Ghost Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 I reckon Bent needs to start the next game. I sincerely hope that the dropping of Bent to the bench was for tactical reasons. There's no point in cutting off your nose to spite your face. While Benteke is "one for the future" I think we need Bent's efficiency in front of goal to get as many points as we can from the immediate upcoming fixtures. Use Benteke as an impact sub against tired defenders. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Banger75 Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 Agreed. He has had the kick in the trousers he probably needed. Benteke was awesome as a sub, lets see how he handles that role again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AValon Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 If Darren put himself about a bit more it may help, but that is'nt his game....we all know that. But then lets use him and supply him where he does what he does best. Benteke will need to be utilized to his strengths too and if thats as an impact sub, then so be it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chappy Posted October 9, 2012 Share Posted October 9, 2012 With Albrighton back we need Bent in the team; he was putting in some great crosses particularly against WBA which Benteke was just struggling to make and DB would have been in the right positions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newry_Villan Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 I think we are benching Bent to force his hand and request a transfer so we don't have to pay a loyalty fee to him or whatever it is. I don't mind, we have paid a lot of compo this past 2 seasons. He doesn't suit Lamberts tactics IMO but I worry who Lambert would bring in to replace him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Pangloss Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 With Albrighton back we need Bent in the team; he was putting in some great crosses particularly against WBA which Benteke was just struggling to make and DB would have been in the right positions. Albrighton seems to put one great cross in for every 5 or so poor ones. I'm not sure he's the answer but then we don't have many options in midfield. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CI Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 I can see this turning ugly tbh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
romavillan Posted October 11, 2012 VT Supporter Share Posted October 11, 2012 I think we are benching Bent to force his hand and request a transfer so we don't have to pay a loyalty fee to him or whatever it is. I don't mind, we have paid a lot of compo this past 2 seasons. He doesn't suit Lamberts tactics IMO but I worry who Lambert would bring in to replace him. i hope that isn't the case and i don't think lambert would want him out the door either to be honest. he made him captain and didn't get the response he was after so he benched him for benteke and he comes off the bench and scores. i reckon he'll start the next one as benteke missed his chance to claim a starting place, bent will be given the same chance. Similar to what happened with given if you ask me, if guzan had come in and not been top quality then given woudl be back in. competition for places, good for us i nthe long run! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ads Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 I think benching Bent was down to Gabby and Benteke mullering Man City and deserving their spot against the Albion. I think he was benched against Spurs because he flapped his gums about it. He'll start against Fulham. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ryanvilla_1994 Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 I think benching Bent was down to Gabby and Benteke mullering Man City and deserving their spot against the Albion. I think he was benched against Spurs because he flapped his gums about it. He'll start against Fulham. This. I agree with Lamberts decision to drop Bent for the last two games but he has to start against Fulham. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkyvilla Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 One always keeps sticking behind that quote. "No the type of player for his tactics". That is something which belongs to Sam Allardyce and not someone we want at Villa Park. Look at Alex Ferguson when he got Robin van Persie. Does he "fit" in with his playing pattern, certainly not, but he sure as hell went on to purchase the guy when he was available for 20M. Especially when it is a striker, whose sole mission is to score goals basically. What player would fit into his plan then? Someone who contributes a bit more in the play and wins headers? But I guess that guy wouldn't score 20 goals each season, because that player would be Radamel Falcao or even Leo Messi. Good players, especially striker in my opinion, are always welcome in a very struggling side. Darren Bent would start for perhaps 15 of the 20 clubs in the Premier League on any given day, tell me why he is not good enough for the one ranked 15th. Bent is not bigger than the club? Yet another quote which is taken out of thin air when people are struggling to find the problem and even the perpetrator. You are damn right he is not bigger than the club, but that is not the point, because I am perfectly sure he will stay in the Premier League if/when we relegate in May 2013 if this show continues. What keeps you up is a goalscorer, like Darren Bent did for us under Houllier or even Marcus Allbäck when we were seriously struggling under DOL. Not that he scored many goals, but he did score vital goals in 2003 (ish). You are talking about not doing everything to please him, but where has this situation come from? He is our best player and suddenly our manager decides not to pick him, something the media loves to write about - I guess Bent is just baffled and keeping it up in training. He can talk to journalists and tell them the truth which is his prerogative, and when he sees his replacement miss sitters he is right to feel hard done by after all. All in all; if Bent has trained poorly, kept poor behaviour, asked his agent to sound the market behind Villa's back or just not given a 100%, then fine, Lambert is right to bench him. However, we are struggling immensely in the league and we have barely scored goals - now is not the time to start experimenting with new strikers who have never shown the ability. I have huge hopes for Benteke, but right now we need a solid, proven International to score the goals so we can avoid getting caught under the relegation dotted line. And I really hope that Lambert isn't showing up to the media and the fans to let us know he is the boss just because some lazy journo decided to get on Bent's back after he was benched the first time. We will see during the next weeks when we start to play the really good teams in this league; just how good are our new youngsters and how smart was it to play everyone at the same time. Agree entirely. I can agree that he perhaps needed a kick up the arse and leaving him out at West Brom for the strikers who won against City, in fact he got the instant impact of a Bent goal. Let Bent say how disappointed he was to be left out - I really don't see why a manager would be upset about it. Start him the next week and he scores and your best striker feels like the dog's bollocks and motivated to prove that he is number 1. Leave him on the bench again and you're inclined to really piss him off. Bent doesn't need Villa, I'm sure he wants to stay but he could just as easily move on, it's no skin off his nose. But goalscorers are proven to keep teams in the Premier League. The work ethic of the other 9 outfield players has been good enough to allow the luxury of Bent to sniff around the box imo. I'm sure they would prefer their hard work to end up with someone banging the ball in the back of the net and winning points than sitters being missed and losing points all over the place as a result. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CI Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 They won't let Bent run his contract down and I can't see us offering him a new deal on mega bucks. So it's heading for trouble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AVFCforever1991 Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 Bent just wants to start and get back in the England setup.. I really hope Lambert gives him a chance. Better start next game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dudevillaisnice Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 I will be surprised if he is still with us after Jan/next season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharkyvilla Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 They won't let Bent run his contract down and I can't see us offering him a new deal on mega bucks. So it's heading for trouble. How much longer does he have on his contract? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newry_Villan Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 How much longer does he have on his contract? Well he is at the club nearly two years now, so I would assume, could be wrong though, two to three years left? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CI Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 Was it a 4.5 year deal ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EastEndVillan Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 You can not underestimate the message that it sends out to all of the squad. Firstly, if you have possession of the shirt, and play well, then you retain the shirt. Ie following a good display against Man City, Gabby & Benteke deserved to start against the Albion. The message that goes out to all the squad, play well or as instructed by the manager, then you'll keep your place. The Second message is if you try and take on the manager or the club, then don't expect to play in the next match. It doesn't matter how unintended or innocuous your words are, keep you moaning within in the club. Hence Bent dropped for Spuds. Now I'd imagine Bent to be back in the team for Fulham, and all this will have blown over, but the wider messages (as described above) will remain throughout PL's tenure, and will ensure the whole knows where they stand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr_Pangloss Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 Lambert is also known for picking the team he believes is capable of doing the job, for instance Grant Holt didn't start every game last season because Lambert felt the likes of Jackson and/or Morrison would be more effective against a certain team. Could see the same thing happening with Bent, if Lambert feels that a more physical attack (i.e. Gabby + Benteke) is in order then Bent will simply be benched. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Condimentalist Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 You can not underestimate the message that it sends out to all of the squad. Firstly, if you have possession of the shirt, and play well, then you retain the shirt. Ie following a good display against Man City, Gabby & Benteke deserved to start against the Albion. The message that goes out to all the squad, play well or as instructed by the manager, then you'll keep your place. The Second message is if you try and take on the manager or the club, then don't expect to play in the next match. It doesn't matter how unintended or innocuous your words are, keep you moaning within in the club. Hence Bent dropped for Spuds. Now I'd imagine Bent to be back in the team for Fulham, and all this will have blown over, but the wider messages (as described above) will remain throughout PL's tenure, and will ensure the whole knows where they stand. I hope you're right EEV and that it will indeed blow over. We lack quality in a big way - Bent has that. I think dropping him has potentially cost us 3 points over the past couple of games so there had better be a good reason for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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