Darren Bent: broken goal machine or out of use?

Darren Bent’s time at Villa Park appears to be coming to an end.  Now 29 years of age, will regular playing time see him back amongst the goals?

Bent signed for Aston Villa in January 2011 for a fee of between £18 and £24 million.  Slightly overshadowed by the money being thrown around by Liverpool and Chelsea (£35 million for Andy Carroll and £50 million for Fernando Torres respectively), the transfer would prove to be a much more shrewd piece of business than either of the two other big-money moves involving strikers.

After completing the switch from Sunderland, where he scored 36 goals in just 63 games, Bent’s Villa career got off to the perfect start.  Scoring the only goal of the game in a home victory over big-spending Manchester City, the England striker showed exactly why his new club had paid so much for his services.  The honeymoon period, however, remains the best spell of his time with the Villains.  Bent scored nine goals in 16 Premier League games for Villa immediately following his arrival, which compares unfavourably with three in 16 during the whole of last year’s campaign.  To his defence, several of these appearances under Paul Lambert were as a substitute, but the fact that he made the same amount of appearances in a full season as he did in his initial half-season is evidence that the Scottish manager did not fancy him.

The signing of Nicklas Hellenius combined with Christian Benteke committing himself to the club signalled that Bent was surplus to requirements at Villa.  Awarding his number nine shirt to their new Danish striker and giving him the insignificant number 39 was arguably rubbing salt into the wound.

Bent was signed by Villa for one reason: to put the ball in the net.  For a short time, he had no trouble doing it regularly.  One must question, then, exactly where it all went wrong. 

Was he taken out of the team because the goals dried up, or did the goals dry up because he was taken out of the team?

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