England Watch – Darren Bent
Wednesday, 17 Jan 2007 14:57
Bent only has two England caps
When a 17-year-old striker entered the fray in a televised Uefa Cup match in 2001, almost scoring with an instinctive eight-yard effort with virtually his first touch, the general football fan fraternity had little reason to feel instantly spellbound.
After Darren Bent's debut at the Olympia Stadion in Helsingborgs he generally reverted to learning his trade for Ipswich Town's reserves in the club's ill-fated 2001/2 season, surfacing again towards the end of the campaign when his side's cause was all but lost. A League Cup goal at Newcastle and a scrambled effort against Middlesbrough had begun to stoke his reputation, but the Tooting-born teenager would have to win over the majority in what is now the Championship.
More than five years on, and Bent's is perhaps the most-mentioned name in the stupidly desperate scramble that is the January transfer window, despite him only having two England caps.
Nick Ames investigates what all the fuss is about.
Name: Darren Bent
Position: Forward
Club: Charlton Athletic
Age at start of South Africa 2010: 26
Thirty-three goals in 68 appearances for Charlton since his £3 million move from Portman Road in 2005 needs little elaboration, especially when 11 of these have been put away amid the mire that is the Addicks' present campaign. Bent seems beyond the quarantine period for signs of the "first Premiership season syndrome" suffered by Marcus Stewart and Michael Ricketts inter alii. A general consensus seems to be that he is ready to step up to a club on the next rung – at least – of what is an increasingly divided Premiership.
At what price, though? These are days in which Luton Town's Rowan Vine, a good Championship striker but nothing more, can move between clubs in that division for the same amount that Bent fetched first time round. Talk of £10 million, £15 million, £17 million for Bent may seem ridiculous but in the current climate these seem reasonable bets as to his value. He has many strengths: his pace over a distance is matched by very few; at a leggy 5ft 11ins with a fine spring he wins far more headers than at first glance might be expected; he has a constant eye for the goalscoring chance, sitting on the shoulder of the last man and latching onto anything placed over, through or round. He also has a knack of getting his shots off quickly – rarely spurning a chance through hesitation – and can finish strongly with either foot.
Murmurings among some of the Portman Road faithful were that Bent wouldn't hack it in the Premiership – his touch and awareness weren't strong enough, they said, while his finishing was erratic in a side which created chances at will and his ability to play in a strike partnership was questionable. The former two areas have both improved considerably since he rolled up at the Valley, both being by-products of raw youth to an extent, but it is perhaps the latter point which is the most interesting. Bent's goalscoring record at Ipswich was excellent, but rarely did he really click with a strike partner. A final season in which he and Shefki Kuqi each hit the 20-goal mark was more down to the players' individual strengths than a real understanding, and the same can be said of a previous partnership with Pablo Counago.
His time at Charlton has seen him operate primarily as a lone attacker – to an effect which has, it must be said, had an excellent impact on his all-round game – and more assiduous managers may hold back on meeting any asking price until they consider how he would click with those around him.
In truth, they probably have little to worry about. A more convincing reading of Bent's career to date could well be that his intelligence and sharpness around the box were the main things which foisted unrealistic expectations upon a mediocre Ipswich side and proceeded to help Charlton tell lies about their genuine level last season. He has the ability and mentality to score goals in any kind of company and seems able to raise his game in accordance with the quality of the players around him. The long-term appeal of kids who leave Portman Road for big money often seems to wane – Kieron Dyer and Richard Wright are fine examples – but the feeling is that this will not be the case where Darren Bent is concerned.
England's 2010 World Cup squad
*Players in bold – tickets to South Africa booked already
Goalkeepers
Paul Robinson
Possibles:
Chris Kirkland,
Ben Foster,
Rob Green,
Scott Carson
Defenders
John Terry,
Ashley Cole,
Rio Ferdinand,
Jamie Carragher
Possibles:
Glen Johnson,
Joleon Lescott,
Micah Richards,
Ledley King,
Michael Dawson,
Anton Ferdinand,
Leighton Baines,
Justin Hoyte,
Curtis Davies,
Wes Brown,
Phil Bardsley,
Michael Mancienne
Midfielders
Steven Gerrard,
Frank Lampard,
Owen Hargreaves,
Joe Cole,
Michael Carrick
Possibles:
Aaron Lennon,
Tom Huddlestone,
Nigel Reo-Coker,
Lee Cattermole,
Shaun Wright-Phillips,
Stewart Downing,
Giles Barnes,
James Morrison,
Kieran Richardson
Forwards
Wayne Rooney,
Michael Owen
Possibles:
David Nugent,
Theo Walcott,
James Vaughan,
Gabriel Agbonlahor,
Jermain Defoe,
Peter Crouch,
Darren Bent,
Dean Ashton,
Cameron Jerome