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Playing For Derby Made Bent Fall In Love With Football Again
Tuesday, 9th Jun 2015 07:41 by Daniel J Sewart

The reign of new Head Coach Paul Clement has hit the ground running as the Rams confirmed the signing of Darren Bent and Alex Pearce both on free transfers from Villa and Reading respectively.

Pearce was an added bonus to what was undoubtedly the major headline yesterday — and allowed relieved Derby fans to exhale after they had been holding their breath that Bent might see the Rams as a suitable permanent home for his undoubted talents.

There is no doubt that Darren proved he had much to offer for a club in the top flight — but luckily for us he chose DCFC above all suitors.

There were rumours that Bent may be offered a new contract at Villa along with lucrative foreign offers, but in the end he was once again snapped up by the Rams after a wildly successful loan spell last season that produced a stunning 12 goals from 17 appearances


After securing 31 year old Bent on a 2 year deal — Paul Clement was pleased that he had been able to immediately add a proven impact player to his squad permanently;

'Darren Bent is a proven goal scorer and that was something he proved during his loan spell with the club last season. He is going to be key in our plans to move forward.’

Darren Bent himself was beaming at the press conference to announce his signing as he returned the iPro;

"I'm pleased to be back, Derby County is a fantastic football club. I said that when I first came here on loan and I am looking forward to getting going. I really enjoyed my loan spell last season. Everyone at the club made me feel so welcome when I first arrived and once my contract was coming to an end at Aston Villa, this was the only place I could see myself coming to.”

“My time on loan helped me to enjoy my football again — it made me fall back in love with football again. You never really fall out of love with the game because it is something you have been doing for so long but football is hard when you are not playing, like at Villa.”

"You train all week and then there is nothing at the end of the week because you are not in the team. When I first came to Derby on loan I wasn't playing as much because Chris Martin was in and doing well but I was still getting large portions of games. When I got my chance to start I was able to go straight in because I'd already had minutes on the pitch.”

“I'd had a difficult few years at Aston Villa and so it was perfect to come here, play games and score goals. I knew I was coming into a good side that played good stuff and created chances."

"It is nice to be Paul's first signing. I have had a few discussions with him since he took over and I am very excited about working with him. His pedigree speaks for itself. Look at some of the players he has worked with and some of the clubs he has worked at.”

“Derby County is in good hands and hopefully he can take us places. There are probably very few coaches out there with his CV."


This is a very exciting first signing for the silly season as despite the fact that Darren wore a Derby shirt last season, I would not have been alone in thinking we would struggle to retain his services after being unable to achieve promotion.

Like Chris Martin, I am amazed that a top flight club looking to score goals have not come knocking. Bent showed his class in 17 matches and being able to secure his signature is testament to those running the club and the vision that they have obviously been able to sell to the former England international.

Exciting times at the Rams and we can only hope that it is only just the tip of the iceberg as those steering DCFC, more than ever before, look determined to put the Rams on the map and chart their way back to once again becoming a genuine force in English football.

Well done DCFC and welcome back to Derby Darren — let’s hope we can all fall in love with football together in 2015/16!



Photo: Action Images



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