Mantis Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 To be honest I don't think it matters how often or well Bent plays he's never going to get back into the England team with that dinosaur Hodgson in charge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morpheus Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 For too long now Bent has been assured of his place and his performances before being dropped showed that. I'm still very much on the fence concerning Lambert, but i do applaud what he has done here. It took guts to drop Given as well and it sends out the right message to the players. You only keep your place in the team if you perform and if you don't, then warm the bench. Its the way it should be and although it could never be enforced, i'd also dock the player's wages for performances such as against Southampton. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andym Posted October 11, 2012 Share Posted October 11, 2012 i thought his performances before being dropped were actually very good. the signing of benteke, gabby back to fitness etc looked to have given him a kick up the backside. his all round game against newcastle and swansea in particular was excellent. also, when he is in the team we score more goals and get more points. up until january under houllier we were rubbish. then we signed bent and i dont think its an exaggeration to say that saved our season. under mcleish we were poor all season in terms of goals and points, but at the end of the season when bent was injured we actually got worse, we were dreadful those last 12 games. last 2 seasons (and 7 games this year) in the league: with bent - 45 games; 58 points, 57 scored, 62 conceded without - 38 games, 33 points, 34 scored, 63 conceded. pretty similar amount of games, but a large difference in points and goals scored. the goals conceded was also very surprising. obviously a basic comparison that doesnt take into account where bent would have been subbed off and then we went on to win, or came on with a few mins left when the game was obviously already won. however i cant recall that happening too often, and i think its pretty obvious from watching games that overall we carry more goal scoring potency when he is on the pitch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morpheus Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 If his performances before being dropped 'were actually very good' why did Lambert drop him and strip him of the captaincy? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
villan_007 Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 If his performances before being dropped 'were actually very good' why did Lambert drop him and strip him of the captaincy? He stripped him of the captaincy so he could concentrate on scoring goals - I agree, plus he's just not captain material. He dropped him because he is the new manager, with new players and wanted to see what the rest of the squad could do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CI Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 Giving him the armband in the first place was a bit silly Lambert showed some inexperience in that one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
briny_ear Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 It was more than silly in my book. It was quite bizarre. Benty ain't captain material. It was even more odd to take it away so quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ulver Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 Lambert's made a pigs ear of this whole saga. Giving him the armband was weird, not for any reason other than a striker rarely makes a good captain mind. Dropping him once, ok. Maybe he had formation reasons, but twice, utterly daft. Lambert is still green behind the ears at this level so for his sake, and more so ours i hope he's got this little power trip out his system early. Onwards 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 I think pl is struggling to fit Bent into the system he wants to employ, no power trip just as simple as that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Papillon Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 Darren Bent on a bad day is better than all of our strikers on a good day, easy as that. He is our only stand-out player and should play every game when fit, because he can score goals from nothing. And does he not fit into a system? Well, with great players you can shape them into a new system. However, with mediocre players you have to play to their strenghts and serve the best ones. Feed Darren Bent and he will score goals for any team, a hard-working Andreas Weimann and "one in five" Gabriel Agbonlahor will not and should be rested from time to time. I do think this situation is blown out of proportions and Bent will play most games this season, even Lambert will understand that as soon as he is finished with marking his territory to the press and us fans. I would say that without Darren Bent we will be likely candidates to relegate together with Wigan, Reading, Southampton and Norwich. With him, we hopefully will finish comfortably at 15th with status secured a few rounds before the bitter end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyM3000 Posted October 12, 2012 Share Posted October 12, 2012 Darren Bent on a bad day is better than all of our strikers on a good day, easy as that. He is our only stand-out player and should play every game when fit, because he can score goals from nothing. Couldn't disagree with this more. On a bad day when he doesn't score he wont be involved at all and more than likely our worse player on the pitch, he doesn't stand out at all in any game IMO. I think hes only scored 2+ goals for us in a game once. He cant score from nothing either, hes usually just in the right place at the right time and needs people to provide for him. Players like Gabby/Benteke look much more likely to score from nothing. I think he was right to be benched again v Spurs but Id put him back in v Fulham. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CI Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 There is no I in team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morpheus Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 He stripped him of the captaincy so he could concentrate on scoring goals - I agree, plus he's just not captain material. He dropped him because he is the new manager, with new players and wanted to see what the rest of the squad could do. Nope. He took the captaincy off Bent due to not setting a good example on the pitch. Secondly he was dropped due to his performances. You don't drop your best striker at the start of any season 'to see what the rest of the squad could do.' You look at the squad during pre-season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lp_villa830 Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 Couldn't disagree with this more. On a bad day when he doesn't score he wont be involved at all and more than likely our worse player on the pitch, he doesn't stand out at all in any game IMO. I think hes only scored 2+ goals for us in a game once. He cant score from nothing either, hes usually just in the right place at the right time and needs people to provide for him. Players like Gabby/Benteke look much more likely to score from nothing. I think he was right to be benched again v Spurs but Id put him back in v Fulham. They may look more likely to score, but the facts are they don't. Despite what he adds or doesnt to the all round game, with Bent in the team we have more chance of scoring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mantis Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 Nope. He took the captaincy off Bent due to not setting a good example on the pitch.I don't recall Lambert saying that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghost Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 There is no I in team. There is in 'Win' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VillaChris Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 I think PL probably wanted to give Vlaar the captiancy straight away but didn't as that may have upset the squad giving it to a new player and someone who's never played in the prem so waited a few games. Remember at Wolves last summer, they took the armband off Karl Henry and gave it to Roger Johnson who'd just signed which didn't impress the squad. Pretty sure Bent was captain at Charlton for a season and might have been for a few games at Sunderland so I don't think it was the worst move as our squad isn't exactly brimming with leadership material. I imagine Bent will start at Fulham (but then I thought that at Spurs). Don't forget Benteke and Weimann have been away all week and normally it's naturally for clubs to leave players on the bench who've been away playing internationals so I think Bent and Gabby will be the front two at Fulham. Long term I think Bent will leave next summer, just the way it seems to be heading I think. Edit: BTW Darren Bent on a bad day is touching the ball 4 times at West Ham or whatever ridiculous stat it was. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul33 Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 Darren Bent on a bad day is better than all of our strikers on a good day, easy as that. He is our only stand-out player and should play every game when fit, because he can score goals from nothing. That has to be the most bizarre post I've ever seen on here !!! Bent has been absolutely average since he joined Villa and converting occasional chances from under the crossbar does not make him standout. As for scoring from nothing ..... you must be having a laugh ! He does nothing outside of the six yard box - he is slow, poor in the air, has no strength in holding up the ball and never scores from distance ...... he just converts easy chances that a 12-year old would convert. Get rid in January unless he is going to wake up, stop sulking, stop with the big "I am" and actually change his game so that he adds some genuine value. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mantis Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 That has to be the most bizarre post I've ever seen on here !!! Bent has been absolutely average since he joined Villa and converting occasional chances from under the crossbar does not make him standout. As for scoring from nothing ..... you must be having a laugh ! He does nothing outside of the six yard box - he is slow, poor in the air, has no strength in holding up the ball and never scores from distance ...... he just converts easy chances that a 12-year old would convert. Get rid in January unless he is going to wake up, stop sulking, stop with the big "I am" and actually change his game so that he adds some genuine value. Lol. 22 goals in 49 appearances. So average... And if Bent only scores "chances that a 12-year old would convert" how come we were really struggling for goals before he signed in the 2010/11 season? With Downing, Young and Albrighton we were creating plenty of chances that season but couldn't score many until Bent arrived. Even with the former two gone and the latter off-form he's still managed a decent goal return, especially last season under our most negative manager in history. Honestly, all these people that have been moaning that he should be sold over the past year or so will be very sorry if he actually is sold, unless of course we manage to sign an equally prolific goalscorer, but that won't be cheap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lp_villa830 Posted October 13, 2012 Share Posted October 13, 2012 That has to be the most bizarre post I've ever seen on here !!! Bent has been absolutely average since he joined Villa and converting occasional chances from under the crossbar does not make him standout. As for scoring from nothing ..... you must be having a laugh ! He does nothing outside of the six yard box - he is slow, poor in the air, has no strength in holding up the ball and never scores from distance ...... he just converts easy chances that a 12-year old would convert. Get rid in January unless he is going to wake up, stop sulking, stop with the big "I am" and actually change his game so that he adds some genuine value. Why haven't Gabby and Benteke been scorin all this easy goals then. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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