Superb. Ecstatic. Delighted.
Just some of the words that come nowhere near to describing the signing of Darren Bent at Villa. His acquisition represents a massive statement of intent from the club, and goes a long way to silencing Martin O’Neill, Holloway and his fanboys. Chelsea aren’t selling Drogba, Tevez is at Citeh – why not get the most prolific English striker – and third highest Premiership goalscorer on the planet.
Not only have we done it, but for the first time since I began watching Aston Villa we broke the bank. Randy Lerner has written an outrageous cheque of up to £24 million pounds – which is insane – but it goes to show where the man’s interests truly lie. He has dragged the club, its facilities…indeed everything about us out of the dark ages. And now he is restoring pride. How many times have we been linked, indeed allegedly bid, been outbid etc – not this time – we have gone and utterly done the business. Superb.
There is so much reaction rolling around Twitter, fansites and pubs across the city that it’s hard to keep up. I absurdly cannot wait for Saturday against Manchester City, which most supporters will not have been eyeing with much envy on the calendar. This will certainly do wonders to lift the mood – but aside from the general uplift, few can deny that this is a prudent buy.
It is amazing the show of support that Houllier is being shown – and credit to Lerner and co -they could have easily behaved in the manner of Newcastle, or indeed, of late West Ham in undermining all that has gone before. Instead our conduct has been admirable and our business swift.
So welcome Darren Bent – the fee of £18/£24 million is irrelevant – time to do what you’re good at – banging them in! Roll on Saturday.