Jol appears to have acknowledged what some on here have been saying for weeks. This is one report from the press today - Up to him now but it's difficult to see how he'll mange to prove himself. Equally, it's difficult to envisage him moving in January, so I guess the Club will have to grimace and accept him as a poor investment until they can offload in the summer.
Surely it must be pretty obvious that someone languishing in the reserves of a struggling team, will hardly bolster a club with aspirations. After Richardson Rre ~ Bent.
when the going gets tough for Bent he'll end up shopping on the Kings Road....just like he did with Villa when left out. I'm confident Bent has an attitude problem.
Yeap, agreed. Another one who thinks he is God's gift!!! As for Richardson he never struck me as a great player or someone who would make a difference.
Can't understand Jol's thinking that Kieran Richardson is a good player, I put him down as a bit of a journeyman, average player I've never seen him have a storming season for any of his teams, so am a bit quizzical as to why Jol puts so much faith in him being a good player and bought him. So far I haven't seen him put in a good game for us. Think going for Bent is a gamble as you'd be looking at his past reputation, rather than his lack of performances recently. Again to me a confidence player, who plays for himself rather than the team. Agbonlahor made a lot of his goals.
The fact of the matter is, we need quality attacking players in January to give Berbatov some service, or at least pick up on the service he offers. I believe Bent would be that player, but things such as attitude, wages etc are all problems to ponder. You have to ask yourself, would Bent be good enough to get in our first team? The answer is yes, absolutely. I remembered Jol saying Richardson could play as a left back when he joined, so why not give him a go there, honestly can't do any worse than Riise right now, but all this speculation is pointless. Jol will pick the likes of Riise and Schwarzer not because they've been playing well but because they're favorites. Jol cannot possibly know other players in their positions aren't good enough as he hasn't given them a spell in the first team!
Its a shame about Richardson, anyone remember him coming to the Cottage a number of years ago with Sunderland...he ran the show. Recall he took a freekick, which beat Schwarzer all ends up and proceeded to hit both posts. I've seen very little since.
He had a bit of a purple patch with Sunderland, really. I remember a rocket free kick against Newcastle that was in the back of their net before Given had even left the ground.
Richardson has had a few impressive spells with Sunderland, and did well enough as a youngster on loan at West Brom to make England squads. That was a long time ago, mind. I thought he was a good signing at the time - a decent, versatile, addition to the squad. The only time I've seen him (Southampton away) he played well but by the sound of things here that wasn't representative of how he had done. I wouldn't write him off altogether, but I don't think we can count on him turning things around. Shame.
If I remember correctly a Sunderland fan posted in the 'Papers and Trandfers' thread at the time of his signing that his movement off the ball and, in particular, his passing was poor. Certainly an assessment confirmed in the games I've seen him play. So far the only saving grace (apart from his goal at Southampton) was that he only lasted 20 minutes against Arsenal.
He is a player that if in a good day can make a difference. The issue is that he does not have many such days!!! His shots are lethal...
