This is from Aug 2009:
"He needs to lose this image that has grown around him in the last year or so and what's happened now doesn't help him," says Redknapp, who is preparing for the visit of Liverpool to White Hart Lane this afternoon. "He needs to lose that tag of 'he's another Beckham'. He's not Beckham, he's David Bentley. I'll be honest, the lads call him Becks and I don't think that helps him.
"I can see an awful lot the way he has modelled himself on Beckham, but he needs to be himself and develop his own personality with the way he plays football. He doesn't need to model himself on anyone.
"He needs good advice. Whoever looks after him – he's involved with him off the field as well – I think needs to be giving him good advice. He doesn't need to be involved in nightclubs in Spain or whatever. The advice he needs from a good agent is 'Concentrate on your football, David'."
With Aaron Lennon and even Kyle Naughton, the summer signing from Sheffield United, seemingly ahead of Bentley in the pecking order, Tottenham would consider an offer for him, although Redknapp insists that none had been forthcoming as yet. One of the obstacles to a potential transfer would be the club's desire to recoup their outlay. But Redknapp says that he has not ruled out rehabilitating Bentley.
"David's said that this has given him a wake-up call. That, maybe in a way, it's the best thing that's happened to him. But talk is cheap, so let's hope the penny drops with him," he says. "He needs to look at Luka Modric, who just gets on with his job."
:avbfacepalm:
:baeshock:
