ToffeeWeb - Season 2010-11

The Mail Bag

Marcus Bent and his love of Everton

It was refreshing yesterday to have some of my cynicism about football wiped away by Marcus Bent's words when interviewed in this month's Four Four two magazine:

He said: ?I can?t find the words to describe how special that club is.......I?d kiss the Everton badge now if I had the shirt ? that?s how passionate I am about them. I?ve become a fan having played there.?

Bent is currently on loan at Wolves from Birmingham so has no reason to suck-up to us ? clearly his short stay here left a lasting impression. He was also a bargain at £450k and, along with Cahill, helped us towards the magical 4th place finish.

The arrival of Beattie spelt the beginning of the end of his Everton career but we went on to make a tidy profit when he left for Charlton.

One weird thing though... he compared Graeme Souness favourably against Moyes when it came to managing him....!
Rob Sawyer, Cheshire Posted 03/12/2010 at 16:08:20

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Martin Handley
1 Posted 03/12/2010 at 22:32:06

God bless his cotton socks at least he wasn't as shite as Beattie!

Ste Traverse
2 Posted 03/12/2010 at 23:35:52

We went downhill when Bent was dropped for that load of garbage Beattie midway through the 04-05 season and we only just clung on to fourth.

We made a decent profit on Bent but he was harshly dropped in favour of Moyes's big money buy Beattie, who was little more than a flop and too slow to play upfront in a 4-5-1.

Danny Broderick
3 Posted 04/12/2010 at 03:24:36

He did well for us for a time, but unfortunately I remember a distinct lack of effort from him towards the end of his Everton days. He didn't seem to put himself about as much in the end, I thought at the time he was getting a bit cheesed off at playing up front on his own, but I remember also wondering if our relative success had gone to his head.

I think his last game for us was Millwall away in the FA Cup (correct me if I am wrong?) and I remember him failing to even challenge for a header right in front of the Everton fans ? which resulted in him getting dog's abuse. Moyes subbed him shortly after and we got rid of him shortly after.

He did do well for us in his first season though and a profit is always nice if you have to sell a player on...

Lee Courtliff
4 Posted 04/12/2010 at 08:46:04

Nice to hear that from a player who was only here 2 minutes relatively speaking. He had a great first touch with his back to goal and got a few goals initially. I wonder why he seems to burn out at every club after 6 months or so because he clearly had some good qualities.

Good luck Marcus, thanks for playing a big part in our best season since the 80s... loved your last minute equaliser against Saints. Redknapp's face was the proverbial (ugly) picture!

Jim Hillier
5 Posted 04/12/2010 at 09:30:10

He'd kiss the badge if he had the shirt? Can't he afford one, then? What a strange thing for him to say.

Nick Entwistle
6 Posted 04/12/2010 at 09:39:59

He put in masses of effort up front for little reward, then that pie eater with a price tag came in and took his place. I can totally understand his lack of effort thereafter.

Perhaps though he's touting for a return, he'd be first choice striker if he was.

Simon Birkett
7 Posted 04/12/2010 at 10:00:13

His form dipped when he was asked to play wide right and support Beattie... Simples.

Anthony Hughes
8 Posted 04/12/2010 at 11:01:18

You could be right Nick, he could be looking at nice little loan deal for himself in January.

Lance Manion
9 Posted 04/12/2010 at 11:46:07

I'd have him back at the minute, in fact I'd take Danny Devito at the minute he couldn't do any worse than the tools we've got up front now.

Sean McCarthy
10 Posted 04/12/2010 at 12:01:44

He was shite!! Don't be getting all nostalgic because of our current woes!!

Matt Traynor
11 Posted 04/12/2010 at 11:36:18

I must admit when we signed him, I thought it was the proverbial "more clubs than Jack Nicklaus" journeyman. He certainly proved us wrong, and if that twat Collina hadn't penalised him for a non-foul when Ferguson "equalised" away at Villarreal, who knows where we might be now?

David Hallwood
12 Posted 04/12/2010 at 12:54:13

He wasn't shite, Sean (#9), just not the best and he wasn't a prolific goalscorer, which is of course what forwards are put on earth to do. Danny Wellbeck of Sunderland reminds me of Bent because of the work he gets through.

Right now I'd love a young Marcus Bent, or Wellbeck, because it would be nice to see a forward in an Everton shirt, jump up & down and run around a bit, secondly it would give the more talented (yeah alright) midfielders gaps to exploit.

But I've only got good memories of Bent, at least he always put a shift in, not like the other two lazy fuckers who are vastly more talented than him.

Jay Harris
13 Posted 04/12/2010 at 13:08:22

David, I agree with you totally. He worked tirelessly for the cause, held the ball up well but was not a prolific scorer.

Never any bother as a professional and was probably too accommodating for his own good ? unlike today's totally overpaid prima donnas.

Ciarán McGlone
14 Posted 04/12/2010 at 14:10:54

We were the biggest club he played for...

I agree with McCarthy... poor player.

Ernie McAllister
15 Posted 04/12/2010 at 17:07:26

I'd happily take Marcus Bent on loan, no two ways about it. For me he proved himself a quality player... but then once Moyes has finished with strikers, it tends to go tits up for them; no wonder he put less effort in towards the end of the season when that fat pie-eating twat took his place.

Ernie McAllister
16 Posted 04/12/2010 at 17:13:14

Actually, right now, I want to see Gueye up top where he supposedly plays... I've seen him a few times, looks like a decent player imo.

Steve Kidd
17 Posted 04/12/2010 at 19:10:28

Honestly advise anyone to get hold of Four Four Two this month and read this article. Was going to enter a piece on it myself but was beaten to the punch. I was never the biggest fan of Bent, but at least he worked hard. The impression that Bent gives is that he loves Everton and appreciates the sheer size of the club and the way the fans feel about it.

However he is quite candid when talking about how he feels he was forced out of the club and that Moyes was not upfront with him. Good read.

Glen Anderson
18 Posted 04/12/2010 at 20:00:06

He was not a poor player or shite for us but I think he was for all the other clubs he played for. Somehow he seemed to raise his game when playing for Everton so no surprise that he has a soft spot for the time that he spent with us.

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