Pausing only for a moment to consider the possibility that Martin O'Neill was too stunned to join West Ham last weekend because he had just heard that not only did Gérard Houllier have £24m to spend but was going to blow it all on Darren Bent, this column would like to join the queue of people expressing outrage at the former Sunderland striker's duplicity and gross moral turpitude.
It was my task to interview the aptly named player last October, on subjects varying from his happiness in the north-east to his recall for England after missing the World Cup, and, though he came across as perfectly pleasant and personable, it has become clear over the past few days that he was peddling porkies. Reader, he took me for a ride.
"The move up here has been everything I wanted," he told me, the lying hound. "I'm playing football regularly again, the goals are going in for me again, and the people round here are really appreciative. I'm playing the best football of my life and I'm happy at Sunderland."
There was much more in that sort of vein, with Bent expressing gratitude to Steve Bruce, Niall Quinn and others at the club for keeping his spirits up in the summer after he failed to make the squad for South Africa, and stressing that it was important to play every week in the Premier League to stay at the forefront of Fabio Capello's thoughts. It now turns out that far from being happy on Wearside, Bent had submitted a transfer request in the close season, and it took all Bruce and Quinn's powers of persuasion to stop him leaving for Fenerbahce. Then it took all their powers of diplomacy to hush up the matter, keep Bent sweet, and proceed as if nothing had ever happened.
No one likes being lied to, even by convincing liars, but football, like politics, runs on versions of the truth. I must admit my opinion of Bent has gone up over the past few days – I was joking about the outrage – whereas Sunderland's whingeing has had the opposite effect. Footballer fibbing to newspaper is not exactly a shock and at least Bent was showing loyalty by playing the game. He is clearly the sort whose head will be turned by any sort of admiring approach – playing in Turkey would hardly have enhanced his England chances, after all – and Sunderland must have realised that. They would have been scanning his every public utterance for hints of dissatisfaction or restlessness and finding only tributes to the club and plausible expressions of contentment. Right up to the point where Aston Villa came up with the sort of whopping offer that no one in their right mind would refuse and Bent was gone in under three days.
Not realising that this was their chance to count their money and their blessings, and play their part in the charade as graciously as Bent, Sunderland have spent the past few days carping. Bruce has questioned Houllier's decency, accused Villa of tapping up the player suggested the speed of the transfer was suspicious and bemoaned Bent's lack of loyalty to a club that gave him a break.
This is the same Bruce that walked out of Wigan Athletic after less than two months in 2001 to join Crystal Palace, where he lasted three months of the season before agreeing to join Birmingham. The same Bruce that took Lee Cattermole with him to Sunderland after leaving Wigan for a second time and has made no secret of his admiration for Charles N'Zogbia. That the Bent deal was completed so quickly merely demonstrates an eagerness to do business on both sides. Quinn witnessed Sunderland catch a cold with Kevin Phillips, who was sold for £3m a season after an offer of £15m was turned down, and in spite of all the hot air emanating from Wearside it does not appear the club had to be dragged to the bargaining table. As Bent said, in his helpful way, Sunderland did not have to sell him if they did not want to.
The moral of the story, apart from the fact that morality is best left out of these transactions, is that £24m is the sort of sum that can make you change your mind quite quickly. Sunderland have cashed in, everyone can see that, and as there is no particular blame attached they should stop playing the wounded victim and move on.
The focus now moves to Villa, where Bent, having made a great start in living up to his wildly inflated valuation with last night's winner, must score enough goals to vindicate Houllier's sudden boldness in the transfer market. Good luck with that to all concerned. One cannot help but wonder, however, why Villa turned their financial howitzer on Sunderland but seem to be trying to prise Charlie Adam from Blackpool with a penny peashooter, as Ian Holloway confirmed yesterday. Adam could still be the bargain of the season at a quarter of the Bent price. Bent, no matter how well things go at Villa Park, will never be regarded as a bargain.
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario