I don't see why the board would have to or indeed would want to sell Darren before the summer. Indeed if we go down we might want him to score us out of the championship.
If we go down we will need the money to balance the books as much as anything; if we are still bottom at Christmas then we are probably down and his value will be optimal. All that said though this is all distracting talk - we have an important game to concentrate on -that could yet save our season and render all such talk irrelevant.
We need a great atmosphere on Saturday and to get behind the players, our players
(even if you are not sure they deserve it, they are the only ones we have and the only ones who can get us out of this mess)
got my ticket for sheff utd today. can't wait to go to the lane and stuff em. would really make my week. that and winning the euro lottery.....but i wasn't sure which were the best odds so i've only a match ticket so far. me thinks the euro may have had better odds come to think of it.
£9M is just stupid based on the fact that he's proved he's a top premiership goalscorer. Basing his price on Johnson's fee is unfair as Johnson had only proved that he could score penalties in The Premiership (smiley, winky thingy). Perhaps we should consider rather that Johnson's fee was too low. How much would Rooney or Henry go for? How much better are they than Bent? I'll leave you to calculate the new price. It's more than £9M for sure.
Agreed...remember that come January he'll still have 3 and a half years left on his contract so it won't be the case that Charlton will have to sell him before his contract expires.
If there is any substance in the Man U rumour then last night's showing in front of goal by Louis Saha will have added to it, they are sure to go through to the KO stages and the advantage of drafting in Bent is that he isn't cup tied.
would you deny him wanting to go if Man U came in for him in Jan ?
Perversely, i'm more mellow than i was for the Parker situation, and wouldn't feel so bad about him as i did when Parker went. Perhaps its because there has already been a precedent, i don't know.
No I personally wouldn't, provided the money is right, that he doesn't do a Parker and go on strike and as I mention in a post upthread, that the club have a replacement or two lined up and that means them being realistic and not hanging onto him until it's too late to get a replacement in. Part of me thinks it might be a good thing, clearly we are lacking a couple of players and if we use the money wisely it could be the difference between relegation and salvation.
£9m is also ridiculously cheap for a 21 year old, if things work out well for him then Man U could have the benefit of a great striker for around a decade, at that price £9m is a steal.
Regarding the Parker situation...there are similarities and differences, Parker made those naive comments about "achieving all his ambitions" at Charlton, we were in a CL qualifying position etc and he had been at the club a decade - when he signed originally I think we were still playing at West Ham and in Div two, the club had brought him on properly, didn't over-play him and made him a star. Bent has only been at Charlton 18 months, has signed a new contract and just seems a wiser guy. If you believe the rumours Newcastle and Spurs and maybe Liverpool enquired in the summer, but clearly he preferred the certainty of playing at Charlton and bringing his game on to maybe getting only one game in two at the other clubs. Part of what hacked me off at Parker leaving was that I knew he'd be on the bench at Chelsea and would get the occasional start and that professionally he was better off waiting until a good team came in for him - like Newcastle where when fit he is guaranteed a game.
I wouldn't blame Bent for leaving for another reason - he is being unfairly overlooked by MacClaren. Lesser players than Bent get England caps because they play for bigger clubs, if he goes in january, what are the odds that he walks straight into a starting England XI? Pretty high and certainly higher than if he stays at Charlton.
Well I heard that Mr Bent has no intention of leaving us even at the end of this season providing we stay up of course, apparently he is really really happy here. I think that was the most depressing thing I heard yesterday when the reality of our position really hit home.
[cite]Posted By: Ketman[/cite]Well I heard that Mr Bent has no intention of leaving us even at the end of this season providing we stay up of course, apparently he is really really happy here. I think that was the most depressing thing I heard yesterday when the reality of our position really hit home.
£9 m - stick it with both Man scUm and Liverpool in the frame - best make it £13-15 and I can see him doing alot of damage out there with decent assists coming to him. He has to think of his career now : (
Look at his credentials: he's young, very much a potential future England fixture, top English goalscorer last season (and this?), scores goals for a bottom club playing very badly, 3.5 years on his contract. I'd say £15M is a bloody good price.
Comments
We need a great atmosphere on Saturday and to get behind the players, our players
(even if you are not sure they deserve it, they are the only ones we have and the only ones who can get us out of this mess)
If there is any substance in the Man U rumour then last night's showing in front of goal by Louis Saha will have added to it, they are sure to go through to the KO stages and the advantage of drafting in Bent is that he isn't cup tied.
Perversely, i'm more mellow than i was for the Parker situation, and wouldn't feel so bad about him as i did when Parker went. Perhaps its because there has already been a precedent, i don't know.
£9m is also ridiculously cheap for a 21 year old, if things work out well for him then Man U could have the benefit of a great striker for around a decade, at that price £9m is a steal.
Regarding the Parker situation...there are similarities and differences, Parker made those naive comments about "achieving all his ambitions" at Charlton, we were in a CL qualifying position etc and he had been at the club a decade - when he signed originally I think we were still playing at West Ham and in Div two, the club had brought him on properly, didn't over-play him and made him a star. Bent has only been at Charlton 18 months, has signed a new contract and just seems a wiser guy. If you believe the rumours Newcastle and Spurs and maybe Liverpool enquired in the summer, but clearly he preferred the certainty of playing at Charlton and bringing his game on to maybe getting only one game in two at the other clubs. Part of what hacked me off at Parker leaving was that I knew he'd be on the bench at Chelsea and would get the occasional start and that professionally he was better off waiting until a good team came in for him - like Newcastle where when fit he is guaranteed a game.
I wouldn't blame Bent for leaving for another reason - he is being unfairly overlooked by MacClaren. Lesser players than Bent get England caps because they play for bigger clubs, if he goes in january, what are the odds that he walks straight into a starting England XI? Pretty high and certainly higher than if he stays at Charlton.
Marcus or darren mate?
I think it's got something to do with all the nice people he meets when he is out riding his bike. :-)
Look at his credentials: he's young, very much a potential future England fixture, top English goalscorer last season (and this?), scores goals for a bottom club playing very badly, 3.5 years on his contract. I'd say £15M is a bloody good price.
£9M is far too low.