Gareth Barry's career wasn't going anywhere very fast under David O'Leary, but when Martin O'Neill took over he gave him the captains armband and made him a much more regular feature of his beloved centre midfield.

This move saw him improve his game immensely and get called up for the England squad after a three and a half year absence and it wasn't long before he replaced Frank Lampard in the first team.

Now things are getting even better for him as he has been linked with the vacant captains position for England, unfortunately he has also been linked with the midfields of Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal.

Barry is now in a position where he can demand much higher wages than the £42,000-£50,000 he is on at Villa, depending which source you listen to and it looks likely he'll be offered more at Villa. With regard to the three aforementioned clubs; it's up to him what he does.

Does he stick with Villa as we chase that elusive top four placing or does he move to one of the three clubs stopping Aston Villa achieving such a feat?

Barry told a the press conference before the Blues game he had decided he was going to have to be "selfish" about his future. Selfish could be interpreted as financially or in terms of trophies and under owner Randy Lerner, I'm sure we can meet his financial demands and under O'Neill he can expect trophies so why would Barry leave?

Good player though he is, is Barry really going to play every game in Chelsea's midfield even if Chelsea sell Fat Frank in the summer? We know they will buy bigger and better than Barry to replace him.

Does Gareth Barry want to be the new League Cup superstar for Chelsea?

Does Barry want to get caught up in the turmoil at Anfield at the minute, not knowing who your owners, manager and players around you will be next season?

Does Barry want to leave the English nucleus at Villa to join Arsenals Foreign Legion?

Barry comes across as a decent bloke and seems to have a good head on his shoulders. He's in the England team, being linked with the captains job and on the verge of European football with Aston Villa, so I hope he does the right thing and stays where the "future is bright".

If I was in Martin O'Neill's position I would offer Barry the deserved wage and loyalty bonus he is surely owed after 10 years at the club and tell him if he wants to leave he can, but not to one of our rivals.

The problem with the big two in Scotland is that any time a half decent player emerges elsewhere they are snapped up by Celtic or Rangers and therefore preventing any of the chasers breaking in. If O'Neill lets Barry go to Chelsea, Liverpool or Arsenal we are falling into the same trap.

So if Barry wants immediate Champions League football let his agent, Alex Black, who engineered Alan Smiths moves to Man Utd and more recently Newcastle, earn his money and get Barry a deal away from the Premier League.

Alex Ferguson never sells to his rivals, but will happily buy from them. You very rarely see a United player go on to do better things after leaving the club.

But having said all this there is life after Gareth Barry and we are not short of leading figures to step into his shoes as captain, bigger than me and you, John Carew, could lead the team like he does our attack and Martin Laursen would be a good captain from the back but for me the man who should get it is Nigel Reo-Coker.

He was the first Englishman to lead a team out at the new Wembley whilst playing for the England under 21's and was captain of West Ham when they went on a run of seven wins in nine games that saw West Ham escape relegation on the last day of the season in 2007.

More importantly than that, he's a natural leader and the man who decided before the Bolton game to get the team into a huddle.

Reo-Coker said of the decision, "It’s something I felt was needed. I spoke to Gareth Barry and suggested we got the team into a huddle before the Bolton game and he said that was fine.

"We did it again before the game against Derby. I told the lads it was a big game for us and that we shouldn’t be fooled by the fact Derby were bottom of the table.

"They were like wounded animals — and animals are at their most dangerous when they are wounded. I said we should treat the game the same as we would against Manchester United or Arsenal."

From what I can see it has worked wonders, we have scored 17 goals and picked up 10 points since then and really are a changed team from the one that was battered 4-0 by Ronaldo and company.

Hopefully Gareth Barry will stay but if not there's a man at Aston Villa already doing a great job with or without the armband.

Comments (24)

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Damian said:

i dont think martin o'neill made barry captain. i think we'll find that it was in fact roy aitken that made barry captain anyway, nice post and i agree with most of it. i especailly like the bit that if barry wants to go - he shouldn't' be allowed to go to a competitor

April 29, 2008

thevillan1974 said:

Firstly, MON did make Barry the full time skipper. Secondly I do not doubt we have leaders who could skipper the side but do we have a player of Barry's ability to drive us on? NRC is a battler who can run all day but he does not have ability on the ball. In my opionion Barry is one of the few English players who is comfortable in possesion and can keep things simple and does not always want to play the killer ball, ala Gerrard and Lampard. If Barry does go and I would not blame him by the way we need to replace him, Petrov has the technical ability to play the Barry role but he is often off the pace. With no English players around that could repalce Barry we will have to go abroad and there is the risk that we could buy a player with bags of ability but who can not cope with the pace of the game over here. Barry is a rare breed and I am sure MON and Randy Lerner will do all in their powers to keep him I just have a feeling that after 11 years Barry might fancy a change. Fingers crossed he does not.

April 29, 2008

Darragh said:

I believe if GB leaves we will have a very hard time finding someone to replace him who can be as coll, calm and precise on the ball. The reason I'm being pessimistic is the the fact that for one, i do not believe for a second that GB would leave for financial reasons. He's a bright dude and i don't think he would fall into the sidwell/parker trap. Therefore he wants trophies and lets be honest - while we are improveing drastically under MON i dont believe we are favourites to get any trophies next season. That depends on what we do in the summer tranfer market. If we buy some excellent player it will do a long way to convincing Gareth that we want to wins things. Roll on fifth and the ability to lure very decent players

April 29, 2008

martygra808 said:

During the everton game, barry was the key factor on both of the goals, his play resulting in the corner and his patience/vision to chip the ball. We cannot just let another player as his level leave when replacing him would cost us equal or more. We should have kept olof but i guess we can get someone better/cheaper/younger easily (sarcasm, anyone?)...but if we really want to move forward..... letting barry go would be 5 steps backwards

April 29, 2008

McVillain said:

Comparing Barry and Reo-Coker is unfair if it is on a talent and type of player angle, but I think the article is comparing them as leaders. I must say I have heard very good things about Reo-coker and his leadership on and off the field and could fill the position of a potential arm band. As for play, NRC is nowhere near as good as Barry, but they are 2 very different players. Recently Barry has been quality, just the way he calmly foxed the Everton Defence and changed his body angle to deceive and then unselfishly cross for Carew to score was magnificient. A very good point must also be said of not selling to our competitors, but if Gaz Baz does go then he will no doubt go to one of the big guns, especially as MON has this I will not stand in anyones way if they want to leave this club policy. Hope he stays. It's down to MON and Randys cheque book to keep him. We start signing quality players and real Champions league material then GB will leave, he has basically told ud that. All this will hinge on if we get into Europe, as if we don't I am sure we will have a summer similar to last year in terms of signings or lower than what we was expecting. Another factor for Barry is- These top clubs, where will they fit him and who will they drop. There was a very good article on ESPN about this on the link below, and the Steve Sidwell issue was compared to Barry. small link So in summary- We need Maximum points from our last games as I would bet my smelly pants that Everton will not get more than 4 points. Then we really have no excuses for signing big name players(maybe except that they want CL and not Uefa, keep Gaz Baz and start beating Manure UTD and continue our progession up the league. Keep up the good work GAZ and MON, it's all looking good so far

April 29, 2008

villa64 said:

For me the point is if he chooses to move on we benefit as well and not just with money, all the teams linked with him have good players that dont get a lot of chances and we might not get a chance to sign otherwise. the priority has got to be 5th spot and unlike a lot of the media i think we are favourites. Then we might attract some quality.Who knows just being in europe might just be enough to keep barry happy

April 29, 2008

alextaylor24 said:

hi. on the tangent. can you, damian, chris, doc or whoever, have a look at this link i found and assess its credibility. there are a few errors but the general feel is that whats been proposed has been signed. its regarding the sponsor which you have mentioned a few times. http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/30/624959

April 29, 2008

alextaylor24 said:

it seems as if its referring to another team but im not sure!!!!

April 29, 2008

Damian said:

it is another team...

April 29, 2008

alextaylor24 said:

at closer inspection, i dont think its referring to another team from africa. sorry for wasting so much space! have a look though, at first glance, i thought it was true with regard to aston villa!!

April 29, 2008

smylhr said:

no its 10 steps back utv

April 29, 2008

jimpazgrimsby said:

the other teams dont deserve him.There fans brutally underate him.I watched sky sports phone in all liverpool fans saying he isnt good enough for them even to warm the bench.This is some of the reaction from the arsenal fans http://www.caughtoffside.com/2.../6713.html absolute joke in my opinion saying he should be worth less then a million! no doubt chelsea fans say the same...... it would be a huge mistake by both player and club for him to leave.

April 29, 2008

thevillan1974 said:

Its not as straight forward of MON and Randy Lerner getting their cheque book out its finding the right players who would join us because lets face it any quality that is available will be snapped up by sides in the Champions League. We must however try at match the so called big guns and maybe one big signing will open the flood gates and even persuade Barry to stay. I believe it would a mistake to stop Barry from leaving if he wants a move that would not do anybody any good but we must make sure we get the right deal. I have a sneaky suspicion that any deal may well involve Carson joining us permanently.

April 29, 2008

Villain of the North said:

What arrogant p***ks. Have they never watched him play? His England performances alone this year have been enough to justify an 18m price tag. Couldn't agree more than other fans wouldn't appreciate his talents the way we do.

April 29, 2008

villafandan said:

chris, i think i've read the same piece you have that lead you to talk about barry's agent; alex black. is alex his agent or is it, as i've read elsewhere, ian taylor?? i only ask because parallels were drawn between alan smith and barry's careers because of having the same agent. the story falls to pieces though if taylor is in fact his agent. anyone know who represents barry for sure?? i'd certainly feel a whole lot better knowing it's ian taylor!!!

April 29, 2008

Damian said:

alex black is the agent for gareth barry ian taylor works for the same company as alex black .. but it is alex black. check the fa website but i think you'll find that ian taylor isn't yet a registered football agent

April 29, 2008

celtic_villan said:

obviously reo coker would not be a good enough captain as he is not agood enough player! i still feel he should be replaced in the summer or a least competed with. laursen could command from the back though. i still feel barry will stay, and i think we should leave this kinda talk 2 the end of the season

April 29, 2008

villafandan said:

k thx damian. that's a worry for me then. i read that black made 750k on smith's transfer from leeds to manure.

April 29, 2008

shabba said:

I dont want GB to go but Rafael Van Der Vaart is more than able to replace him. He'd get more goals than GB. Hopefully we sign him to play with GB......

April 29, 2008

Not so Silent Bob said:

dont think gaz baz would go to the gooners hes a spuds fan but if he does id like walcott, flammini and 6 mill in return.....

April 29, 2008

stevievillaa said:

nrc is crap?r ya windin me up,he has been brilliant 4 villa since he signed..wot do ye eople expect?..if i remember correctly every1 was sayin gb wasnt gud enuf 4 villa b4 nd if we wanted 2 b up by top 4 we shud sell him..now 3 of top 4 seem 2 b interested so now every1 reckons he is a top player nd we shud keep him.. keep same squad nd add 5 r 6 nd we'll b up fightin da top 4

April 30, 2008

celtic_villian said:

firstly i dont recall ppl saying barry wasnt up 2 it, given he has improved but he was always an important player. reo has an engine thats it. he i quite good with out the ball, but if u watch him, and obviously u dont, u will see that 4 a central midfield player, who breaks up the play, he gives away a shocking amount of possession. dont look at the last few matches, i mean all season. secondly, i would not sell him, i would replace him in the starting 11. if we do want 2 try 4 this top 4 malarcy then we cannot give away the ball as much as we do. for the same reason i would replace(not sell) wilf, as his passing sucks 2, though defensively relitively solid. do u think they would be in any top 4 team? do u not want villa 2 be better? again i want 2 reitterate that i am delighted with the perfrmance this season, i am merely looking forward...

April 30, 2008

Villa_Rules said:

Obviously there is life without gareth barry the thing is we dont want life without him,but there is a replacment for anyone unless ur ronaldo or like him

May 01, 2008

stevievillaa said:

i must disagree wit ya celtic villian..there was a post around january time i think were an awful amount of villa fan were writin in dat he wasnt gud enuf nd villa shud sell gb nd as 4 nrc i think he has been outstandin all season.. breaks up an awful lot of play nd ya has his fair share of stray passes but so does gerrard lampard nd every other midfield player in prem..he has been a very gud buy

May 01, 2008

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