Darren Bent

[SikhInTrinity]

Who said he wouldn't? He said he will speak with PL at end of season, plus if he handed in a TR before the season ended, I think this topic would have have been doubled overnight with abuse.

[CVByrne]

I really like Bent. He's a top lad as well as being a quality player. He's just been a casualty of the Benteke goal fest and not fitting in the new system.

I'd happily take 8mil after Benteke signed a new contract.

[momo]

 

 

 

Bent is ready to have talks with manager Paul Lambert next week. The striker insists he will not submit a transfer request but is not prepared to face another 12 months of life on the bench.

Obviously not THAT bothered or he would give up his money and leave to play football, money still more important to footballer shocker.

 

He is not a starter, he barely plays, he is on high wages, he is 29. I think he is doing the right thing.

 

Not that bothered about playing though, as he would hand in a transfer request and forego the bucks. He's either actually bothered about playing or actually bothered about money.

 

 

In the real world, Villa has a few months to find a new club for Bent. Either that or pay his wages for another year, while he is not playing. Bent is playing his card right.

[villa_shere]

Keep Bent, quality player, we would be hard pushed to sign a better striker for the money i would assume we would get for selling him.

[PieFacE]

Keep Bent, quality player, we would be hard pushed to sign a better striker for the money i would assume we would get for selling him.

 

Though, whilst we'd struggle to find a better striker, we'd easily find a better player who fits in with how we play. Which I think is key.

[villa_shere]

 

Keep Bent, quality player, we would be hard pushed to sign a better striker for the money i would assume we would get for selling him.

 

Though, whilst we'd struggle to find a better striker, we'd easily find a better player who fits in with how we play. Which I think is key.

 

But Bent can be that (expensive) plan B, hes fantastic in the box and on the shoulder of the last defender.  We already have Weimann n Gabbby, i wouldnt go shopping for another striker this summer IMO.

[Banger75]

thanks for the memories Darren.  Good luck at fulham.

[villa4europe]

he doesnt look bothered to me, was awful in his cameo vs sunderland when everything should have fallen in to place for him, instead he just sucked the energy out of our attack by pretending to be a statue for 15 minutes, didnt criticise him last year under mcleish when he was the only player in the opponents half and wasnt challenging for stuff 2ft above his head, will happily criticise him this year

 

with the £ generated by his sale and the £ saved on his wages id be disappointed if we dont sell him this summer

 

agree with the point made about him not putting in a transfer request too, he wants sympathy (and to be fair ask any fan who doesnt watch us play and he'll get it, 9/10 other fans seem to ask why we dont play him, id guess 9/10 villa fans know why we dont play him) because he's too good for our bench, i understand him wanting to go, but he'll only leave if villa pay him a few bob, he's either not that desperate or he is that greedy

[Morpheus]

How can you define him as greedy when he has clearly stated he wants to play rather than being happy sitting on the bench and pulling in a big wage.

 

We don't know why Lambert demoted Bent for Bowery but any other player in Bent's position would have filed a TR immediately after it happened or certainly at the first opportunity to move.

 

Since Lambert has come to our club Bent hasn't really had a fair crack of the wip and when he is given a fair chance elsewhere (West Ham) he will continue to do what he does best, scoring plenty of goals and I will be sad to see him leave.

Edited May 15, 2013 by Morpheus

[villa4europe]

How can you define him as greedy when he has clearly stated he wants to play rather than being happy sitting on the bench and pulling in a big wage..

 

he might not want the big wage on the bench but by the sounds of it he does want the big pay off...

 

im not buying in to his hard done by footballer routine

[AndyM3000]

 

Really is a massive shame. We cried out for a striker like Bent for years and year and years and we finally get him and he scores goals for us, then as soon as we look to be fixing our problems Young and Downing left and we struggled to really create much for him after that.

 

Its strange that we have 5 very good forwards in Bent, Benteke, Gabby, AW and on his day, Nzogbia, yet we cant play them all together.

 

Signing Benteke was very good by Lambert but at the start of the seasn I would say the one area we didn't need to work on was the attack, we had our front man in Bent what we needed to fix was the midfield, as that has shown at times this season.

dont agree with you last point. Given that lambert wasn't going to play a system that suited bent as this was too exclusive and relied on just one tactic, it was actually imperative that we did get a striker to better compliment the way in which lambert was going to set the team up to play otherwise we wouldn't have goals in the side and would definitely have been relegated.

You may come back and say that lambert should therefore have set the team up to suit bent. But that actually demonstrates why he wasn't going to do that as it is far too prescriptive and exclusive to bent. The way. He has set the team up to play is far better IMO as it brings other players into the mix and is not overly reliant on just bent.

And , by the way, I am a bent fan.

 

 

Lambert has his system that he likes and went with it but it proved very risky. Could have taken a much slower process of changing the team around and used Bent for this season and fixed other problems first after redoing the whole defence.

 

I still think we would have been good in a 4-3-3 with Bent and Gabby/Nzogbia on the wings but you would need a proper attacking midfielder to play, which we didn't have. You say it wouldn't be good to be reliant on Bent but I think we are in the same situation with Benteke now and this system.

 

Bent will be sold, probably to Fulham/Everton. I wouldn't even be surprised to see him go back to Spurs. Defoe seems to be injured a lot and Adeybayor is shockingly bad for 90% of the season.

[Wainy316]

Good luck Darren.  No hard feelings, he just hasn't fit the mould.  I think this interview outlines a good attitude and genuine affinity for the club.

He was fantastic under Houllier.  When he has proper wingers playing the ball in front of him he is deadly.

[DamsonwoodVillan]

As happy as I am that Benteke has been such a big player for us, I do have a flicker of disappointment with Lambert over DB to be honest. I think he gave him the captaincy but then stripped him of it very quickly.

Bent and Benteke together didn't work out in the Southampton away game, and then that was just the end of him to be honest. Quality player. Will always be tinged with a bit of sadness when he goes he could gave been a legend here.

[villa89]

Keep Bent, quality player, we would be hard pushed to sign a better striker for the money i would assume we would get for selling him.

 

Its clear the manager doesn't fancy him at all, no point keeping him to sit on the bench. bye bye bent.

[AVFCforever1991]

How much is Bent on?

[Oaks]

It's a shame really and it's all down to a turn over of 3 managers in 3 years, Houllier knew what he wanted to do with him and he was excellent, even sice Houllier left he managed 9 in 22 for McLeish even when he was isolated.

In modern football you need more than a poacher, and I think it's why Lambert doesn't rate him. I also think he's lost a bit of sharpness since hs injury, plus the amazing success of Benteke he has to leave. He hasn't really moaned and I don't mind players who want to go just to play football. He's no Wayne Bridge.

I still think there will be quite a few clubs in for him, and goals still cost a decent wedge.

[Butterfingers]

When we signed him,like most Villa fans,I thought we had great value in the Milner money & if someone had offered Bent in a straight swap for Milner,I would have taken it.

 

Theres no doubt that his goals helped keep us up under Houlier but with supply coming from Walker,Young,Downing & Albrighton,we were always going to create a lot of chances.

 

The following season the 3 main supply lines had gone & Albrighton faded dramaticly.To add to this,AM as manager doesn't help any attacking midfielder or striker & as previously said,Bent became isolated on his own,usually receiving hardly any touches of the bal,let alone a chance at goal.

 

This season,nobody could argue that a straight pick between Benteke & Bent will always result in the latter being left on the bench.I actually thought the partnership at Southampton looked good in the first half & there was a chance just after half time where one of them (I think Bent) should have scored to make it 2-0.Our defence then did its usual party piece & the rest is history-Maybe if that goal had gone in,the season would have been different although I'm a massive fan of the 3 pronged attack with the right players on either side of Benteke.

 

Bent would be great cover for Benteke but is way too good to be on the bench all season-If he wants to go,he would go with my blessing & thanks for his contribution to our club in 3 very difficult and contrasting seasons.

[R.I.C.O.]

How much is Bent on?

 

He must be the highest earner at the club. £80k a week I reckon.

 

I'm 100% certain he'll be sold in the summer, you could sell him for this reason alone.

[villa-revolution]

Darren Bent is a win win situation. If we sell him we have good money (8M if reports are to be believed) that can hopefully be reinvested into a more suitable replacement that fits into Lambert's playing philosophies. If we keep him we have a quality player who is a proven goalscorer that may still be a big asset to this club.

 

Also, to his eternal credit Bent has not rocked the boat at any time ever or spit his dummy out whilst at Villa Park & you have to admire him for that considering just how much of a  desperate struggle we were in & how he realised this fact & put his own problems to one side for the greater good of the team.

 

I personally would like to keep Bent but if he goes then I wish him well except ofcourse for when or if ever he finds himself in the opposing team.

[Woodytom]

Darren Bent is a win win situation. If we sell him we have good money (8M if reports are to be believed) that can hopefully be reinvested into a more suitable replacement that fits into Lambert's playing philosophies. If we keep him we have a quality player who is a proven goalscorer that may still be a big asset to this club.

 

Also, to his eternal credit Bent has not rocked the boat at any time ever or spit his dummy out whilst at Villa Park & you have to admire him for that considering just how much of a  desperate struggle we were in & how he realised this fact & put his own problems to one side for the greater good of the team.

 

I personally would like to keep Bent but if he goes then I wish him well except ofcourse for when or if ever he finds himself in the opposing team.

 

 

Well there are rumours of bust ups with Lambert so I wouldnt be too sure he hasnt rocked the boat. Wish I got credit for going to work and not being an arse. Seems thats all you have to do to gain credit as a footballer.