20 Years; 20 Players: No.16 Darren Bent
In no order I am listing 20 Players that have left an enduring impression on me in my almost half a century of being an Addick.
20 Players to commemorate me writing this Blog for 20 years and at no. 16 is Darren Bent.
Darren Bent, Bent, Bent.
I can see him now sprinting away from a bedazzled Premier League back line to slot home with ease and turn away with his fists clenched.
Curbs was a wily old fox wasn’t he. He whipped up to Norfolk as soon as Ipswich lost the 2005 Championship play-off semi-final to sweet talk Darren Bent into moving to SE7 for an initial fee of £2.5m.
On the opening day of the 2005/06 Premier League season Bent scored twice at the Stadium of Light, and proceeded to score in each of the next three games. Bent had arrived and he arrived in a Charlton shirt.
Bent was just 21 at the time and I remember we were so proud to have him on our journey as we continued to thrive at the top table of English football.
Bent was a master at playing off a defender’s shoulder, he was so quick from a standing start and always worked his socks off. He was easily the best Charlton player I have ever seen as a lone striker.
He scored 37 goals for us, but the one that always sticks in my memory is when he flew past Birmingham’s Mario Melchiot on the halfway line. Melchiot had about three metres advantage but looked as if he was running in quick-sand. Bent dispatch the ball into the roof of the net.
It was a travesty that he didn’t go to the 2006 World Cup at the end of that season.
Sadly with Curbs gone and three different manager’s later it all went sour despite Benty’s best efforts still scoring 13 league goals in a relegated team, only one behind Wayne Rooney for champions Man Utd.
The £16.5m the club received from Tottenham that summer is still the largest fee Charlton has ever received for a player. Looking back it’s a shame that Bent and Curbs only had one season together as they just appeared to click. Bent went on to play 560 plus games retiring at the age of 35.
Darren is now a well regarded pundit on Talksport eloquently mixing his humble personality with good insight on the game, and still talks fondly of the Addicks
Appearances 77. Goals 37 (2005 – 2007)
absolute legend CA and fondly remembered
Darren Bent, Andy Hunt, Clive Mendonca. Three terrific strikers from the era.
Though Derek Hales will always be top of the tree for me.
I’m with you, Daggs. All brilliant and I’d add Yann as well but I think if you are of a certain generation it has to be Killer.
The story with Darren Bent was that every premier league club looked at him and all bar one thought he was too small and not quite good enough to cut it/not worth the money Ipswich wanted.
In that relegation season he was injured a bit too – hence he only scored 13 goals, if only we’d had him available for a few more games.
We’ve signed quite a few players from Ipswich since then and all have been disappointing, they got their revenge for us stealing him for £2.5m.