On a night when the controversial departure of fans favourite Robbie Keane was finally wrapped up, what better tonic for the faithful than a 4 goal super-show from the player who must be about the most under-rated member of the Spurs squad.
If Darren Bent was looking to send a message to the fans and the manager then he could not have picked a better time to do so. Granted a hatful of goals in a pre-season friendly against Norwich does not make him the messiah, but if he continues in this vein then the departure of "Mr. Tottenham" may not be the catastrophe many seem to believe it is.
I have always been a big fan of Benty. Here is a man that arrived for a club record £16m and may have rightly expected to have been a major player for the team. Instead he has hardly been given a fair crack at nailing down a regular starting berth - not due to a lack of talent, but because dislodging a partnership as fruitful as the Keane/Berba one is a difficult task.
Yet he has not complained, not released snidey comments and veiled threats to the media, he has not pestered his agent to start touting his services and has even turned down guaranteed football elsewhere if recent reports are to be believed. Instead he has got his head down, worked hard and done his best when given his chances. How refreshing!
I think many Spurs fans are too quick to write this guy off as a waste of money. He has the potential to be a 20 goal a season man and is a natural for the lone striker role in Ramos' 4-2-3-1 formation as he will thrive on the service that 3 tricky attacking midfielders could provide.
I for one was very excited by the new look team. Dos Santos looks set to be a huge favourite at the lane (did you see his backheeled nutmeg on 67 minutes???) and with Modric and Lennon also buzzing around the edge of the box and Jenas roaming from deep it could be another season of we're-gonna-score-more-goals-than-you football. I can't frigging wait!
So, although the Setanta cameraman seemed obsessed by shots of a relaxed and suspiciously happy Dimitar Berbatov (maybe he's trying to change his image!), last night was about Darren Bent.
Well don son, now go do it against Arsenal!
