Darren Bent to Fulham

[zzamora]

Stekelenberg, yes please, Darren Bent, no thank you. Can't see why we'd need another striker, even Jol sees our current selection between Berba, Petric, Roda, and Bryan as being spoiled for choice.

Well Bryan's not going to be used as a striker as such is he (I think)? Rodd has done very little, albeit he's cemented the fact that, if he is anything, it is not a winger. And Petric, how long is his contract? Either he or Riether is on a loan for a year I seem to remember, pretty sure it's Riether but Petric is contracted, but again for only one year. I may be wrong on these but the point is, a strikeforce a la Sheringham, Solksjaer, Cole and Yorke we don't have right now.

I see what you're saying, but Bent is a short term signing and at the present time we're well covered in this position. If we're going to sign a striker, I'd rather it be someone young who can transition into the team as Petric and Berba aren't getting any younger. As for Bryan, you're right in that he isn't a striker per se, he's more of a deep-lying forward but that's what Jol prefers to use along side a more classical number 9 anyways. Petric's contract is one year but I think we have an option to extend. Roda hasn't been spectacular mind you but I really don't mind him coming off the bench and filling in when he's needed. I just don't see the need given our current striking situation to bring Bent in.

Is there a reason you think Bent would be a short term signing? He is only 28, which would mean we would probably keep him till he was 31/32.

29 this season (in feb).

Not long term IMHO.

[Apprentice to the Maestro]

I can accept that Bent can be a consistent goalscorer but is he the sort of player to play alongside the likes of Berbatov, Ruiz and Diarra?

[AlFayedsChequebook]

Stekelenberg, yes please, Darren Bent, no thank you. Can't see why we'd need another striker, even Jol sees our current selection between Berba, Petric, Roda, and Bryan as being spoiled for choice.

Well Bryan's not going to be used as a striker as such is he (I think)? Rodd has done very little, albeit he's cemented the fact that, if he is anything, it is not a winger. And Petric, how long is his contract? Either he or Riether is on a loan for a year I seem to remember, pretty sure it's Riether but Petric is contracted, but again for only one year. I may be wrong on these but the point is, a strikeforce a la Sheringham, Solksjaer, Cole and Yorke we don't have right now.

I see what you're saying, but Bent is a short term signing and at the present time we're well covered in this position. If we're going to sign a striker, I'd rather it be someone young who can transition into the team as Petric and Berba aren't getting any younger. As for Bryan, you're right in that he isn't a striker per se, he's more of a deep-lying forward but that's what Jol prefers to use along side a more classical number 9 anyways. Petric's contract is one year but I think we have an option to extend. Roda hasn't been spectacular mind you but I really don't mind him coming off the bench and filling in when he's needed. I just don't see the need given our current striking situation to bring Bent in.

Is there a reason you think Bent would be a short term signing? He is only 28, which would mean we would probably keep him till he was 31/32.

29 this season (in feb).

Not long term IMHO.

Long term when dealing with Fulham though.

If we got a 24yr old  striker who was as prolific as Bent has been over the last few years, he would be gone within 2 years.

[zzamora]

Stekelenberg, yes please, Darren Bent, no thank you. Can't see why we'd need another striker, even Jol sees our current selection between Berba, Petric, Roda, and Bryan as being spoiled for choice.

Well Bryan's not going to be used as a striker as such is he (I think)? Rodd has done very little, albeit he's cemented the fact that, if he is anything, it is not a winger. And Petric, how long is his contract? Either he or Riether is on a loan for a year I seem to remember, pretty sure it's Riether but Petric is contracted, but again for only one year. I may be wrong on these but the point is, a strikeforce a la Sheringham, Solksjaer, Cole and Yorke we don't have right now.

I see what you're saying, but Bent is a short term signing and at the present time we're well covered in this position. If we're going to sign a striker, I'd rather it be someone young who can transition into the team as Petric and Berba aren't getting any younger. As for Bryan, you're right in that he isn't a striker per se, he's more of a deep-lying forward but that's what Jol prefers to use along side a more classical number 9 anyways. Petric's contract is one year but I think we have an option to extend. Roda hasn't been spectacular mind you but I really don't mind him coming off the bench and filling in when he's needed. I just don't see the need given our current striking situation to bring Bent in.

Is there a reason you think Bent would be a short term signing? He is only 28, which would mean we would probably keep him till he was 31/32.

29 this season (in feb).

Not long term IMHO.

Long term when dealing with Fulham though.

If we got a 24yr old  striker who was as prolific as Bent has been over the last few years, he would be gone within 2 years.

But if we spent 10 million on him, he would be resell  for a lot more.

Bent would not be and that is why I'm against him. Nothing against his undeniable talent or skill at scoring, that is proven, but his age/ resale value.

[AlFayedsChequebook]

Stekelenberg, yes please, Darren Bent, no thank you. Can't see why we'd need another striker, even Jol sees our current selection between Berba, Petric, Roda, and Bryan as being spoiled for choice.

Well Bryan's not going to be used as a striker as such is he (I think)? Rodd has done very little, albeit he's cemented the fact that, if he is anything, it is not a winger. And Petric, how long is his contract? Either he or Riether is on a loan for a year I seem to remember, pretty sure it's Riether but Petric is contracted, but again for only one year. I may be wrong on these but the point is, a strikeforce a la Sheringham, Solksjaer, Cole and Yorke we don't have right now.

I see what you're saying, but Bent is a short term signing and at the present time we're well covered in this position. If we're going to sign a striker, I'd rather it be someone young who can transition into the team as Petric and Berba aren't getting any younger. As for Bryan, you're right in that he isn't a striker per se, he's more of a deep-lying forward but that's what Jol prefers to use along side a more classical number 9 anyways. Petric's contract is one year but I think we have an option to extend. Roda hasn't been spectacular mind you but I really don't mind him coming off the bench and filling in when he's needed. I just don't see the need given our current striking situation to bring Bent in.

Is there a reason you think Bent would be a short term signing? He is only 28, which would mean we would probably keep him till he was 31/32.

29 this season (in feb).

Not long term IMHO.

Long term when dealing with Fulham though.

If we got a 24yr old  striker who was as prolific as Bent has been over the last few years, he would be gone within 2 years.

But if we spent 10 million on him, he would be resell  for a lot more.

Bent would not be and that is why I'm against him. Nothing against his undeniable talent or skill at scoring, that is proven, but his age/ resale value.

Very fair point.

The question would then be - if he continued his career rate of scoring, would he be worth £10m?

[zzamora]

Stekelenberg, yes please, Darren Bent, no thank you. Can't see why we'd need another striker, even Jol sees our current selection between Berba, Petric, Roda, and Bryan as being spoiled for choice.

Well Bryan's not going to be used as a striker as such is he (I think)? Rodd has done very little, albeit he's cemented the fact that, if he is anything, it is not a winger. And Petric, how long is his contract? Either he or Riether is on a loan for a year I seem to remember, pretty sure it's Riether but Petric is contracted, but again for only one year. I may be wrong on these but the point is, a strikeforce a la Sheringham, Solksjaer, Cole and Yorke we don't have right now.

I see what you're saying, but Bent is a short term signing and at the present time we're well covered in this position. If we're going to sign a striker, I'd rather it be someone young who can transition into the team as Petric and Berba aren't getting any younger. As for Bryan, you're right in that he isn't a striker per se, he's more of a deep-lying forward but that's what Jol prefers to use along side a more classical number 9 anyways. Petric's contract is one year but I think we have an option to extend. Roda hasn't been spectacular mind you but I really don't mind him coming off the bench and filling in when he's needed. I just don't see the need given our current striking situation to bring Bent in.

Is there a reason you think Bent would be a short term signing? He is only 28, which would mean we would probably keep him till he was 31/32.

29 this season (in feb).

Not long term IMHO.

Long term when dealing with Fulham though.

If we got a 24yr old  striker who was as prolific as Bent has been over the last few years, he would be gone within 2 years.

But if we spent 10 million on him, he would be resell  for a lot more.

Bent would not be and that is why I'm against him. Nothing against his undeniable talent or skill at scoring, that is proven, but his age/ resale value.

Very fair point.

The question would then be - if he continued his career rate of scoring, would he be worth £10m?

Of course he would be- depending on how long he continues that rate of scoring for. If he does that for 2 seasons, before dramatically tailing off, then I would not pay 10 million for him.

However, if he does it for 5 years I would be very much in favour of him.

This is the problem with big money transfer for older players- just how long can they carry on for?

I trust the club to make the right decision here, whatever that may be.

[Forever Fulham]

Bent is a selfish player in my opinion.  Now you can say forwards are naturally selfish, that it goes with the position.  But how many of his goals have come in losing efforts over the years?  The ball goes into to him and doesn't come back to a teammate.  That's not a recipe for a successful club trying to go farther up the table.  I don't recall seeing him transition on defence.  It's a style of play that may make him look good, statistically, but works against the team as a whole.  I hope we don't bring him on.

[MJG]

So when looking for a striker the following rules could apply:

If premiership proven but only score goals then don't buy.
If top goalscorer in a lower division, young and unproven then dont buy.
If your foreign and cheap and score goals in a lesser lge then buy.


Any other rules people want to add?

[CH FFC]

Personally I would prefer to see Jol bring in one of the young guns from the dutch league we were paired with in the past.  There are some very good options out there, and 10 million for Bent is just too much IMO.

I would not spend that kind of money for Bent, but I am not manager either.

[BestOfBrede]

So when looking for a striker the following rules could apply:

If premiership proven but only score goals then don't buy.
If top goalscorer in a lower division, young and unproven then dont buy.
If your foreign and cheap and score goals in a lesser lge then buy.


Any other rules people want to add?

Must have a very attractive and sexy girlfriend/wife

[BestOfBrede]

Personally I would prefer to see Jol bring in one of the young guns from the dutch league we were paired with in the past.  There are some very good options out there, and 10 million for Bent is just too much IMO.

I would not spend that kind of money for Bent, but I am not manager either.

I agree with foreign/young for the future. But if it's for a quick fix backup - I'd love to see Saha back here on a pay-per-game deal. Would be great for him to finish here and he still scores wherever he plays(as long as not overplayed, as he gets injured too easily!)

[JackyFulham90]

Bent would be a good signing but a striker is not what we need there are other areas of our team we should be spending money on

[BalDrick]

So when looking for a striker the following rules could apply:

If premiership proven but only score goals then don't buy.
If top goalscorer in a lower division, young and unproven then dont buy.
If your foreign and cheap and score goals in a lesser lge then buy.


Any other rules people want to add?

Must have a very attractive and sexy girlfriend/wife

Just run the player, and indeed the girlfriend/wife, by a few message boards. Then do the opposite of the majority consensus.

[A Humble Man]

Better to get a 22-24 year old who bangs in goals for fun and who we sell for a big profit in a couple of years.  Money spent on Bent is dead money as he will not get more valuable.

[PokerMatt]

Better to get a 22-24 year old who bangs in goals for fun and who we sell for a big profit in a couple of years.  Money spent on Bent is dead money as he will not get more valuable.

Must be loads of those 22-24 year olds banging goals in at PL level we can get hold of. Even more of them who we can get a huge profit on.

If we can get a good price for Bent and he scores us into a European spot, I'd say that's not dead money.

But hey, I'm in the minority on this one. Proven PL goalscorers under the age of 30 aren't needed apparently.

Obviously there are other areas of the squad we need to fix first, but if he's available at a decent price I say why not? He's guaranteed to score.

[os5889]

Better to get a 22-24 year old who bangs in goals for fun and who we sell for a big profit in a couple of years.  Money spent on Bent is dead money as he will not get more valuable.

This is real life not football manager you know? Who would you suggest signing? Neymar, Messi, Falcao?

[zzamora]

Better to get a 22-24 year old who bangs in goals for fun and who we sell for a big profit in a couple of years.  Money spent on Bent is dead money as he will not get more valuable.

This is real life not football manager you know? Who would you suggest signing? Neymar, Messi, Falcao?

I point you to one Moussa Dembele.

It has been done and it will be done again.

[AlFayedsChequebook]

Better to get a 22-24 year old who bangs in goals for fun and who we sell for a big profit in a couple of years.  Money spent on Bent is dead money as he will not get more valuable.

This is real life not football manager you know? Who would you suggest signing? Neymar, Messi, Falcao?

I point you to one Moussa Dembele.

It has been done and it will be done again.

He didnt really bang in the goals though, did he?

[zzamora]

Better to get a 22-24 year old who bangs in goals for fun and who we sell for a big profit in a couple of years.  Money spent on Bent is dead money as he will not get more valuable.

This is real life not football manager you know? Who would you suggest signing? Neymar, Messi, Falcao?

I point you to one Moussa Dembele.

It has been done and it will be done again.

He didnt really bang in the goals though, did he?

I wasn't referencing the goals as such. I was more talking about the 22-24 bargain who gets sold for a big profit after a successful stay.

[AlFayedsChequebook]

Better to get a 22-24 year old who bangs in goals for fun and who we sell for a big profit in a couple of years.  Money spent on Bent is dead money as he will not get more valuable.

This is real life not football manager you know? Who would you suggest signing? Neymar, Messi, Falcao?

I point you to one Moussa Dembele.

It has been done and it will be done again.

He didnt really bang in the goals though, did he?

I wasn't referencing the goals as such. I was more talking about the 22-24 bargain who gets sold for a big profit after a successful stay.

Even then, how many have we really had? Saha, Dembele, Smalling are the only ones that really spring to mind. Its not like we are selling one per season for massive profit.