Get Bent?

Today's Torygraph has us linked with a move for ex-Mackem Darren Bent. While shelling out £6m+ for a player who spent last season kicking his heels on the bench of one of our relegation rivals might seem daft, I'd argue he could still do a decent job for someone in the top flight. His sidelining by Paul Lambert looked harsh, though as the season wore on it became evident that the manager's preference for Christian Benteke was well founded. The real issues would be firstly whether Jabba would be prepared to sanction a multi-million-pound move for a 29-year-old whose best days are probably behind him, and secondly whether we could accommodate another striker in exactly the same mould as Papiss Cisse (an out-and-out predator rather than someone who can also create).

Meanwhile, the Journal state the obvious by noting that there's set to be a major bunfight for long-term target Douglas, soon to be a free agent, and the Shields Gazette claim QPR are interested in Danny Simpson. While our outgoing right-back is a solid enough defender, I'm not sure he's the sort of player 'Appy 'Arry should be going for if he wants to rid the Hoops dressing room of egotistical playboy types - and a move to London could be potentially fatal to the career of someone increasingly susceptible to off-field distractions...