In many ways, Darren Bent is a stereotypical number nine. He`s got the finishing ability to be the ‘finale` to almost any team`s attack, a man who can convert the chances his teammates create. Yet, this summer, the 29-year-old`s stock is lower than ever. At 29, he should be in his goalscoring prime, but instead mid-table clubs are haggling over a fee of less than double figures for a player who`s scored 149 league goals in his career to date.
It wasn`t supposed to be like this for Mr Bent. In January 2011, Bent was destined to become the next Holte End hero. He was the man who was signed for a club record fee, and he was going to drag us out of the mire and fire us back up the table, winning hearts along the way with his prolific record. “We haven`t had a number 9 like this for a long time” was the general consensus of the Villa faithful, and we were right.
Scoring the only goal in a win against Manchester City on a cold winter evening was the perfect start. “This is the turning point” was the exciting feeling that prevailed on the way out of the ground. For all the questioning that had occurred since his appointment, Houllier had fixed our main problem. So much supply, but nobody to profit from it.
That was the first of nine goals for Villa in 2010-11, goals that helped keep us in the league, and they somehow helped us achieve a respectable ninth place finish. It never really got any better for Bent though.
2011 saw Houllier replaced by The Ginger One, and Downing and Young were both sold off. It could have been argued that the writing was on the wall even at this point. August to December brought six goals, a decent return under such a defensive manager. Robbie Keane`s arrival coincided with four goals in four games. Well, it wasn`t really a coincidence. Wigan away on February 25th was his last game of a season in which we were tremendously lucky not to get relegated.
After The Mistake was rectified in 2012 with Paul Lambert, a new start was promised. What`s more, Bent was even going to be captain. That didn`t last too long either. Bent started as first-choice but poor performances meant that only 2 league goals were scored by the end of September. One in a 4-1 defeat at Southampton, and one that salvaged a draw against the Albion from the bench. Something else had also happened in that time, we`d been introduced to a previously little-known powerhouse called Christian Benteke. I wonder how that went?
Not good for Bent, that`s for sure. No longer first choice in Lambert`s youth revolution, only three more goals followed, two of those in the FA Cup. There were rumours of spats, walkouts, and even a drive-off during the season. The other goal, and probably his last for the club, came in the final league game against Wigan, during which he filled in for the suspended Benteke.
The saddest part of this story is that goalscorers as prolific as Bent don`t come along very often. They can be the difference between winning and losing games. Yet, when his departure is finally confirmed, we`ll just be talking about what to do with the fee and how to spend his wages, rather than lamenting the loss of someone who could have been truly revered in the way that Villa`s gamechanging number nines traditionally are.
However, Lambert has been proven right in dropping Bent for Benteke. If there`s one thing that I wish about last season though, it`s that we could have tried a system that incorporated Bent and Benteke up front with two out-and-out wingers.
I suppose that`s the crux of this 700-word reminisce for me. I just hoped that things would turn out differently to what they have. We might have a new hero to worship now, but I can`t help but think that when the script was originally written, Bent was the man in contention for the starring role.
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