If it wasn’t immediately obvious, the player in question wears the number 39 shirt for Villa and has, if you look at his contribution, been the predominate reason why we are in 9th position and not languishing in the relegation places. Speaking personally, the signature of Bent sparked something in me that no other recent transfer has ever done. To have a classic “number 9” up front for us after so many years of wanting was absolutely music to my ears.
Anyone who has watched Villa for any length of time will know that we have been a “nearly” team for the fact that we always lacked that 20 goals a season man in the team. With the removal of Juan Pablo Angel’s season where he broke that barrier, Villa have to look back on the time that Dwight Yorke played for the club to find another man who has achieved the hallowed goal of 20 in a season.
Too much money? On the contrary…
At the time of Darren’s purchase there were many who said it was “a panic buy”, that he is “just a goal poacher”, or that it was “too much money”. Looking at it purely as a calculated risk, the £18m spent on Darren Bent was less than half of the £38m that Villa would have lost by falling out of the top flight. A large outlay it may have been, but that transfer is certainly reaping the benefits now.
Admittedly part of one of the statements – that Bent is a goal poacher – is perhaps true. Certainly looking back at Darren’s career, as well as speaking to fans of his former clubs, you will see that many of his goals have come from within the penalty area. However, is that really any form of criticism? Bent was signed to score goals (and in another way, take the goals from another team) and, to that end, his transfer has been nothing short of a monumental success. Looking at his development since he has been at the club, and especially with his link up with Ashley Young and Stewart Downing, there are some extremely positive signs that Darren can become more than just a goal scorer. Looking at how he tracks back now in games, and plays deeper, are both great examples of how “Darren Bent the striker” can become “Darren Bent the complete player”.
So to the point of it being a “panic buy”. Villa were certainly in a precarious position when Darren was bought, but I don’t think this alone was the motivation for Gerard Houllier to buy him. Of course when you are in the bottom half of the table scoring goals is even more important than when you are many points ahead of your rivals, but panic was not really the order of the day. Panic would have been to go and spend £50m on Torres (a crocked player), or £35m on Carroll (a player who represents a large risk given his lack of experience). £18m for one of the top 3 goal scorers over the past 3 years? A comparative snip.
Some might say that it is slightly premature to say Darren Bent is a Villa success story, but the very statistic that proves he is is the goals scored column. Darren Bent has managed to become to the top scorer for the club in three months, which both shows him up as an excellent forward, as well as showing up the Villa team for being amazingly lacklustre in the final third. On the evidence so far, Bent’s name will be sung from the Holte for many years to come.
Underlying evidence of the board’s backing
On an aside from directly talking about Bent’s own feats, one can also take from this that the offer of a “£30m signing” that was touted at the start of Martin O’Neill’s reign was certainly not pie in the sky. The wage bill has been discussed to death so I don’t need to recover it, but once it is resolved we could even see another £20m+ player in claret and blue next year.
So on to you – do you agree that Bent has been the best purchase of the past 10 years? If not, who do you think has been?
The Author
