brummie

Yup. What can you do, though? Benteke threatened Genk he'd go on strike to get his move to us a year ago. It's not the biggest surprise. He was fantastic for us, and has the potential to be a player of the absolute highest level. WHich is why he'd be nuts to go to Spurs. He'll not go anywhere without CL football. Earlier this week he retweeted a photo posted Be Bruyne had tweeted of him and Lukaku with the text "on our way to Chelsea". It's pretty clear where he's going. threaten to leave him on the bench for a season unless he gets his head on straight and see about his world cup chances then. Well, one thing I do trust is that if he goes, it's going to be a Carroll-esque style deal.

Bent will still be going. Could stop any deal until a replacement for Benteke is sorted though. Which might just be long enough for us to escape a fate worse than death. Honestly, there's more chance of me playing for Villa next season than Bent. And I am 45. And not a keeper. Or indeed a footballer.

Yup. What can you do, though? Benteke threatened Genk he'd go on strike to get his move to us a year ago. It's not the biggest surprise. He was fantastic for us, and has the potential to be a player of the absolute highest level. WHich is why he'd be nuts to go to Spurs. He'll not go anywhere without CL football. Earlier this week he retweeted a photo posted Be Bruyne had tweeted of him and Lukaku with the text "on our way to Chelsea". It's pretty clear where he's going.

It will be. I'd heard rumours he wanted to be in London, and his best mate is Lukaku, who has been up here this past season, but now isn't. If we are going to sell him for a massively inflated sum, and then give Lambert the cash to spend, fair enough. If we sell him and pocket the cash, then that's much more disappointing. Relegation chances? No chance whatsoever. Too much progress made all over the pitch for that to happen.

Of course they won't. The Benteke situation won't just have developed today. Lambert stuck Bent with the kids last week. It's not like this is a shock. Even though Benteke has put in a transfer request, I'd still say there's more chance of him being with us next season than Bent - that's one bridge which has been well and truly burnt.

Bent will still be going.

It will be. I'd heard rumours he wanted to be in London, and his best mate is Lukaku, who has been up here this past season, but now isn't. If we are going to sell him for a massively inflated sum, and then give Lambert the cash to spend, fair enough. If we sell him and pocket the cash, then that's much more disappointing.

It's definitely true, local media confirming it. Really, I kind of expected to have this problem, but what a cunt. One season in? My money's on Chelsea. Wants to be with Lukaku and Hazard.

Paulinho having medical at Spurs. *Martin Jol fires up laptop*

I am jealous to be honest but fair play to them for having a go. If only we would do the same. I know this is easy to say, but it really is early days, we're barely into July. Obviously, for me, four years of MON doing FUCK ALL until the last week of August has had a lasting effect.

Demba Ba being in talks with Anzhi says all you need to know about his priorities. There's only one thing that can get players to go and play there, in those conditions, and that for me marks him out as one to avoid.

Hurry up will you, FFS. We need the 8m to buy that Japanese dude from that German club. FC Nuremburgtrials or whatever they're called.

I hate Liverpool I hate Chelsea I hate Suarez Personally, given a choice, Suarez would be bound, gagged, put on a plane, and dropped into the middle of the Atlantic. Failing that, he'd fuck off abroad somewhere ghastly. Some wanky club in Russia with a crooked oligarch backer. However, if that can't happen, I'd be quite happy to see him go to a wanky club in England with a crooked oligarch backer, purely on the basis that it'd fuck off Liverpool's fans, and make RAWK_Meltdown absolutely brilliant for weeks.

In some ways, but he is on a free, we like that price! Not a bad signing for a mid championship club /jeremy_peace

Kinnear: "Hi Awooga, I am just calling with regard to your transfer to us" Kony: "My name is Joseph Kony, I am leader of Uganda's infamous, murderous Lords Resistance Army guerilla group, as featured in that viral video, Kony 2012, the one that caused the bloke who made it to go completely hatstand". Kinnear: "I've won it three times, you'll do well to catch up with me" etc etc

That's the thing. That's exactly it. And that's why Lambert wants to move him on, the game has moved on, and strikers of the type of Bent are old hat. But, as I said, if you play to his strengths, he's one of the best around. If you don't, then he's a waste of space.

That's unfair. He hasn't bitched or moaned whilst here, not at all.

I'm not questioning Lambert's decision with the team, he's got it right and you play good football, a little naive maybe at times but still great stuff to watch. And it's only going to get better imo. I just think Bent doesn't deserve that kind of treatment, moving clubs or not. agree with that, also doesn't help Villa's position in getting the best fee possible as clubs will laugh at the £8m asking price when he's been told to train with the kids and that he wouldn't play at all. Very strange move That's my point. He'll be about to move somewhere, as in imminently. I don't imagine this was sprung on Bent when he arrived at training.

I have not heard a bad word said about Bent at the club, amongst the fans, or in the media by the management team, absolutely not a peep. If he is training with the kids, I would say that is more likely to be due to an impending move than anything else. Alan Hutton was told to do the same thing, and was pretty good about it, said it wasn't malicious from Lambert, but he'd told him he wasn't going to be playing for us this season, so it made sense. Shortly after, we sent him on loan. 99 percent of Villa fans will wish Bent well when he moves on, it isn't that he's a bad player, far from it - it was only two years ago that we bought him in January and he without a doubt kept us up - it is just that the type of player he is does not fit in with what Lambert wants. Anyone who has watched us last season for more than ten minutes can spot that. I have to say, though, it's funny that six and a bit months ago, Lambert was being practically ridiculed by the likes of Lawrenson, Hansen, Lineker et al for playing Benteke instead of Bent. Look how that turned out.

It won't be about money. The problem is that Bent is the total opposite to a Lambert player - Lambert prefers the more modern type of striker who does much more than stick it in the net. That was always going to be problematic. Having said that, though, Lambert did give him a chance. He actually made him captain for a short while in the early stages of last season, so he was prepared to try him. He's a ruthless fucker, though. That training with the kids thing, he did it with Warnock and Hutton, too.

I can't believe anyone - even Kinnear - would be stupid enough to not spot the potential issues with playing Cisse with Bent.

We've gone through a total change in our purchasing policy. We're now actually doing some proper scouting, and buying young, promising players, and not just from the UK. At the same time, we're moving out massive waged dross and players who don't really contribute what they cost (Stephen Ireland, Bent, Given, Dunne etc etc). Something had got very wrong when, shortly after MON left, our wage bill was £10m more than Spurs, and about £20m more than Everton's. OK spill the beans on our big summer signing See the Bent thread.

Of course he's not shit, and anyone who thinks he is clearly needs to take off their doom-tinted specs. At what he does, he's amongst the best. The question is, whether what he does is what you need.

This. I almost think he'd be better off going somewhere like Hull, where they'd probably be willing to do that. As said above, he's a quality finisher, and a good professional, but unless you are happy to put up with the fact he won't do anything else, and you're relatively confident of getting the ball to him, he's not going to produce.

Someone is going to get a bargain with Bent. He's a brilliant finisher, and I can't really remember seeing many strikers so good at reading the offside rule - that's something Benteke could learn from him on, he's so good at it. There are two issues, though. Firstly, if you don't give him the ball where he wants it, he's not going to score. So, with Ashley Young and Downing whipping balls in for him, he scored lots of goals. Under McLeish, where there was not enough attacking intent, he was a waste of space. Secondly, he applies the finish, but that is quite literally all he does. Benteke, by comparison, is a totally different kettle of fish - he offers so much for the team, he works hard, he is an intelligent player who knows how to use space. Bent doesn't do anything like that, and it is anathema to what Lambert wants from his players. There aren't that many strikers of Bent's type around these days, and it's for a reason. If he goes to a team who can guarantee getting the ball to him a fair bit, and who are willing to work around the fact that he doesn't do anything else, someone will get a bargain.