David Bentley Punched In The Face

'What gives someone the right to walk up and attack me when I'm enjoying a meal?'

- David Bentley, who should've read the fine print in his contract

As reported from the Mirror, David Bentley was having a meal at a restaurant when another diner walked up to him and hit him in the face. As Robert Segal, Bentley's agent, recounts:

"David is pretty shaken. He was in the restaurant with his best friend and their respective partners. A guy walked over and started talking gibberish to him, then he just took a swing and punched him. David's fiancée, who is seven months pregnant, had just been to the loo and saw the whole thing. Obviously, she was very upset about it.

"David's mate jumped up and ran after the man and he got punched as well. It was obviously premeditated because the other people at the table got up and ran out of the restaurant. They had taxis waiting outside."

It's not clever, and it's not something I'd condone... but I've got to admit that I had a giggle over it. It must be quite shocking in the immediacy of the moment, but when you're reading about it halfway across the world, it's got a bit of a Benny-Hill-meets-The-Godfather feel to it.

I'm struggling to figure understand the assailant's motives. A lot of people would've been quite chuffed at seeing an England international. It doesn't happen every day. If they were sycophantic, they might have been tempted to ask for an autograph. But these guys weren't the sycophantic sort. Instead, they sat stewing in their righteous anger all throughout dinner, until one of them decided to get up and hit Bentley.

So why? Or could it be that David Bentley is so obnoxious that his mere presence provokes people into acts of rash violence? He does play for Spurs, after all.

Maybe I'm being unfair. Maybe it had nothing to do with David Bentley per say. Maybe punching David Bentley in the face was on that guy's "100 Things To Do Before You Die" list. Maybe he's from Fight Club and his homework assignment was to get into a fight with a footballer and lose. Or maybe he figured that since Premier League footballers always get into fights anyway, he'd save everyone some time and make a preemptive strike?

I'd be amiss if I didn't dredge up this quote by David Bentley, back in 2007 when he was still a Blackburn player and rival football fans only talked about wanting to punch him in the face while having dinner at a nice restaurant in the presence of his heavily-pregnant fiancee:

"People boo me, but most of them don't even know why. It's all heart and no brains. Sheep following sheep. I play up to it - stick two fingers up at them behind my back to wind them up. It's all good banter and, hopefully, when the pantomime stops, the fans at least see me as someone with a bit of personality on the pitch. I don't want to be boring, and the truth is I enjoy it."

I wonder if he's still enjoying it?