Fantasy Premier League Blog: Darren Bent

Showing posts with label Darren Bent. Show all posts

Darren Bent and Micah Richards out of England Squad

Darren Bent and Micah Richards have been ruled out of England's Euro 2012 qualifier against Wales on Tuesday and have returned to their clubs.

Aston Villa striker Bent had not been able to train in the build-up to Friday's win over Bulgaria after picking up a groin problem and could not take part in training on Saturday.

Manchester City defender Richards, who didn't play a part in the 3-0 win over Bulgaria on Friday night, is though to have suffered a hamstring injury in training.

Aston Villa have not been a fluid attacking team at all this season. Now you might argue that that is a hallmark of an Alex McLeish team. They did beat Rovers 3-0, but haven't scored otherwise. Agbonlahor looks dangerous, but N'Zogbia is not on song yet. If Bent isn't available for Villa's match against Everton (and McLeish is hopeful) I would expect Albrighton to come into the side and Heskey and Gabby to be the front pairing of a 4-4-2. Truth be told, @Everton is probably a stay-away match for fantasy owners.

As for Manchester City, they have Richards doubtful with a hamstring injury and Pablo Zabaleta, who played right-back against Spurs, has been in India with the Argentinian national team. That could hand Stefan Savic the starting berth, and see Sergio Aguero on the bench as well.

Granted this is all speculation at this point, but with fantasy managers going all-in on Manchester City players it's nerve-wracking stuff.

Season Preview - Aston Villa

Quick Reminder, Real Life

Last season started out with an odd choice for manager (Houlier) who didn’t make it through the year due to health reasons. The team that had been excellent the year before regressed terribly despite a lot of the same talent and they hovered just above the relegation zone for a good part of the first half. In January they added Darren Bent as a front line of John Carew/Emile Heskey and Gabby Agbonlahor just wasn’t getting it done. The new acquisition helped them climb from the depths of the table to 9th. Still, a disappointing finish given the talent on hand and the expectations created in 2009-10 when they flirted with a Top 4 spot until well into the season.

Quick Reminder, Fantasy

BFAY (that’s Blog Favorite Ashley Young to the newly initiated), Downing, and DBent were exactly what you’d expect (very good) but also fairly expensive at this point. Albrighton and Clark were excellent values when they played. Friedel was a bit of a disaster in the first half but as tends to happen, his numbers improved along with the team’s fortunes in the second half. The forwards who started the season - Gabby, Carew, and Heskey - didn’t show much. Kyle Walker, a loan signing from Spurs, came on in the second half of the season and provided some good value when he was in the line-up. Left back Stephen Warnock disappeared after a very good 2009-10.

Summer Changes

I've already gone on record in thinking that NUFC are among the mid-table clubs that have done very well for themselves thus far. They've gone from highly volatile and a bit long in the tooth to more solid if perhaps a little less potentially spectacular. West Brom has quietly solidified themselves in the back with some solid acquisitions as well. That brings us to Sunderland who have stepped up the pace dramatically in the last ten days with three (relatively) high profile signings in Connor Wickham, Seb Larsson, and Craig Gardner to go along with depth in Keiran Westwood and my new favorite Premier League player "Bishop Magic" Dong-won.

So, how to the new signings look? First of all, I really like the Wickham move. Here's my logic:

Photo courtesy http://www.avfc.co.uk/

Villa seal deal for record signing Bent

Aston Villa are delighted to confirm that Darren Bent will be unveiled today as the club's record signing, having agreed a four-and-a-half year deal to June 2015.

The 26-year-old England striker completed a medical before the formalities of the signing today and will be available for the Barclays Premier League game against Manchester City on Saturday, January 22 at Villa Park.

Adding...

I think we'll see the best of DBent again. I'm assuming that we're going to see a 4-2-3-1 from Villa as such:

Friedel

Walker Collins Dunne/Cuellar Clark/new left-back

Petrov Makoun

Downing Young Albrighton

DBent

That attacking three midfield can all cross the ball and swap positions. And all of them can feed DBent, who has always been most dangerous as a lone striker. All he needs to do is play off the center back and look to get in behind and take the chances that will surely come.

Neither Carew nor Heskey were mobile enough to play this role. Agbonlahor is fast, but he isn't big enough. In DBent, I think Villa have the right player for the position. And with a double match week (albeit with one match against Manchester City), this is looking like a great move for Villa, Bent, and fantasy football managers.

Bent asks to quit Black Cats

I'll be leaving out that door.

Sky Sports | Football | Transfer Centre | Speculation | Bent asks to quit Black Cats

Sunderland striker Darren Bent has handed in a transfer request after Aston Villa made an £18million move for the England international.

Bent has been a regular scorer for the Black Cats since joining from Tottenham 18 months ago, but he has now asked to quit the North East.

He has scored 36 goals in 63 appearances during his time on Wearside following his £10million switch from Tottenham.

If the football gods are kind, Bent will be lining up for both of Villa's matches in this upcoming fantasy gameweek.

This is a bit of a shock for the Black Cats, who could now be facing the loss of both of their starting forwards from last season, with Kenwyne Jones having already moved to Stoke. Surely this make Gyan THE MAN and his fantasy value will have to be adjusted accordingly. It also puts more of a burden on Danny Welbeck, and possibly Steed Malbranque, who might be given an advanced role behind the strikers by Steve Bruce.

In Praise of the Friday Trade that Never Happened

Jeremy Spitzberg: drogba/gyan?
Jeremy Spitzberg: how about dbent/berba king?

That would have been a 30-point mistake and I would still be in a horrible mood this morning.

Bent Injury Blow

Still a favorite Darren Bent moment. Besides, it's not a real post these days if we don't allude to Liverpool.

Sunderland - Bent Injury Blow

SAFC striker Darren Bent has had to pull out from the England squad due to an injury sustained in training...

Sunderland fans will be hoping the injury, described as a 'groin injury' will be minor and he will recover in time to face Blackburn a week today and especially the Tyne-Wear Derby on 31st October.

If not, Gyan at 6.39 becomes an intriguing choice.

Season Preview: Sunderland

Overall Outlook - In contrast to Stoke who doesn't spend a lot of money but gets a lot from everything they do spend and every player on the roster, Sunderland seem to be forever spending a lot of money on players who have bigger names than games. For every Darren Bent who does well after a big money move there are two Gordon/ Richardson/ Campbell/ Bardsley/ Ferdinand-type players who have come in with big reputations from bigger clubs and shown why those big clubs were willing to sell. The squad is currently a little bit light on strikers with the real possibility that they will become lighter-still with Kenwyne Jones set to leave for Stoke with no obvious replacement coming in.

Sunderland striker Darren Bent doubtful for season opener

Striker Darren Bent has been ruled out of England's midweek friendly against Hungary and could miss Sunderland's opening game of the season at the weekend against Birmingham...

However, a back problem prevented him from joining in with the rest of the squad and he has now been ruled out of Wednesday's friendly date with Hungary.

Sunderland boss Steve Bruce will be concerned as his star man now appears to face a race against time to be fit for the Black Cats' opening fixture of the season.

End of the World for Bent?

The closest he'll come to an England shirt this summer?

End of the World for Bent?

Darren Bent's World Cup dreams could be in tatters after a hamstring injury ruled him out of tonight's penultimate warm-up game against Mexico at Wembley.

The Sunderland striker has been unable to train fully with England in Austria and now faces a race against time to convince Fabio Capello he can be fit for the finals in South Africa.

Shame. It would have been interesting to see if Bent could make "the leap" this summer.

Carlton Cole, a nation turns it's lonely eyes to you.

Last Rites

Getting the band back together. For fantasy at least.

Okay, so "Last Rites" is a terrible title for this post. It's just some quick thoughts on a Friday night/Saturday morning. I wanted something that played off "Early Doors" and well, it's getting late so I'm not as creative as I'd like to be. Best to get on with the post then, but please feel free to help me name this post properly.

Late injury news - Schwarzer a doubt
An intra-blog disagreement. Neal says,
"No certainty of O'Hara playing for Pompey - I like the thought of him as a cheap option but I'm not willing to go too far out on a limb until I know how (and if) they intend to deploy him regularly. More a BD option than something for this week if you ask me (and you sort of did by being here to read this column)."
I think O'Hara will be a direct replacement for Krancjar who moved to Spurs while O'Hara moved the other way on loan. He seems to agree, telling www.portsmouthfc.co.uk that, "he has been recruited as an attacking midfielder to create and score goals...."The manager sees me as an attacking midfielder who can link up with the strikers." I think Hart is going to put him right out against Bolton, and I'm putting him right into my fantasy team. Hopefully I can get out ahead of the mob on this one.
Speaking of bargains, we've all been talking up Tuncay. I think it's a great pick for Stoke and a big chance for fantasy managers. However, I'm not on the bandwagon this week. I wanted to be, believe me. Thinking Tuncay at forward to get Glen Johnson at the back. But in the end, I just can't do it. I'm going to stick with Gael Givet who to this point has been getting points to spite me for not picking him. I'm going to use that money to go back to Darren Bent. He disappointed me last when I had him in the team week 2 (against Rovers no less, with Givet scoring) when KWynneJ took all the points. But I can't get over my "bet against Hull" idea for this season, and especially with Hull replacing Turner with Sonko, I'm going back to the well.

Good luck to everyone and I'll see you on the other side of the weekend for the Monday Morning Manager.

Spurs seal Bent deal

FOOTBALL 2006-2007 Premiership Charlton Darren Bent - 0

Tottenham have confirmed the signing of Darren Bent from relegated Charlton for a club record fee. The England international arrives at White Hart Lane on a six-year £16.5million deal, beating the £11million paid for Sergei Rebrov.

No need to bang on Rebrov.

This deal has been in the works for a while now, and it is a doozy! Berbatov and Bent are a tantalizing strike-force. Berba King's skill, vision, and ability to link play paired with Bent's speed... and both good finishers! Spurs are going to be fun to watch, and a nightmare to play against.

The only problem for fantasy manager is that both are likely to be expensive come the new season.

Never mind

Charlton striker Darren Bent has turned down a move to West Ham after the two clubs agreed a fee.
"We set a valuation for Darren and West Ham were the only club prepared to meet that valuation," said Charlton chief executive Peter Varney.
"This morning we gave them permission to speak to Darren, which he did, and he has decided not to join West Ham."

Does this presage a move to Spurs?

Hammers Win Bent Race

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42392000/jpg/_42392171_bent2_pa416.jpg

West Ham are set to beat Tottenham and Liverpool to sign Charlton striker Darren Bent in an £18million deal.
According to the Daily Star, the Hammers have offered £80,000 a week to secure Bent's services, while Charlton will receive £15million plus Marlon Harewood and Hayden Mullins, who are surplus to requirements at Upton Park.

West Ham's need for a top-class striker was thrown into yet sharper focus when Inter owner Massimo Moratti confirmed they are keen to sign the Hammers' Argentine star Carlos Tevez.

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