I think that Bentley's getting a lot of unnecessary stick, to be honest. He's done a decent job for us whenever he's come in, though there's no doubt that he was overpriced, but I don't think that his commitment should be questioned. He seemed to get completely frozen out after being the main instigator in the Redknapp soaking. A little petty, really.
He should at least be back up for when Lennon is off-form. I feel for the guy, no wonder he's fed up.
He played at first and did quite well, but then Zigic got injured and Bentley was used less, I believe. He ended up getting disciplined for leaving the stadium when he wasn't even on the bench, if I remember correctly, RVF. I could be wrong here, but I think McLeish tried to pick Larsson more towards the end of the season, as he was out of contract. That would've limited Bentley's chances.
It's not about potential, Lidls. He's clearly a decent player and I think he's proven at a Premier League level, at least. His high price tag damaged people's view of him at WHL, much like Darren Bent, but he's not a bad player. His arrival prompted a real upswing in Lennon's form and it might not be a coincidence that we didn't see a lot from our diminutive winger towards the end of last season, when his position was essentially unchallenged, bar vdV.
It's hard to know whether Bentley could make it in the first XI of a top 6 side, Lidls. I think that he'd probably suit playing in front of a full-back that likes to overlap a lot, so I wouldn't be bothered if we kept him and used him and Walker in the cups and as back-up/competition. I also won't be too fussed if we get a decent fee for him and bring in someone else to challenge Lennon. The thing that worries me with Bentley is the same thing that worries me about Kranjcar, Bassong and a few others in our squad. Have they failed to force their way into the team due to a lack of ability or a lack of appropriate application or have they been frozen out by Redknapp for some other reason? I'm not convinced by our manager's ability to manage a large squad and challenge on several fronts, basically.
Bentley's got a good delivery generally and he's a decent passer of the ball. His main problem at Spurs, in my opinion, is that he slows the game down quite a lot whenever he's on the ball.
Kranjcar and Bentley both have a chronic lack of pace and workrate. VDV might be slow but he's three times the player Bentley is and makes a noticable effort to help out. I had high hopes for Bentley when he arrived but he's fallen well short in the chances he's got and since struggling to get a place he has consistenly found himself "injured" before games when he'll be on the bench. He's a good player but a major disapointment.
PNP - The problem I see with the overlapping FB idea is getting picked off down that side by...well anyone really!, when Bentley's left in LM position and the FB ahead. Terrible tackler and no pace, doesn't read danger very well at all.
I don't think that Bentley's lazy, SF. In the Carling Cup game against Arsenal, for example, he was played on the left, which he's totally unsuited for and he had a very poor game, but he kept asking for the ball, kept getting forward and tracking back and didn't try to hide. He was slaughtered for that performance too, which I must admit I found hard to understand. Kranjcar's workrate isn't his greatest asset, by any means, but I think that he could have done a very good job deputising for van der Vaart, as Bentley could for Lennon, when we were struggling with burned out players and weren't scoring. Redknapp picked some of our team for far too many games on the trot and several of them suffered as a result of it, which led to the poor run of form which cost us 4th place, in my opinion.
It's something that our other players would have to be aware of, but I think that's a problem with any attacking full-back. The centre-halves and holding midfielder would know what to watch out for and the opposite full-back should hold back to compensate, when it looks like an attack is building down that side.
I totally agree with one of the earlier postings. A waste of potentially good talent. Sorry to those who disagree, but I'm with Schteffen on this one. Bentley is a lazy git. He also, seemingly, has zero ambition, and seems to be happy to take whatever ridiculous sum we are paying him. If he had any gumption at all, he would have pushed for selection and/or demanded a transfer. He's done neither.
I don't get this. Bentley's gone out on loan to try and get first team football and hasn't been publicly critical of either coach that chose not to pick him, so he's lazy and complacent. If he'd have sat about and moaned to the press, then he'd be disloyal and disruptive. Lose-lose.
No, it's simple. If you're convinced that you're not being used enough, you're sure of your talent, commitment, etc. You demand a transfer. I'd have at least had some respect for him if he'd have done that, instead of meekly accepting a loan to Birmingham - where he was eventually discarded, anyway.
He may have thought that he needed to prove himself in order to get a decent transfer and taken the loan with a view to getting a transfer in this window. Didn't work, admittedly. If he'd have demanded a transfer then he'd have been criticised for that, too.
I, for one, wouldn't have criticised him. It would, at least, have shown that he had some ambition about him. To me, he seems completely devoid of any - except that of getting paid.
I remember him getting a hat-trick for Blackburn when they beat Man United 4-3 at Ewood Park about 5 years ago. Everyone was raving about him, I ****ing loved him and he was supposed to be a future stalwart of the England national team. And now look at him.
