Marcus Bent

Marcus Bent
Bent in the Charlton Athletic jersey
Personnel
Surname	Marcus Nathan Bent
birthday	May 19, 1978
place of birth	Hammersmith ,  England
size	188 cm
position	striker
Men's
Years	station	Games (goals) 1
1995-1998	Brentford FC	70 0(8)
1998-1999	Crystal Palace	28 0(5)
1999	Port Vale	23 0(1)
1999-2000	Sheffield United	48 (20)
2000-2001	Blackburn Rovers	37 0(8)
2001-2004	Ipswich Town	61 (21)
2003-2004	→  Leicester City  (loan)	33 0(9)
2004-2006	Everton FC	55 0(7)
2006-2008	Charlton Athletic	46 0(4)
2007-2008	→  Wigan Athletic  (loan)	31 0(7)
2008-2011	Birmingham City	33 0(3)
2009-2010	→  Middlesbrough FC  (loan)	7 0(0)
2010	→  Queens Park Rangers  (loan)	3 0(0)
2010-2011	→  Wolverhampton Wanderers  (loan)	3 0(0)
2011	→  Sheffield United  (loan)	11 0(0)
2011–2012	Mitra Kukar FC
National team
Years	selection	Games (goals)
1998	England U-21	2 ( 01)
1 Only league games are given.

Marcus Nathan Bent (born May 19, 1978 in Hammersmith ) is a former English football player . The striker has been with 14 different English professional clubs during his career, with his most successful period at the turn of the millennium at Sheffield United and later Ipswich Town . With the Blackburn Rovers and Birmingham City he succeeded in the years 2001 and 2009 as second division champions of promotion to the Premier League .

Athletic career

Started his career in Brentford (1995–1998)

A good two months after his 17th birthday, Bent began his professional career in July 1995 in the senior squad of the London third division club Brentford . He first drew attention to himself in the course of the 1995/96 season, when he gave the team fighting for relegation new impetus. With his strengths, which were in the two-footed position and a high physical presence, he was particularly effective as an attacker via the outer positions. He scored the first three competitive goals in the FA Cup .

In the following season 1996/97 Bent conquered a regular place with the "Bees" and comparisons with the also Jamaica-born Marcus Gayle , who started a first division career at Wimbledon FC in Brentford in the 1990s , were drawn. Bent remained an integral part of the team coached by Eddie May at the beginning of the 1997/98 season and with Ryan Denys , Robert Taylor and Kevin Rapley he formed an attacking formation that attracted attention to the public (because it played offensively). However, when a new head coach came to Brentford with Micky Adams , Bent suddenly found himself on the bench more often.

Premier League experience and three relegations (1998-2004)

In January 1998 he seized the somewhat surprising opportunity to switch to the Premier League and from then on he fought to stay up with the London-based club Crystal Palace . In his 16 league encounters in the remaining games, he scored five goals and in addition to six substitutions, he permanently replaced the Italian Michele Padovano at the end of the season . The relegation could not be prevented, but the first division experience had enabled Bent two appearances in the English U-21 selection at the Toulon tournament . After falling into the second division, Bent had to struggle with a bad form and although he showed scoring qualities in the reserve team, he could not transfer this to the first team. After twelve championship games without a single hit, he moved to league rivals Port Vale in January 1999 .

At the new club he apparently found his old strengths, which were mainly in direct duels, but again his deficit of the lack of goal danger showed. So he was quickly only "second choice" in Port Vale and in 15 league appearances he was denied a goal. The 1999/2000 season Bent began as a left midfielder, but a red card in the League Cup against Chester City interrupted the interim sporting development. On his return he scored the first goal against Grimsby Town as a substitute striker before he was hired for £ 250,000 at Sheffield United in late October 1999 - the transfer fee later grew to £ 300,000.

In Sheffield, Bent immediately became a crowd favorite, as he found his way back to speed, tackling and header strength. He owed this not insignificantly to trainer Neil Warnock , who instructed him on a larger mission on the field. Bent scored 15 league goals - including a hat trick in the 6-0 win against West Bromwich Albion - and the interest of Premier League clubs for the 22-year-old was quickly renewed. Shortly after the start of the 2000/01 season, the series of goals dropped significantly. Nevertheless, the second division promotion aspirant Blackburn Rovers was so highly interested in a commitment that he was ready to pay a transfer fee of at least 1.3 million pounds at the end of November 2000.

In Blackburn he contributed eight goals to the fact that the second place succeeded in direct promotion to the Premier League. Once again arrived in the House of Lords, Bent received only rare probation opportunities and in November 2001 he went to Ipswich Town , which also played in the Premier League.

In Ipswich, Bent was primarily intended as a security for Marcus Stewart and so he had to wait until Boxing Day for the first goal. This was followed in January 2002 by a series of six goals in six league games, with his performance against Tottenham Hotspur receiving widespread attention when he fought for a corner with his speed and ultimately converted it into a goal himself with a header. Nevertheless, he rose a second time from the Premier League and in the middle of the subsequent second division season 2002/03 he had to pause for a long time. Even after his return he found it difficult to regain his previous form, but the twelve competitive goals meant a comparatively respectable yield for Bent, who was now mostly again a “classic center forward”. After four missions at the beginning of the 2003/04 season, he spent the rest of the season on loan at first division club Leicester City .

There he showed his goal danger early on in the home win against Leeds United and at Anfield ; he often acted in the right midfield and supported the two strikers Paul Dickov and Les Ferdinand from there . Although he scored nine goals (including a "last minute hit" against Everton ), it was the third time that he was relegated to the Premier League.

Everton, Charlton and Wigan (2004-2008)

Bent's move to Everton in July 2004 came as a bit of a surprise , but the critics quickly fell silent when it became clear that the newcomer as a single striker fit well into coach David Moyes' concept and that the start of the 2004/05 season was extremely successful. In addition to his own goals, including decisive ones against Middlesbrough FC and Manchester City as well as particularly spectacular against Southampton FC from a tight angle, he often created opportunities for teammates with great commitment. To do this, he dodged to the right if necessary, where he could play out his speed. In the end, he was missing in just one first division game and helped Everton qualify for the Champions League. In the following season 2005/06 Bent nevertheless quickly lost his regular place to James Beattie and often acting as a substitute he only managed one goal before moving on to league rivals Charlton Athletic in January 2006 .

In Charlton, he scored the 1-1 equalizer on his debut on January 22, 2006 against Chelsea after being substituted on. Although he scored another goal against Manchester City three weeks later, he was plagued by thigh problems, which later ended the season prematurely for him. In the subsequent 2006/07 season he played the majority of the games for Charlton, but he was often only used late by substitution. This was mainly due to the coach's tactical requirement to play with only one striker, and this role was mostly played by his namesake Darren Bent . He scored only one goal in the entire league season, which ended with his fourth Premier League relegation . After relegation, Bent was suddenly a regular in Charlton at the beginning of the 2007/08 season, before the club loaned him to the first division Wigan Athletic for the rest of the season from the end of August 2007 - only apparently surprising, because the financially troubled Charlton tried on this Way to save salary costs.

In Wigan he scored the first goal for Wigan in his first start against Reading FC . He formed a storm duo with Emile Heskey , was only the second Wigan player to score a hat trick in the Premier League against Blackburn Rovers and was his club's top scorer with seven league goals at the end of the round.

Last career stations (2008–2012)

The next stop for Bent from July 2008 was the first division relegated Birmingham City . There, he first had to wait patiently before in October and November 2008 at the side of his chance Kevin Phillips made with that a series of seven unbeaten games the way for the later resurgence paved. In a total of 33 league games, he had only been in the starting line-up 16 times and only scored three goals, but he fit in well with the physically oriented style of play of the club and gave teammates freedom. Back in the Premier League, however, he was no longer there for Birmingham, which was mainly due to an injury suffered in the summer preparation. Only once did he find his way onto the bench before being loaned to the second-rate Middlesbrough FC in late October 2009 .

There he was victorious only once in the initial seven games, but the tight striker offer at "Boro" meant that the loan deal was extended until mid-January 2010. Shortly after his return to Birmingham, he went to the Queens Park Rangers , where he was injured only 135 minutes in four months. After further loan positions in the 2010/11 season with Wolverhampton Wanderers and again Sheffield United, Bent moved to Mitra Kukar in Indonesia for a year in the 2011/12 season .

Title / Awards

• England's Footballer of the Month : January 2002

Web links

• Marcus Bent in the database of soccerbase.com (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1996-97 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1996, ISBN 1-85291-571-4 , pp. 29 .
2. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1997-98 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1997, ISBN 1-85291-581-1 , pp. 33 .
3. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1998-99 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1998, ISBN 1-85291-588-9 , pp. 32 .
4. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1999-2000 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1999, ISBN 1-85291-607-9 , pp. 33 .
5. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 2000-2001 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2000, ISBN 1-85291-626-5 , pp. 33 f .
6. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 2001-2002 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2001, ISBN 0-946531-34-X , pp. 31 .
7. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2002/2003 . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2002, ISBN 1-85291-648-6 , pp. 41 .
8. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2003/2004 . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2003, ISBN 1-85291-651-6 , pp. 44 f .
9. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2004/2005 . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2004, ISBN 1-85291-660-5 , pp. 41 .
10. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2005/2006 . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2005, ISBN 1-85291-662-1 , pp. 40 .
11. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2006-07 . Mainstream Publishing, 2006, ISBN 1-84596-111-0 , pp. 43 .
12. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2007-08 . Mainstream Publishing, 2007, ISBN 978-1-84596-246-3 , pp. 43 .
13. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2008-09 . Mainstream Publishing, 2008, ISBN 978-1-84596-324-8 , pp. 47 f .
14. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2009-10 . Mainstream Publishing, 2009, ISBN 978-1-84596-474-0 , pp. 43 .
15. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2010-11 . Mainstream Publishing, 2010, ISBN 978-1-84596-601-0 , pp. 44 .