Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert insists there are no problems between him and striker http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Darren-Bent-c10358 following the 1-1 game at Villa Park against West Brom.
Bent, who finally scored his first league goal last week in the 4-1 defeat to Southampton, was left on the bench for the home game against West Brom.
The record signing was left out, with http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Gabriel-Agbonlahor-c14288 starting the game upfront. It was understood that the player was not happy with his manager’s decision at being left on the bench.
West Brom had taken the lead in the second half through Shane Long, and looked likely to emerge as victors towards the end as Villa ran out of ideas.
However, Bent had the last say as he scored the equalizer in the dying minutes, thus earning his side a vital point as Villa look to continue their momentum. The striker was used as a second half substitute, and his celebration displayed his delight at having
scored.
When asked if his celebration was supposed to be a message for manager http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Paul-c29347 Lambert, he replied:
“Yeah, maybe. It has been a difficult couple of weeks losing the captaincy first then finding out today I wasn’t playing. It would have been nice to go from the start of the game. But I managed to get the goal.”
The striker had earlier been removed as club captain, only just a month after being handed the captaincy by Lambert in pre-season. Summer signing http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ron-Vlaar-c31697 was handed over the captain’s armband last month, and it is understood that Bent was not exactly happy
with his manager’s decision.
However, Lambert insists that there are no problems between him and Bent as he hailed the striker’s goal and performance.
“No, he was great. There was no problem. I just named the team and that's the team I picked,” he said.
"I need everyone, it's a collective thing, I never look at individuals. The goal was brilliant, it was a world-class finish. He was fine at full-time. I spoke to him in the dressing room as well. He was totally fine, totally, no problem, none.”
After experiencing a poor start to the campaign, Villa have finally managed to string together results as they look to finish in the top half of the league.
Tags: