The incoming boss will first demand total commitment to the cause and anybody demonstrating anything less than that from the first minute of Redknapp’s first game at Sunderland can expect to find themselves hastily cast aside.
Redknapp will treasure the individuals he believes can help him achieve his ultimate aim of leading the Loftus Road club to safety. Anybody he considers surplus to requirements will be mercilessly frozen out as former Redknapp outcasts such as Alan Hutton and David Bentley will testify.
Redknapp knows he has no time to waste, even with 25 matches remaining. The forthcoming raft of fixtures affords the opportunity to collect a vital tranche of points and consequently put a dent in the 7 point gap separating the R’’s from the safety of 17thplace.
There will be no discrimination by Redknapp. He will immediately judge who he wants with him in one of his toughest battles and who he considers to be of as much use as the plant pots in his office. For those players who want to be part of a club with – yet to be matched – grand ambition it’s time to hit the ground running. Fixtures against Sunderland and Aston Villa provide the perfect platform to do just that.
Darren Bent
Since leaving Ipswich Town in 2005 Darren Bent has become something of a journeyman, staying for only two years at Charlton Athletic and Tottenham Hotspur and for 18 months at Sunderland. Now there appears a good chance that the ‘celebration’ of his two year anniversary at Aston Villa will trigger another move.
What each of Bent’s spells at his various employers has in common is an impressive goal return – even during his largely unhappy time at White Hart Lane where he was often excluded by Harry Redknapp he hit the net 18 times in 60 appearances.
When Bent was signed by then Villa Park boss Gerard Houllier for the considerable sum of £24m in January 2011 his duty was to provide the firepower which would lead the Villains away from trouble at the foot of the table – something he duly managed, scoring 9 league goals.
On a personal level, Bent believed his move to the Midlands and a side containing Ashley Young and Stewart Downing would result in a prolific strike-rate and subsequently enhance his international prospects. Those hopes were dashed when Young and Downing were sold in the summer following Bent’s arrival.
This term the newly installed manager at Villa, Paul Lambert, has stripped Bent of the captaincy he originally handed him and regularly omitted the forward from his starting line-up and even last Saturday against Arsenal, from the match-day squad.
Regardless of their lowly league position the Midlanders are playing some vibrant football and, in young Belgian attacker Christian Benteke, have one of the signings of this season. Goals remain scarce however, with only 10 in their 12 league matches played.
Surely a chance awaits Bent and it is one he will be itching to take. It may be that his prime motivation now is that next move and as long as there is no hint of his eye for goal having deserted him there will be many interested observers. Bent’s current team would unquestionably benefit from a cutting edge and, in the short-term at least, his selection can work well for both parties.
Villa’s next three fixtures against Reading, Q.P.R. and Stoke City are vital. Lambert’s side need to cement their steady improvement in performance with positive results. A hungry Darren Bent will aid the cause.
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