The atmosphere appeared to affect our ex-striker as he fluffed a number of chances and required regular pep-talks (awww bless im!) from his fellow Aston Villa players.

No doubt he’ll be hinting at a move away from Villa park in the not-too-distant future. Who’s left for him now? Arsenal? Stoke?!

On a slightly separate note, it was fitting that Darren Bent’s regular Sunderland chant has been adopted by Connor Wickham. It would be a shame to lose one of our better ones and after his cracking goal yesterday he fully deserves to have a chant of his own.

Don’t forget to join our forum and have a say in future banners and flags. Click here to join the Sunderland Football Group forum.

Finally Asamoah Gyan has signed for Sunderland. Gyan has signed for a fee in excess of £13 million and in doing so has become our 2nd record breaking signing within 12 months after Bent was acquired last season for £10 million (plus add ons).

Gyan has signed a four year contract and joins fellow Ghanaian John Mensah at the Stadium of Light. Gyan’s record for Ghana is very good as he’s scored 22 times in 44 appearances for the Black Stars. Lets hope he can produce that goal to game ratio for the mighty Black Cats and become a fan favourite in no time.

Gyan is expected to make his debut against Wigan after the international break and SunderlandFootball will be there to support him, you never know we might even have a chant for him by then so watch this space.

Was it not Fabio Capello’s mission statement to ‘select players on form, not reputation’ when he took over from the rain dodging manager that was Steve McClaren?

Obviously this is not the case as Darren Bent misses out on an England call up, in case anyone was unaware, Bent is second top goal scorer in the Premier League this season with seven goals .He is also the highest scoring Englishman and has played more minutes on the pitch than any other striker called up to Capello’s squad. Also Bent has made 108 appearances in the Premier League and returned an incredible 57 goals.

Bent has been watched by Capello and his minions a few times, even under close scrutiny he has managed to score against both Chelsea and Man Utd but this seems to have no impact on a Manager who is looking for a competitive squad to take to South Africa for the World Cup.

However after England’s shocking performance against the Ukraine, I was glad Bent wasn’t called up for that game as I have no doubt that the Southern media would have loved using Bent as a scape goat for the defeat, especially once ‘Arry’ had a word with his mates to do so.

On the subject of Harry Redknapp, that brings me to another reason or two why I was a little bit satisfied that Bent wasn’t chosen. Firstly, we don’t have to pay Spurs anymore money for Bent gaining International caps, as I’m sure that will be part of the clause for buying Mr. Dynamite. Secondly, Bent will be raring to go for this Saturday’s clash against the Scousers, unlike a certain Fernando Torres, if reports are correct he pulled his hamstring whilst on duty with Spain.

If you agree or disagree with what’s just been said, let us know your thoughts on our new forum. Go to Sunderland Chat then click on the ‘Darren Bent – England no show – Good or Bad?’ thread to make a comment.

I will leave you with the wise words of Steve Bruce: “He can’t do any more than score goals in the biggest and best league in the world.”

Darren Bent = Dynamite

As some of you may have heard, Darren is looking to put a certain stick of Dyanmite on the sole of his boot (please see image). All I can say to this is that he has already won over many fans that questioned the money we paid for him but thankfully he has put those doubters in silence mode.

Keep on Scoring Darren and we’ll sing any song about anything for you!