Darren Bent

[TrentVilla]

He's hardly obese is he? I agree he really should be in top condition but I'm sure he wants to get back to his best so it wont take him too long to get it off.

 

I was never happy with the way he was treated by Villa, unless something happened that I don't know I can't see what other than getting paid a lot of money he did to upset Lambert. It's not DB's fault that Villa offered him a good contract and besides I still believe he has given this club value for money as without his goals we were in serious trouble of being relegated under GH until he arrived which would have cost us much more in lost income.

 

Benteke will be first choice when he is fit but we all know that the only reason he is still wearing our colours is because of a serious injury, he will be off as soon as he can (January?). Slag off DB all you want but we may well need him more than some of you would like and for that reason I'm not willing to give up on him yet.

Oh not this treated him badly rubbish again.

He hasn't been treated badly he has been treated like a professional footballer.

[Pelle]

Won't take long to get back to fitness? He's had a whole summer of pre season. That training is most likely tougher than the training during the season. If he ain't fit now, it won't be easier to get fit during the season. It can be done, no doubt, but I don't think he has that interest.

[dont_do_it_doug.]

In my opinion it is disgusting somebody on 90 THOUSAND POUNDS A WEEK turns up for work at a premier league club being that overweight.

It's the equivalent of me turning up to work shirt out half in half out, covered in coffee, piss on my shoes and Lasagne in my hair.

Outrageous.

I call that "Monday morning".

[SeanO]

 

He's hardly obese is he? I agree he really should be in top condition but I'm sure he wants to get back to his best so it wont take him too long to get it off.

 

I was never happy with the way he was treated by Villa, unless something happened that I don't know I can't see what other than getting paid a lot of money he did to upset Lambert. It's not DB's fault that Villa offered him a good contract and besides I still believe he has given this club value for money as without his goals we were in serious trouble of being relegated under GH until he arrived which would have cost us much more in lost income.

 

Benteke will be first choice when he is fit but we all know that the only reason he is still wearing our colours is because of a serious injury, he will be off as soon as he can (January?). Slag off DB all you want but we may well need him more than some of you would like and for that reason I'm not willing to give up on him yet.

Oh not this treated him badly rubbish again.

He hasn't been treated badly he has been treated like a professional footballer.

 

 

Okay Trent as you seem to be the font of all knowledge on this forum do you know something that we don't?

 

Did Bent do something he shouldn't?

 

All I recall is he was being paid more than Lerner or Lambert was happy with so they tried to bomb him out but if that's not the case and you know more then let us know, at least that way we might be able to understand why you dislike DB so much.

[Ulver]

The only thing Bent's ever done wrong at Villa is cost too much and sign a contract giving him a wage the club offered him

 

That's it

Edited September 6, 2014 by Ulver

[romavillan]

The only thing Bent's ever done wrong at Villa is cost too much and sign a contract giving him a wage the club offered him

 

That's it

 

That and miss a series of great chances when being given his chance to stake a claim to be a starter.

He was given the captaincy and given the chance to prove he was worth the money and prove he could be an experienced leader. That didn't work out, he's had numerous chances since then and a whole season at Fulham to prove he can still do it.

[bannedfromHandV]

He's hardly obese is he? I agree he really should be in top condition but I'm sure he wants to get back to his best so it wont take him too long to get it off.

 

I was never happy with the way he was treated by Villa, unless something happened that I don't know I can't see what other than getting paid a lot of money he did to upset Lambert. It's not DB's fault that Villa offered him a good contract and besides I still believe he has given this club value for money as without his goals we were in serious trouble of being relegated under GH until he arrived which would have cost us much more in lost income.

 

Benteke will be first choice when he is fit but we all know that the only reason he is still wearing our colours is because of a serious injury, he will be off as soon as he can (January?). Slag off DB all you want but we may well need him more than some of you would like and for that reason I'm not willing to give up on him yet.

Oh not this treated him badly rubbish again.

He hasn't been treated badly he has been treated like a professional footballer.

I'd love to be treated so badly.

I mean earning £80k p/w for doing not an awful lot, we really are tyrants aren't we

[StanBalaban]

 

 

He's hardly obese is he? I agree he really should be in top condition but I'm sure he wants to get back to his best so it wont take him too long to get it off.

 

I was never happy with the way he was treated by Villa, unless something happened that I don't know I can't see what other than getting paid a lot of money he did to upset Lambert. It's not DB's fault that Villa offered him a good contract and besides I still believe he has given this club value for money as without his goals we were in serious trouble of being relegated under GH until he arrived which would have cost us much more in lost income.

 

Benteke will be first choice when he is fit but we all know that the only reason he is still wearing our colours is because of a serious injury, he will be off as soon as he can (January?). Slag off DB all you want but we may well need him more than some of you would like and for that reason I'm not willing to give up on him yet.

Oh not this treated him badly rubbish again.

He hasn't been treated badly he has been treated like a professional footballer.

 

 

Okay Trent as you seem to be the font of all knowledge on this forum do you know something that we don't?

 

Did Bent do something he shouldn't?

 

All I recall is he was being paid more than Lerner or Lambert was happy with so they tried to bomb him out but if that's not the case and you know more then let us know, at least that way we might be able to understand why you dislike DB so much.

 

The idea of the 'bombing' of the high earners was not to simply ostracise them, but to get them off the payroll all together. In isolation, it wasn't simply the amount they were getting paid, but more to do with the value they represented. Having met with Alan Hutton personally in the summer, he doesn't lay this decision at Paul Lambert's door FWIW. 

The problem that the decision maker did not envisage was that no other clubs really wanted them either. What does that say?

 

In Darren Bent's case, the rest of the team wasn't good enough to accommodate his playing style - we were a poor outfit and Bent put us down to 10 men due to his inability to contribute to build-up play. That wasn't the biggest problem when the service was there, but it wasn't and, due to the talent of the team, he was no longer a fit. Remember, he was given a chance initially as Lambert made him club captain.

 

Unfortunately for Bent, his USP of being a finisher also seemed to allude him (although I think his conversion ratio in his pomp is also somewhat exaggerated). Don't forget that when Fulham were paying his wages, he barely made the team under 3 different managers.

 

It's not DB's fault he was offered a huge contract, but that contract was, and is still being honoured even if Darren Bent's 'promise' of goals are not. Not sure how that can be viewed as harsh treatment?

I hope he bangs in a couple anytime he's on the pitch, but once Kozak and Benteke are fit I'd be surprised if he makes the bench.

[dont_do_it_doug.]

 

The only thing Bent's ever done wrong at Villa is cost too much and sign a contract giving him a wage the club offered him

 

That's it

 

That and miss a series of great chances when being given his chance to stake a claim to be a starter.

He was given the captaincy and given the chance to prove he was worth the money and prove he could be an experienced leader. That didn't work out, he's had numerous chances since then and a whole season at Fulham to prove he can still do it.

 

 

There in lies the problem. 

 

In isolation his miss against Hull wasn't "bad", though he should have at least hit the target. Strikers go through days like the one he had against Orient too. His miss against Bradford in the cup last season, at such a crucial moment, is one that again in isolation you can forgive. Shit happens... but there's a theme developing here no? Chance after chance, miss after miss. Why should Darren Bent be treated any differently to any other player who fails to grasp their opportunity to stake a claim when it comes? 

 

That and yes, he's in poor shape for a professional footballer. Not obese no, but it's not good enough frankly. Couple the two together and why do people still think he deserves yet another shot?

[HanoiVillan]

I agree with most of the above. Photographs are a bad way of judging someone's weight, generally, but I think even his defenders on here would struggle to say he's in tip-top shape. And in terms of form, he just hasn't shown it for too long. There's no real reason to believe he'll suddenly start now, 3 years after his last purple patch, when all the evidence in front of our eyes suggests he's in no form at all. If anyone believed he could do it again, they'd have already purchased him. 

[Tomaszk]

I think I'd have Grant Holt ahead of him at the moment.

[juanpabloangel18]

 

Darren Bent isn't on 90k per week

No he isn't, it's around £80k.

 

 

We gave him a 5 year deal in 2011 for 80k? News to me.

[heid3ster]

The only thing Bent's ever done wrong at Villa is cost too much and sign a contract giving him a wage the club offered him

 

That's it

 

And not be very good at football after his first season.

[VillanousOne]

I think what stuck in my mind is he went from club captain to not even making the squad, no-one can justify Jordan Bowery keeping him off the bench.

Even if he wasn't good enough, or the team around him was played in a formation that couldn't accommodate him, he should have been kept as sub.

 

Yes his form was patchy, he missed some crucial chances but I remember after months on the sidelines he still managed to score in his last game before he move to Fullham he scored.

He was mishandled in a ridiculous manner and his transfer value dropped like a stone as a result, even if he was overpaid and not the player we wanted him to be.

 

I stand by Lambert as he is our manager, but the long line of crap players now out on loan and the fact he's brought back the bomb squad just shows he makes some shocking judgement calls and the Jordan Bowery episode was one of many.

[praisedmambo]

I think what stuck in my mind is he went from club captain to not even making the squad, no-one can justify Jordan Bowery keeping him off the bench.

Even if he wasn't good enough, or the team around him was played in a formation that couldn't accommodate him, he should have been kept as sub.

Yes his form was patchy, he missed some crucial chances but I remember after months on the sidelines he still managed to score in his last game before he move to Fullham he scored.

He was mishandled in a ridiculous manner and his transfer value dropped like a stone as a result, even if he was overpaid and not the player we wanted him to be.

I stand by Lambert as he is our manager, but the long line of crap players now out on loan and the fact he's brought back the bomb squad just shows he makes some shocking judgement calls and the Jordan Bowery episode was one of many.

He and the other bomb squad members were not in the manager's plans. Why? I think the principle reason, which is something we all surely understand, is that the club was making huge unsustainable losses. Coupled to that fact Bent was like a ghost in the team when he played. You might mention he scored when he returned at the end of the season, but bar scoring he was the usual invisible player, and the team seemed to suffer as a result - like plenty of the games he played.

What you call a shocking judgement call doesn't seem one to me, because I still have yet to see what Bent has offered since his first season - to any club. Like it or not but managers of big and small clubs alike leave high earners not in their plans to train away from the first team. That's how you make them know they need to find a new club if they want to play football. Not to mention that if you look at it from the club's perspective that we'd be saving however many million a year not having to pay the wages of someone offering little and who was, most significantly, miles behind Benteke in effectiveness for the team. And as the club was losing so much money Lambert had to make decisions with the playing staff to get players off the wage bill. The bomb squad might have been disbanded, but there were a few players moved on...Ireland, Warnock spring to mind, also Bent and his wages for one year at Fulham, and Hutton with his few loans, Given to Boro.

When Lambert came we were losing £50-odd million a year. You have to make calls to sort that out. He did, we're better. And just imagine if the wages on people like Bent and Given we're being used on players that add something to the team...maybe 'those' players could have helped make the last two seasons a bit more bearable.

Edited September 7, 2014 by praisedmambo

[praisedmambo]

Out of the bomb squad members the only one that looks harsh is Alan Hutton. But maybe I wouldn't think that if I saw his wages.

[Butterfingers]

A couple of observations re Bent.

 

Firstly, I don't recall anyone questioning the fee or wages at the time he signed. Secondly, it is common for players to start to "fill out" at around the 30 age mark. Some manage to get over this with their style of play. I would imagine for Bent, who's biggest asset appeared to be playing off the last man, that margin of speed and mobility is vital. "Filling out" has been disasterous for Bents game.

 

I do think that its unfair to judge players on cameo performances and a run of 10 or so games is needed before opinions may be formed. I remember the 1st half at Southampton a couple of years ago, the Bent/Benteke combination showed great promise. In hindsight, that was the beginning of the end for DB at Villa. Its hard to see a way back for him now, given the players that we have.

[Woody1000]

A couple of observations re Bent.

Firstly, I don't recall anyone questioning the fee or wages at the time he signed. Secondly, it is common for players to start to "fill out" at around the 30 age mark. Some manage to get over this with their style of play. I would imagine for Bent, who's biggest asset appeared to be playing off the last man, that margin of speed and mobility is vital. "Filling out" has been disasterous for Bents game.

I do think that its unfair to judge players on cameo performances and a run of 10 or so games is needed before opinions may be formed. I remember the 1st half at Southampton a couple of years ago, the Bent/Benteke combination showed great promise. In hindsight, that was the beginning of the end for DB at Villa. Its hard to see a way back for him now, given the players that we have.

See, that Southampton game that you mention sums Darren Bent up for me......Scored a goal, and then proceeded to do nothing else for the rest of the game which ultimately contributed to our defeat.

We lost the game 4-1, but Darren scored our goal so he's justifying his place in the team right? That's what all his fans would say.

I did not realise what a lazy player he was when he first joined the club, but after seeing game after game pass him by, I just can't stand seeing the guy in claret and blue anymore if I'm honest.

Of course I don't blame him for earning the wage that he does, and I don't blame him for 'sitting on it'. It's just frustrating how poorly managed that our finances were back when it was handed out.

Again, it just makes you think where we could be right now if things had been managed better financially from 2006, considering the money that has been put in during the last 8 years, but that's for another thread.

I think Darren will be off to the MLS next year when his contract runs out, as I think that's the only place that he will earn anywhere near what he earns now as I can't see an English club offering him much.

[Swerbs]

There's no way a team in our position can give a misfiring and unfit Bent a run of 10 games.

[Butterfingers]

I know-Which is why I said that it would be hard to see a way back for him.