoe how many natural goal scorers are there in the league right now? Then drill that list down to ones that would play for us? It's like the moment Lambert stopped rating Bent loads of Villa fans jumped on this weird 'Bent is not good enough' bandwagon, not even seeming to consider the fact that if Benteke got injured and we'd flogged Bent.... then what? Maybe Bent isn't all that, maybe he has an attitude problem and needs to be sold, but i don't believe the way people are judging and rounding on him is fair. Look at Clark's comments today about Bent, paints him in pretty decent light, does that mean loads of you will now say Clark is wrong and by proxy 'not good enough.' and yes people are entitled to not like or want Bent in the side, but i just don't see what concrete criteria there is for this. If Lambert played Bent and he started scoring again I think many would stop saying he should be sold.

Until Bowery gets some proper game time it is impossible to say whether or not he is better or worse than Moore or Delf. I don't think we are missing much from either to be honest.

Stephen Ireland?

do you think if Lambert can get Zog flying again, if so then we might have a bit more service to Bent? Also whether or not you agree with Bent being dropped or think he should be playing it is very strange that Ireland is also not playing, i know he is a marmite player to many but it did look like he was in favour and doing pretty well, now he is playing second fiddle to Bannan and Herd, I do find this strange. People talk about the kids and our inexperienced squad but it is alarming how many players we have out of favour or injured. Hutton, Warnock both on loan with no way back, and we wil struggle to get any decent fee for either Delf - blown hot and cold at Blackpool and no idea if he has a long term future (my opinion is he belongs at that level) Dunne - probably would have been sold had he not been injured, i hope he is given a chance but no idea if he will Nzogbia - i don't think he will walk into the team when he returns and could easily see him being sold as he wasn't a regular under Lambert when fit and he's yet clicked for us. Makoun - didn't bother to return and we are no doubt subsidising his wages and will make a massive loss on him I can't see Randy bank rolling too much until the above players are either reintroduced or sold. I want Lambert to prove his managerial credentials by getting the best of Zog, Bent, Ireland, Dunne, but it may just not be possible and these players along with the others need to be sold as it feels a long time since we had a truly unified and settled squad.

yes i got carried away there, just fed up with the whole Bent fiasco, but people are entitled to love or hate him and it's no up to me to say otherwise.

it isn't fair to slate him based on today, although I agree he still has a lot to prove. It does prove though that we need Gabby playing as we definitely lost shape when he came off, but I don't think that is Bent's fault. I don't understand why we can't go the route of the 3 up front with Bent instead of Weimann, it feels as though Lambert is strangling every natural creative element we have right now.

here we go, loads of people will now claim he should be sold because we didn't win when he came on. And that he was the reason we didn't win. Because Ireland and Delph clearly did the business as well.

Guzan 7: Solid as a rock Lowton 7: Very dependable Baker 7: Really starting to look the part ClarK 7: See above Lichaj 7: Has cut out the stupid rash tackles Herd 6: Great tackling but do we need him playing there? Westwood 6: Decent enough Holmann 6: Only player in midfield to offer anything going forward Bannan 5: Not his best match Gabby 6: Does well when he gets the ball but didn't get it enough Benteke 7: The beast should have scored Subs Bent 5: Didn't get a sniff of the ball, but this doesn't mean he shouldn't play, if he plays Gabby and Benteke need to stay on Ireland 5: Passes forward, def needs to start if we are going to score more goals. Delph: Too late to rate Lambert: 6 Has got us defending brilliantly and keeping possession well as a team, but we need some creative thinking amongst all this hard work and industry. At the very least Ireland should be starting, he's proved a point that the kids are alright, now he needs to push on from that. What a awful nasty side Stoke are

I get the feeling that Lambert feels he needs to stabilise the club and get a level of performance and consistency out of the team before he steps us up a gear. Look at it like a multilayered cake and Bent, Ireland and Zog when fit are the icing on top, you can't put the icing on when the middle of the cake is not cooked properly. But what perplexes me is not that Bent starts, but the fact he doesn't even get in the squad or off the bench, when we are struggling for goals. This makes me think the money for appearences thing could be true, or he has fallen out with Lambert. Nothing he has done on the pitch justifies him being treated like this. and i do believe he could play alongside Benteke. People seem to forget how little Weimann is involved when he plays as a wide fwd, now he still makes 2 or 3 chances - and i like him, but no-one can tell me Bent would do worse in that position?

It does seem like there is an agenda here, why make bent captain then strip him of that captaincy and drop him, apart from one game Bent has hardly been any worse than anyone else, obviously he has spat the dummy out about being dropped and Lambert is showing him who is boss but really the two of them need to sack off their **** egos for the good of the team, my mates cannot believe bent isn't playing, how they see it is we lack quality yet drop on paper our best player and yet don't win matches. Maybe lambert knows he needs new players and randy has said only if you flog off the last remaining quality and high earners we have, begs the question why in the hell did we sign bent in the first place, we are are a laughing stock! What will Lambert do if we flog bent and Zog in January sign some more league one players?? Yes I do rate Westwood and Lowton but we do need some experience and quality somewhere in the team.

We largely outplay and draw with the mighty Arsenal and the match of the day dick splashes still say we are crap......... Wenger has plenty of quality players to rotate if they are tired from playing in the champ's league, always has a million **** excuses when his team play their spineless gash brand of football and don't win, and MOTD pundits blindly backing him up!

played well vs Arsenal, looks like he's getting some confidence along with the hideous tache