Time to map out a plan for Villa's future
- Says blogger Matthew Turvey
Alan Curbishley backs Darren Bent
Wednesday 3rd August 2011, 3:15PM BST.
Villa fans can expect to see even more from Darren Bent – according to his former manager Alan Curbishley.
Bent has quickly adjusted to life at Villa following his £24million club-record transfer from Sunderland in January, scoring nine goals in 16 Premier League games.
It has also helped the 27-year-old forward consolidate himself in the plans of England coach Fabio Capello, ahead of the 2012 European Championships next summer.
And Curbishley, who made 36 appearances for Villa between 1983 and 1984 and managed Bent when he was a Charlton player, believes the best is yet to come.
Curbishley said: “Darren can improve – he’s not the finished article. He is a fantastic goalscorer and if he misses one it doesn’t faze him at all – he will go again and again and again.
“Just ask the Villa boys in training. When the ball goes to Darren they expect it to go in which is great.
“But, as I said, for Villa and England when there’s a quiet period for him in the game he has to get into the game a little bit and just get another touch here or there.
“I think when there’s a lull in the game and you don’t see him for a while that he needs to work his way back into it a bit more.
“But what he is looking for, and I think this will be provided by the likes of Stiliyan Petrov and Charles N’Zogbia, is that through-ball.
“Looking at the Villa over the past few years, that’s something that they’ve been lacking – someone who can get up to the 15 or 20 mark.
“Gabby Agbonlahor needed someone to help him out a bit because he was carrying the burden.
“Perhaps they can make a good partnership now.”
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