Tottenham striker Darren Bent's ill-advised attack on chairman Daniel Levy on his Twitter page forced him into an embarrassing apology. The England man criticised Levy on Friday on the social networking site as he grew frustrated at what he saw as the lack of progress over his proposed move to Sunderland. But he has now admitted he made an error of judgement and his comments were "inappropriate".
Bent, who had to be pulled off Tottenham's trip to China at the last minute on Monday, said in a statement on the Spurs official website: "I appreciate that transfers are seldom straightforward and are often complex. "However, after a long period of waiting following my withdrawal from the plane to China, I had become incredibly frustrated by the time these things take and I posted inappropriate comments on my Twitter site.
"I allowed my emotions to get in the way of my better judgement. I regret my actions and did not intend to offend Daniel Levy or anyone with the nature or the content of my posting." The move had seemed to be imminent on Monday, but little progress has been made since. Bent, who finished as Tottenham's leading goalscorer last season with 17, had earlier vented his frustration on Twitter. "Seriously getting p****d off now," read his first message. The striker then went on to add: "Why can't anything be simple? Sunderland are not the problem in the slightest. Do I wanna go Hull City? NO. Do I wanna go Stoke? NO. Do I wanna go Sunderland? YES."
The account in Bent's name, db10thetruth, has been removed from Twitter. * PA Sport