He could find himself playing in the championship next season! Saying that, villa have got some very good players (bar emile heskey) so they should be ok. Strange move if you ask me
Did his mum not get some racist abuse up there. I know it's easy to say things like that should be brushed off but it could've affected him and his family.
[cite]Posted By: WSS[/cite]Did his mum not get some racist abuse up there. I know it's easy to say things like that should be brushed off but it could've affected him and his family.
You're right, WSS. It was at Wigan, but the abuse came from a Sunderland fan.
If it does happen he'll score a lot of goals for Villa. Can see him thriving off service from Young, Downing and Albrighton.
[cite]Posted By: dabos[cite]If it does happen he'll score a lot of goals for Villa. Can see him thriving off service from Young, Downing and Albrighton.
Agreed...as long as they can keep hold of Young and Downing. Both have been the subject of interest elsewhere.
Interestingly, my Sunderland supporting work-colleague has just pointed out to me that Sunderland's best spell this season coincided with the time Bent was out injured.
You should have seen the poor sods face when I told him Bent was going. He looked like he was going to cry bless him.
This is when things like Twitter become a problem for footballers as the amount of abuse that will be levelled at him from Sunderland fans will be pretty extreme now.
[cite]Posted By: Curb_It[/cite]Why - did other bids come in for him when he was with us that he turned down?
West Ham did half way through our relegation season.
I never expected him to stay once we were relegated. We needed the money for one thing, and he wanted to play for England. As a comparison, when West Ham were relegated, Defoe requested a transfer the next day. Bent never did, though I'm sure he knew clubs would be in for him and he'd eventually leave.
I don't know so much about loyal - what he was (with us, anyway) was professional when we had to sell him. He just quietly let the club get on with it.
He was obviously unhappy at Spurs & just wanted to get away (hence the frustrated tweets)
I never expected him to stay either and he did whats best for himself, kept quiet and let us think he wanted to stay but he had to go at the club needed the money.
Seems nice enough but he doesnt appear to care about us now. We are in his past.
[cite]Posted By: Curb_It[/cite]I never expected him to stay either and he did whats best for himself, kept quiet and let us think he wanted to stay but he had to go at the club needed the money.
Seems nice enough but he doesnt appear to care about us now. We are in his past.
He mentioned Chris Powell being a top bloke and he'll do well here.
Very surprised he's leaving thought he was enjoying himself up there.
[cite]Posted By: LargeAddick[/cite]Wouldn't surprise me if Liverpool don't get involved. If not I think Villa are a better side than Sunderland long term.
Qualify "Long Term".
I think things have changed big time. No one can consider themselves a "Big Club" anymore. It is quite possible, albiet very unlikey, that Villa, Liverpool and West Ham are relegated this season.
Where do they go from there? Who knows? Ok they get parachutes etc and probably all 3 would be straight up again. But to what? Not to Champions League or Europa etc.
At the moment Sunderland are a club with more of a secured future than Villa.
Yes I'm very shocked by his decision. And if i were a Sunderland fan i would be feel absolutely gutted right now. Like i did the day he left Charlton... but then we knew that was coming. This has come completely out of the blue for them.
Bit unfair Curb It. I think he was a great pro for us (never mind probably the best striker we’ve had in my lifetime). When we got relegated he could have thrown his toys out of the pram, many players do in that situation. However he knew bids would be coming for him so he bided his time and went to Spurs. He needed the move and we needed the money, but thanks to his professionalism we were able to conclude the deal and get the maximum value. If he had started kicking off we’d never have got £16m for him and would be in an even worse state than we are now.
Im not saying he wasn't a great pro when with us. But What professionalism? He kept quiet whilst the deals were being done, knowing full well it was going on as there was no way he was going to be playing in the Champ.
Again, he cares very little for Charlton these days and that saddens me.
[cite]Posted By: Curb_It[/cite]Im not saying he wasn't a great pro when with us. But What professionalism? He kept quiet whilst the deals were being done, knowing full well it was going on as there was no way he was going to be playing in the Champ.
Again, he cares very little for Charlton these days and that saddens me.
I’m not sure how you know that he cares very little for us though ? Perhaps you know him personally ? I certainly don’t so I have no knowledge of his inner mind, but I’m not sure what you expect from him ? Do you want him to go round in a Charlton shirt every day or light himself on fire in despair every time we get relegated ? He came to Charlton, we paid him well and he performed to the very best of his ability with fantastic results. Then when the time to leave he did so with dignity ensuring the best possible value for the club. I think that is the very definition of professionalism and one a standard many of his colleagues fail to live up to.
[cite]Posted By: Curb_It[/cite]Im not saying he wasn't a great pro when with us. But What professionalism? He kept quiet whilst the deals were being done, knowing full well it was going on as there was no way he was going to be playing in the Champ.
Again, he cares very little for Charlton these days and that saddens me.
With you 100% Curb_it
Never did, and still don't think he's that good.
sorry can't agree with that last statement, his goal record in the past 3/4 years is up there with most (without me actually bothering to check admittedly!), he'll score goals in any side in the prem.
Comments
Because he's not happy?
We know that Benty's pretty loyal and conducts himself professionally.
Maybe he's just unsettled in the North East.
You're right, WSS. It was at Wigan, but the abuse came from a Sunderland fan.
If it does happen he'll score a lot of goals for Villa. Can see him thriving off service from Young, Downing and Albrighton.
Agreed...as long as they can keep hold of Young and Downing. Both have been the subject of interest elsewhere.
Interestingly, my Sunderland supporting work-colleague has just pointed out to me that Sunderland's best spell this season coincided with the time Bent was out injured.
You should have seen the poor sods face when I told him Bent was going. He looked like he was going to cry bless him.
Do you think he's loyal? I dont particularly.
And he hung on at Spurs, despite people there constantly trashing him, including the manager.
Just from reading some of his tweets and a couple of stories I've heard - he's no Chris Powell.
I never expected him to stay once we were relegated. We needed the money for one thing, and he wanted to play for England. As a comparison, when West Ham were relegated, Defoe requested a transfer the next day. Bent never did, though I'm sure he knew clubs would be in for him and he'd eventually leave.
He was obviously unhappy at Spurs & just wanted to get away (hence the frustrated tweets)
Seems nice enough but he doesnt appear to care about us now. We are in his past.
Can't blame him really, its not as though he supported us as a youngster. Good luck to him but do feel sorry for the Sunderland fans, who I like.
He mentioned Chris Powell being a top bloke and he'll do well here.
Very surprised he's leaving thought he was enjoying himself up there.
Qualify "Long Term".
I think things have changed big time. No one can consider themselves a "Big Club" anymore. It is quite possible, albiet very unlikey, that Villa, Liverpool and West Ham are relegated this season.
Where do they go from there? Who knows? Ok they get parachutes etc and probably all 3 would be straight up again. But to what? Not to Champions League or Europa etc.
At the moment Sunderland are a club with more of a secured future than Villa.
Behave Ross, I nearly spat my coffee all over my keyboard when I saw the words "Heskey" & "brilliant" in the same sentence.
Again, he cares very little for Charlton these days and that saddens me.
With you 100% Curb_it
Never did, and still don't think he's that good.
sorry can't agree with that last statement, his goal record in the past 3/4 years is up there with most (without me actually bothering to check admittedly!), he'll score goals in any side in the prem.