Darren Bent has revealed that former Aston Villa manager Paul Lambert stripped him of the captaincy after just three weeks as skipper. The striker's relationship with Lambert soured following the incident.
Bent's Villa Arrival
Having proven himself in the Premier League with Charlton and Sunderland, Bent joined Aston Villa in January 2011 for a then-club record fee of £24 million. The English striker scored on his debut and netted nine goals in his first 16 appearances.
However, things began to deteriorate after Lambert took over as manager in 2012. With regular captain Stiliyan Petrov sidelined due to his battle with leukaemia, Lambert initially appointed Bent as captain for the start of the season.
The Captaincy Change
After approximately three weeks, Lambert spoke to Bent before a match and informed him that he would be handing the captaincy to defender Ron Vlaar. Bent later discovered that the change had been planned for a week without his knowledge. The relationship between the two has remained strained ever since.
Speaking on the podcast In The Mixer, brought to you by Sky Bet, Bent said: "We didn't get on. It just turned overnight. So I'm on holiday, he got the job, and he's calling me every two days to ask what happened last season and about the young players."
Bent added: "He's calling me asking what cars the young players are driving and if they are getting above their station. He was worrying about that. So I get in now to pre-season. I'm captain for the pre-season games and he's asking me questions. After about two weeks or so, he officially made me captain. But, for whatever reason, it just changes."
The Final Straw
Bent recalled a specific incident that marked the end of his time as captain. "He brings [Christian] Benteke in and he always tells me that the plan was for me and Benteke to play together. Then it goes south. We were playing Man City in the Cup. He said to me, 'Right for this midweek game I'm going to rest you, we've got West Brom on the weekend.' He played Gabby [Agbonlahor], Benteke and Andreas Weimann. Those three were brilliant in the game. We won 4-2."
Bent continued: "It comes to the weekend and I'm preparing to play. He comes into the dressing room, flips the whiteboard chart and I'm not in the team. He walks straight out. Doesn't say anything. I'm the captain. I'm like, 'What's going on here?' I go and see him and he says to me, 'Listen, you're not going to play today, but with the captaincy, I think I'm going to give it to Ron Vlaar now. Because I want you to focus on scoring goals and that.'"
Bent added: "I walked out of there and my head's gone. But Ron comes and finds me and goes, 'Oh, has the boss spoken to you about the captaincy?' I'm like, 'Yeah.' He's like, 'Yeah he spoke to me like last week or the week before.' So he hadn't told me, but he'd told Ron for weeks that he was going to make him captain and not me. From that game, it's never the same."
Aftermath
Bent later left Villa on a series of loans, starting with Fulham before stints at Brighton and Derby County. He signed permanently for Derby in 2015 and retired in 2019 after a loan spell with Burton Albion. Lambert was sacked after two-and-a-half years as Villa manager.
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