Darren Bent Wants To Leave
The Press Association are reporting that Sunderland's Darren Bent has handed in a transfer request. The reason behind all this is an £18million bid from Aston Villa, apparently rising to £24million, and this has led to Bent telling his club that he wants to leave. It seems a hell of a lot of money for the player, but he's a proven Premier League goalscorer (32 goals in 58 games at Sunderland) and that's the rarest of rare things these days.
I must admit I'm really surprised as I honestly see this as a step sideways at best, possibly even a step backwards. Sunderland are having a fine season in 6th, have some good young players coming through & Bruce is doing very decent job at the Stadium of Light. Aston Villa are struggling near the foot of the table and in Gerard Houllier they have a manager who may not actually be there much longer. Seems strange to me. Could it be wages? Maybe Bent wants a new challenge? Or perhaps he sees Villa as the bigger club and that may increase his England chances? Whatever it is, it's a huge blow for the Black Cats. They may well try to force Bent to stay but that will be difficult if his head has been turned.
How would this move affect the fantasy world? Well, if it went through in the next few days then Bent could become a decent pick for Week 24, priced at £11m with two games for Villa, and we could also be fairly certain that Gyan & Wellbeck will be the Sunderland strike partnership for the remainder of the season, unless Bruce got some of the potential sale to spend on another forward before the deadline. We'll see how this one pans out over the coming week.
As I'm posting I may as well give you a quick update on my Week 23. It was probably my best of the season thanks to Van Persie, Tevez, Szczesny, Bale & Kolarov, a whopping 135 points moving me up to a season high of 174th place in the overall standings. Annoyingly I missed the barndoor but I'll be chopping and changing my team around over the next week to fit as many double gamers as possible, probably 7 as I want to keep VDV, Bale, Kolarov & RvP at huge discounts.
Please let me know what you make of the news above. How did you do in Week 23? How is your early team shaping up for Week 24?
Cheers,
AM
82 comments:
alamak... cannot ah...
"alamak... cannot ah..."
malaysian, please go away from here
Nothing is impossible in this world, let alone the transfer market. Players are also human; they are sinners too...they are attracted by greed, by lust...by money!!!!
Anw, this week was certainly one of my best weeks this season.. and everyone keep up the good job! May the best prevail!
indon bodo
Bent is complete rubbish.
Stockdale
Kolarov Kelly Skrtel
Nani VdV Adam Watson
VanPersie Berbatov Bent
Since August 2005 Darren Bent has scored 81 Premier League goals, only Rooney & Drogba (both 82) have more in the same period. That would suggest he's far from complete rubbish!
Stockdale or Reina will be in goal, it'll be 8 double gamers for me surely. VanPersie VdV Nani and Kolarov are staying for their discounts.
I would compare Bent to David Trezeguet. He isnt much faster than defender, he isnt much better in air, he doesnt have powerfull strike, but he knows where in penalty area be and how to score past keeper. For me it is enough.
It could be a Sunderland fan angry at his apparent departure, but surely Bent isn't 'completely rubbish'.
A bit of a rollercoaster last week. 106.5 points at the end of the day Saturday with Bentley, Nani and VDV left on Sunday. What a buzzkill to get 11.5 out of those three to land at 118.
Oh well.
Conditional team will change a lot.
Al-Habsi
Kolarov/Pantsil/Rio
Nasri/VDV/Adam/Meireles
Rooney/Gabby
I'm thinking of dropping VDV at 11.40 since he only has one game, I don't have him at the best discount and it seems like he's 'off the boil'(was that phrase correctly used?).
Also, if Bent moves to Villa by this weekend, does that affect Gabby at all? This might not be an upgrade for Bent, but it is for Villa. They haven't had much stability upfront this season.
with is the problem with malaysian here?
ape masalah orang Malaysia di sini?
gman dont even consider droppin vdv at that price in favour of a double week! ;)
I don't see any problems with the malaysians since i don't understand what they're writing.
A straight forward choice this week between Torres and Rooney.
Both double gamers, both 'off the boil' but surely due a good performance.
Currently have Rooney, but Torres is cheaper and would enable upgrade elsewhere.
Any opinions?
the best option is to have both :) but it takes some downgrade in other positions, especially if you want to keep the likes of Nani
the best option is to have both :) but it takes some downgrade in other positions, especially if you want to keep the likes of Nani
malaysia boleh!!
This week you need VDS, VIDIC, NANI, ADAM, ROONEY and TORRES. All the rest may be reocoker fillers, with these 6, you will break 120 easily.
By the way, for the kids who like a shoutbox : GTFO with your bolehs and play elsewhere.
AM, will Torres be banned?? since he picked up the 5th YC?
The 5 YC rule is only up to 1st Jan 2011. After 1st January 2011 a player will need to reach 10 YCs to get a 1 match ban. Torres will not be banned as he received his 5th after this date.
rooney or berbatov?
I thought Vidic is injured...& at the dying minutes I heard the comentator saying that Rio is limping..any Devils here to confirm this?
The dirt from MAL(nourished)ASIA is growing by days. Time to gather some brooms.
Ch****khoor
which one is better
downing + nzogbia or dempsey + albrighton?
worried about albrighton playing time since bent is on the way. if he comes in bent b4 friday i can go with bent + dempsey instead.
i dont like strikers coz if they dont score thats it but u get alot from midfielders even if they dont score.
the leon best instead of dzeko gamble only cost me 5.5 points, but i think it would have kept me even in the rankings. i finished with 90 and lost 400 spots too 1700th. i think i would have stayed put with 95.5.
incidentally, dzekos 8 points would have been my third highest scorer after van persie and tevez. that tells you about my week.
i am going 7 as well keeping, ben foster, van persie, van der vaart and walcott, he is my surprise pick. he has been in front of the goal in great scoring chances for the last 4 games. i think he is going to start a run that will equal his early season form. i dropped cesc to walcott.
my double gamers are crainey, caldwell, ferdinand, dempsey, nani, a johnson, taylor-fletcher. i may go rooney/ albrighton/ paintsil if it looks like nani will be benched for one. game.
Why would Nani be benched? They couldn't create one single scoring chance after he was subbed.
OptaJoes twitter feed makes for interesting reading regarding Darren Bent. He does have 81 goals since August 2005, but 15 of them were penalties (compared to 3 for Drogba and 5 for Rooney). Also, since he's been at Sunderland, he's got 1 assist. Greedy!
If I was Steve Bruce, i'd be annoyed to lose him, but for £18mill up front, possibly rising to £24, i'd be delighted!
Rac
My team:
Van Der Sar/Caldwell/Walker/Koscielny/VDV/Nani/Adam/ReoCoker/Bannan/RVP/Rooney
Does anyone think I have too many fillers in?
STC3
AM: The rules have changed. 10 YCs accumulation until second Sunday of April will get you 2 match bans. 15 YCs accumulation until the last day of the season will get you 3 match bans (which will be carried forward to the next season).
£24million For Bent is too much , 10million Max , im sure there are many many better options . Pinaar @ 3 Millions for example is a steal . if they spent 24 millions wisely they can bring 3 or 4 players better than Bent ........
this offer is Madness
for pure fantasy reasons AM makes a great point about Bent as a great option at 11 mil (doubt he will be on penalties though at A.V.) as well as the starting striker certainties for Sunderland (i.e. wish I would have kept Gyan at 6 mil) . . .
for this week.... 8 double gamers for me (RvP vs Wigan, Bale, and Kolarov). I am not going to put in the big guns from MU: Nani, Rooney, VdS, Vidic as I feel they are rotational risks (maybe not VdS) AND I think that their values can be covered by players who will be guaranteed to play for teams without CL ambitions for far less money (Fulham, Wigan, BPool, A.V., LPool) and who are fighting for their BPL lives and have to play their best players (Hrod, Dempsey, N'Zogbia, Adam, Kuyt, Meireles, Downing, etc.) I am trying not to have to play the Diame, Reo-Cocker, Shelvey filler line-up that would be forced by playing Nani for example.
I've already sold Bent and bought Agbonlahor, so please make a move after next week Bent :)
-Cuy
AM, your thoughts?
G.Caldwell / A.Johnson / F.Torres
or
H.Rodallega / Albrighton / K.Walker
Cheers
marco
@marco: 1st one for sure but id put in GTF or Varney over AJ. Good luck :)
@kellz
reina
pantsil/skrtel/walker
vdv/adam/albrighton/meireles/dempsey
rodellega/gtf
current squad, just can't get settled....
does this change your opinion?
Thanks
marco
AM thoughts?
Skrtyl/Nani/Fletcher/Agbon
or
Hetinga/Adam/Kuty/Berba
-Jacko
@marco: Looks as if you really want HRod, Albrighton, and Walker. I like Albrighton for his attacking and crossing ability, however hes not on FK's, if you could squeeze in A.Young or Downing I think your better off. Walker looks a great pick for a possible Villa CS.
HRod just doesn't thrill me at all. He doesn't score consistently and he faces a rather tough double week @Arsenal and home to VIlla. I think your better off with Torres, who has been looking much sharper and faces an easier set of games @Wolves and home to Fulham (who travel worse than Liverpool). Regardless of current form, I do believe Torres is getting better each game, and put in a solid performance against EVE, it just didn't translate into many fantasy pts due to the shot off the post and Howards great reaction saves.
I'd value Kelly over Skertl because be attacks down the right flank and gets in crosses. He seems to have established himself in the RB role under Dalgliesh. Meireles will still be on FK's @Wolves, but Gerrard will come straight back into the lineup home to Fulham, just something to think about.
Dempsey has been in solid form for most of his games, ave anywhere from 6-10 pts, good but not amazing. Certainly not a terrible set of double games and if anyone will score or produce you have to think its gonna be him. But since hes not on FK's you have to wonder if that will hurt him in the end.
Just my hunch, but I feel Varney will outscore GTF this time around. I know many were burned last double week (and yes I had GTF for his 20+ pts) but I feel we'll see a reversal.
I think your underestimating the value of Utd as well. Truly the only players worth considering would be Nani, Rooney, Berbatov, Anderson (awaiting team news) and Hernandez (should start 1). The risk of rotation is just pure speculation, however in seasons past we know Fergie does indeed like to rotate in these situation but nothings concrete. Vidic and Ferdinand could be good bets, but I rarely pay that much on defense especially with such great midfield/forward in the double week.
If this helps then great, and always good luck
Current Team:
Reina
Bale, Kelly, Kolarov
AY, Adam, Meireles, VDV
Torres, RvP, Dembele
I could easily be swayed to go Downing/Varney over AY/Dembele or even Gabby over Dembele, which would be a true gamble.
I just can't find room for Nani/Rooney without making serious cuts by using fillers. Its my opinion that having 3-4 solid players over 1 amazing player + 2-3 fillers is usually the better choice overall (although it does happen the other way around).
If your interested in fillers you might want to give Reo-Coker, Shevley, or Anderson a punt.
Bent in, Houllier out.
@kellz: you have given me a bit to consider, I couldn't fit any MU players in as well(for the very same reason). Thank you for your thoughts! I wish you all the best as well..
marco
@Kellz- agree with everything you said. But Albrighton has never failed me, his lowest for me was 6, coming of the bench with less that 10mins to go, only problem is he stands the risk of rotation. I also believe Bent will take PK duties off AY if he makes the move.
@kellz: you've got a solid team and also given me something to think about. I'm torn between having a team with a filler + a big gun or having a team which spread evenly. But I really would like to have a MU player in this DGW.
My current team:
Stockdale
Kolarov, Walker, Kelly
vdv, Meireles, Adam, Reo-Coker (filler)
Torres, rvp, Rooney
Still holding Nani @17.76 and Reina @5.71 behind the scene.
Which of Nani+Reina or Stockdale+Rooney is better? Which department/players I can improve?
Any comment?
@anon: Go for Nani, he's been central to most of utd's goals as well as scoring himself. Good rule of thumb is to favor the free kick taker as they will usually score pts win or lose. Rooney still hasn't hit any sort of form so he's a bit risky. But the matchups are right and sometimes that's all a striker needs. Really go for your gut. Hope that helps :)
Id also stick to reina, there's no reason to trust him after last week but the matches are right and I feel he will redeem himself.
Thanks Kellz, you've been very helpful, not just me but to many other blog readers as I've seen you actively giving your thoughts away helping others. Hope you'll well, (we are sharing 8 players which mean I should be fine :P )
Reina/Nani: If you're reading this, please do well to repay Kellz's fate in you both!
Reina
Kolarov, Kelly, Walker
Vdv, Nani, Adam, Meireles, Reo-coker
Rvp, Torres
Hope suarez moves to liverpool. So i can pick him to replace torres and i can upgrade reo-coker to albrighton/bent if he moves to villa. I really want downing but not enough funds.
Max
Carson
Kolarov Spector Faubert
Adam Nani Meireles Kuyt Dempsey
RvP Rooney
rate my team...
ZZZ
AM
i can see an 'unhealthy' environment here where people wrote bad things between others.
Please take an action as it will getting much more worse
tq
@ZZZ- you don't need Kuyt and Mereiles and you sure don't need 2 westham defenders. Downgrade one of your liverpool midfielders and upgrade at least one of the westham midfielders. Ben Watson @6.20 on spotkicks for wigan could be ideal, just saying.
Work in progress
Reina
Kolarov M.Kelly G.Caldwell
Nani VdV Albrighton B.Watson
V.Persie Torres Berbatov
just by typing in Malay doesn't really mean you're Malaysian.
because you can always 'Google translate' it.
If i said malaysia boleh, then i'm Malaysian?
bon voyage.
then I'm French now?
Just because of some idiots we don't even sure coming from where, Malaysia got blamed.
And for fellow Malaysian, please type in English.
We learnt it, didn't we?
Good point there Jelly. There are actually some good Malaysians contributing to this blog. Standing up for a fellow Malaysian.
Assuming Bent moves to Villa before Saturday, my team will look like below.
Friedel
Kolorov, G.Caldwell, Walker
Downing, Nani, VDV, Adam, Diame
Bent, DJ Campbell
If not it will be
Stockdale
Kolorov, G.Caldwell, Walker
Downing, Nani, VDV, Adam, Maxi
Agbonlahor, DJ Campbell
Any suggestions?
Thanks
LC
GOALKEEPERS
S. Carson
West Brom
Sell at 1.00
(market price 1.00)
DEFENDERS
G. Bale
Tottenham
Sell at 15.76
(market price 19.51)
R. Stam
Wigan
Sell at 5.66
(market price 5.66)
N. Vidic
Man Utd
Sell at 12.34
(market price 12.34)
MIDFIELDERS
R. Van der Vaart
Tottenham
Sell at 5.51
(market price 15.21)
Nani
Man Utd
Sell at 12.98
(market price 18.40)
M. Albrighton
Aston Villa
Sell at 10.23
(market price 10.83)
R. Meireles
Liverpool
Sell at 8.31
(market price 10.09)
S. Petrov
Aston Villa
Sell at 7.75
(market price 7.75)
FORWARDS
R. van Persie
Arsenal
Sell at 13.90
(market price 18.70)
D. Ngog
Liverpool
Sell at 6.10
(market price 6.10)
PLEASE input / suggestion..
thx
-RICHO-
Hey Anon 2:11 PM, January 17, 2011
Malaysian please go away from here?? There are lots of Malaysian here especially in AM Chatroom Regulars okay including me.
Agree with Jelly. Read his comment.
To AM, its time to make sure people to sign in before can comment here? Its getting boring just because this small matter. Lets just discuss about football.
Cheers,
We can forget about it or we can discuss it some More, there 're a lot of kids on the internet and kids will be kids, asian, african, european, there's very little you can do about them if the choose to be naughty.
hey EBI.S,
im very appreciate for your comment
yes LETS TALK ABOUT Fantasy Football,
if you want to discuss other issues, outside of this forum please!!
-RICHO-
Rooney was rubbish against spurs, its laughable really. They cannot deal with the fact that he is average most of the team, with periods of brilliance. Any time he did anything basically correct the commentators drooled over it, ignoring 99% of play that was rubbish/anonymous.
To counter the point about Nani, they didnt manage any meaningful attacks while Nani was on the pitch either! The only good bits were largely individual play: giggs long shots and Rafael driving runs to nowhere. I will still put Nani in but Utd were absolutely toothless against spurs so Rooney stays out: one goal in 9 months must be one of the worst records for a striker in the premiership.
Yeah josh, i'm also with you
Im a Man Utd fan and i thought they were dyer.
I also thought Rafael sending off was harsh and Man Utd were 2nd best in the whole game.
I do however have to say that even though Utd defence was shaky, Tottenham going forward were just as poor.
There were numerous times, where the pass was on for a tap in and they fluffed it.
When Rafael got sent off and Nani & Rooney were playing like a bunch of old women, Tottenham should have grabbed the game by the horns and won.
But my beloved Utd still go on undefeated!
Just my thoughts :-)
Thanks
LC
Team:
Stockdale
Crainey....G. Caldwell...J.Pantsil
VDV...C. Adam....Nani....Downing...Mereles
L. Varney......Agbon. (A.V.)
I am happy with most but....
My questions are. S. Davies for Mereles and why has his name not been mentioned in the double week..Davies that is.
Dembele for Agbon. ??
Downing or Albrighton?
Keep Dzeko???
Maybe I am not so happy with it now that I start posting.
Suggestions?
@LC
Your analysis of the match is totally wrong. To state that United's defence was shaky is clearly a joke, anyone who understands a game of football will know Vidic and Rio had a great game that night. Vidic had a monstrous man-of-the-match. Only a fool will fail to recognize that.
And Tottenham's attack was poor? Please don't be fooled by the 0-0 scoreline as it was one of the best nil nil games I have watched. Spurs was great going forward and they were an absolute joy to watch and were unlucky not to score.
And lastly, Rooney did not play like a woman. He looked sharp and lively and could have scored a brace.
Lol, i agree with anon and lc
I will be honest with you.
Anytime a team attacks Utd i shit myself.
Rooneys 1st touch was awful. His touch was always too hard so it pinged to a tottenham player.
Nani and Berba werent up for the game.
In my opinion Rafael was better than half of the team, but he still got skinned by Bale, time and time again.
Carrick is diabolical.
For me. Man Utd were Shit!
Thanks
LC
Hi all, I'm from Malaysia too. Do visit my blog to view my team selection every week.
Gd Luck Everybody. Peace No War.
http://playerfantasy.blogspot.com/
berbatov or darren bent?
should i drop downing n nzogbia so i can bring in dempsey and bent? or i will score more points by keeping downing? i need help big time.
kellz thanks for ur comments in here ,always helpful.
bent have changed its team name in YFF
ZZZ
_____________Carson_________________
__Koscielny - G. Caldwell - Pantsil__
__VDV - Downing - Adam - Merieles___ (Nani)
____Dembele - Rooney - Torres_______ (Dzeko)
Its either:
Torres + Merieles
OR
Nani + Dzeko
@Martin - Nani at full price or discount? I have Nani @17.00 + Dzeko, but I'm a little worried that they may rest Nani for one of the games. If you're looking more long-term, I'd go with Nani+Dzeko. Short-term, then Torres+Meireles.
For me, the debate is:
Dempsey + G. Caldwell
OR
Meireles + Skrtel
kwyjibo: why would SAF rest Nani? or did you read anything which I'm not aware of? If you're worried about SAF resting players, I'm only worried about Berbatov being benched when SAF opt for 4-5-1 with Rooney alone up-front which SAF might deploy for away games. But I think SAF will play all his attacking players - Rooney, Nani & Berbatov.
I can only choose either one of the trio... and I can't decide either! any help?
by the way, I would suggest you Meireles + Kelly/Walker
Due to performing like absolute rubbish the last three weeks in a row, I'm trying a huge double gamer lineup:
• D. Stockdale
• J. Spector
• R. Ferdinand
• A. Hughes
• C. Adam
• S. Petrov
• M. Carrick
• D. Vaughan
• Andrew Johnson
• F. Torres
• W. Rooney
Comments welcome!
Szczesny
walker/m.kelly/pantsil/heitinga
vdv/c.adam/dempsey
d.bent/torres/rooney
8 DG. pls comment!
http://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/blog/dirty-tackle/post/Roberto-Carlos-scores-with-a-clever-corner-kick?urn=sow-308674
Wow..
Btw 110 pts for last week.. anyone thinking going both Downing/A.Young?
How can anyone be worried about Nani being benched, Uniteds best player by a mile.
@Flscott- personally i'd favor Fletcher over Carrick, with Anderson on the bench if there is rest or rotation it could affect Carrick.
Any Comment on my team this week ?
J. Reina
Liverpool
Sell at 5.71
(market price 5.71)
DEFENDERS
A. Alcaraz
Wigan
Sell at 7.45
(market price 8.37)
V. Kompany
Man City
Sell at 8.76
(market price 9.61)
P. Bardsley
Sunderland
Sell at 9.53
(market price 10.75)
MIDFIELDERS
J. Barton
Newcastle
Sell at 5.49
(market price 11.57)
R. Van der Vaart
Tottenham
Sell at 6.33
(market price 15.21)
Nani
Man Utd
Sell at 13.57
(market price 18.40)
R. Meireles
Liverpool
Sell at 7.69
(market price 10.09)
C. Adam
Blackpool
Sell at 10.25
(market price 10.25)
FORWARDS
W. Rooney
Man Utd
Sell at 16.43
(market price 16.43)
E. Dzeko
Man City
Sell at 6.23
(market price 6.42)
walker-bent
or
caldwell-dempsey
@Anon 1:54AM & 6:58AM - No, I didn't read anything. I just get worried when there are so many games close together that they may choose to give some players a rest. Then again, isn't there a rule in the FA that they are required to put out their strongest team?
So, disregard my worries. I was getting confused with the frequent benching of starters during mid-week champions league or FA/Carling cup matches.
In fact, when you see ManU's upcoming matches, Nani probably is a great buy:
Birmingham
@Blackpool
Aston Villa
@Wolves
So, hopefully Nani can rack up some good points, unlike the 0.5 against Spurs...
Torres - Watson or Kuyt- Meireles???
First game Kuyt is on penalties and Meireles on Set pieces. I am worried about second game and "return of the king". Kuyt and meireles are loosing value. Any advice????
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