i say get rid of him
i love him to death but i want 100% commitment

Can't help feeling a little sick at all this. Liverpool will not be challenging. They are simply not good enough. They relied on the sheer brilliance of Torres (slightly assisted by Gerrard/Mascherano) to get just above fifth place last year. For a club captain to openly say through his agent he wants to go to this club, a mere two places above the club that made him, is a bit off.

This would make it six players down on the squad from last season - SIX. We need to buy a club I reckon. Become like Dagenham and Redbridge.

liverpool will never pay 20 mill for barry. not enough money in the bank....

20m You're having a laugh.

The only problem is would we actually spend the money on players? All I currently hear is a deafening silence or perhaps I am being unkind and a lot of activity is going on behind the scenes.
Cess

For me if Carrick was worth £16m like Manyoo brought him for, Barry is defo worth £20m!

It's sad to see the guy go but he has been great for us and a good leader. He will be a loss but not a massive one as we do have decent cover in the arms of NRC and Petrov

But £20m!? YES PLEASE!

i think the problem is that he doesnt believe villa will get into the champions league within the next 2 years, he probably feels let down(like the fans do) on the lack of investment on the team and he has a chance to be playing to be playing next season alongside Torres and Gerrard in the CL, it isnt a hard decision to make!
i think we're better off with 20million quid, he can go, and i think he'll regret it, not because villa will be in the CL soon but because liverpool wont do as well as he thinks and barry wont play as much as he thinks!

The UEFA Cup is awful, it doesnt even come close to the Champions League. That is why Barry wants to leave. Villa have never been in it while Liverpool have won it, reached a final and a semi-final in the last 4 years. Liverpool are a bigger club with a better side and are offering more cash. Its the easiest decision in the world, what is all the fuss about?!

no chance of 20 mill. more likely to be 13 and by the way Liverpool were as many points above 5th as man utd were above 4th, so maybe utd were just above 4th then.

no chance of 20 mill. more likely to be 13 and by the way Liverpool were as many points above 5th as man utd were above 4th, so maybe utd were just above 4th then.

I would have loved him to come out and say im 100% staying, obviously, now hearing this news, hes not committed enough to the cause and we should let him go, especially for £20mn. If he ends up going, I do think it would be hard to find a replacement, usually players who are bought for £15mn only go to teams in the Champions League. But I would rather have someone with less quality in his place than a GB who wouldnt be concentrating 100% on his football.

I have to agree with you here 20 million for Barry, you'd be stupid not to accept that. The one thing that disappoints me about the Barry situation is this. Before MON arrived Barry wasnt on any radar. MON persuaded him to stay at Villa transformed his domestic and International career and how does he re-pay all this? Demands a transfer to Liverpool.

redsquad - you're right, we are having a laugh - because you'd never be able to afford it. Look out Rafa - here come the administrators! Quick ! Run!

Can't really blame the guy. He stayed when others would have left, persuaded by MON's arrival and the promise of top quality signings which didn't materialize (Ashley Young apart) last summer, or in January. And here we are again, linked with everybody, missing out on them all - or so it seems to me (and to GB, by the look of things). And no hope of top 4 spot according to our manager...
Sorry for the negativity, but I've been at work all day and all night and I'm really, really knackered!

UpAllNightAndWorriedSick

he stayed when others would have left? when exactly - it was only portsmouth that have come in for him in 10 years .. if you had the choice of villa or portsmouth and villa have just had a new owner come in and its the club you've spent 8 years at - you'd give it another chance

for me, i think it's that he was made promised - they've not happened and so he's off ..

this isn't at you UpAllNightAndWorriedSick, everyone ..

all still believing the PR?

Why take this personally? Put yourself in his shoes - you're 27 years old, you maybe 2/3 seasons left at your peak, naturally you'll want to spend them playing at the highest level you can. Why begrudge him that? Liverpool are one of the biggest clubs in the world, much bigger than us I'm afraid, and the opportunity to play for them doesn't come along very often. Playing in the Intertoto Cup is pittance compared with the Champions League. Of course he'll be earning more money but he'll be challenging for serious honours for the first time in his career. He's only doing what anyone in his situation would do.

Barry has been a loyal servant to the club for a long time. Don't forget it was only a short time ago he snubbed the chance to leave for a new challenge because he thought the right thing to do was stay here, and with all due respect to Tottenham, the lure of Liverpool is a million miles apart.

He's given us some great years and we should thank him for that. He wants to progress his career and I don't see why we shouldn't support him.

Agree totally with the article. God forbid i've agreed with damian twice in one day.

I don't think anybody, including Damian, can begrudge Barry a move. As you say, it might not be a massive step up, however it is a step up and i can't see us (or anybody else) dislodging the pool from 4th for at least two seasons. I totally agree with your point about the way it has been handled by Barry, his agent and Liverpool. Dispicable on all fronts. Anyway, i wish him well but hope he lives to regret the day he left Villa which, ironically, is a good thing for AVFC :)

Barry is not so Mr.Perfect anymore, i respect his decision ( possibly ) to go and play CL FOOTBALL! ---BUT--- If Martin didnt come in and get barry to play better again, he would still be slumbering away at his midstandard level, Martin made him better than that and now he wants to leave..

:) It doesn't matter what you scouser glory hunters say if MoN say 20m thats the price,Barry has said he has nothing to think about until a bid is accepted so 20m it is, thanks

vivavilla!

i dont begrudge him the move - i think anything around £8mn. would have been excellent business for us. but i'm on record saying that i dont think he's a very good central midfielder

but first things first - he was never on the verge of signing for Spurs - it was portsmouth

second - this isn't loyalty - nearly signing for portsmouth then wanting to sign for liverpool (two opportunities and he wants to leave at both times) it really isn't loyalty getting made a millioanire when there is no alternative. it's doing your job

i'm all for letting him go and dont begrudge him. what winds me up is these rose tinted glasses people seem to have because he's been distinctly average for 8 seasons - him leaving is just like yorke going to united and yorke was absued for that

martin o'neill made his career at villa what it is - him going is a slap in the face for o'neill

I think we should let him go, its obvious he wants to go and join a team of rotators. Villa are on the up and if we do get some of the players we are gunning for, Barry will be looking back in 6months from the sidelines.

Nanado, you have summed it up mate, you are as far away from Man U as we currently are from the top 4. Unfortunately for you, our 2 clubs seem to be moving in different directions. Having said that, not sure we could attract anyone better than Barry to replace him!! UTV

I say let him go, we all remeber what happen to Bosnich when he thought he hit the big time at Man U. O'Neill however needs to stop telling fans to be patient we have been waiting for signing and good business for the last two seasons. Fans will start to lose faith in him and Learner if he doesn't act soon.

I think if barry leaves it is prrof that there is no hope for villa or any other team breaking into the top four if the so called big teams always take our best players. Watching the premiership last season not one player could put a ball in the box better than ashley young, he will be next to go as the top 4 teams dnt have a player that can put a delivery right on the money like ash does apart from ronaldo.

According to Dan Jones of Vital Football, amongst others, Gareth Barry has phoned Martin O'Neill saying after 10 years at Villa he wants to stay loyal to the club.

Villa skipper's agent Alex Black is quoted as saying:

'Gareth has spoken to Martin since he returned from England`s game in Trinidad and told him how he feels. At this stage of his career Gareth wants to be playing Champions League football and believes this is his chance to do it.' It is believed that if Martin O`Neill can strengthen the team during the current transfer window that Aston Villa would be a real force in Premiership next season, building on a squad that already consists of hot prospects Gabriel Agbonlahor and Ashley Young, both currently England Internationals.

All players want to play Champions League, all players should want to help the team they are with play Champions League!

The report says Barry hopes a bid of around £15million can be rejected. Alex Black is believed to have asked for an extension to Barry`s current deal with the club.

This story will come as a real blow to Liverpool and their fans. It is already thought that Liverpool are having to use the sell to buy technique, but overpricing players like Scott Carson and Peter Crouch at £10mil and £15mil respectively, it could prove impossible to raise the funds required to make any top signings.


See boys and girls, its THAT easy.

Gareth Barry is going nowhere.

barry staying or going has a effect but not the biggest affect
this in my opinion is villas biggest summer in 20 years
its the time we make our mind up as were we want to be
we either invest and build and try to break the top 4
or we decide we cant do it and stay a mid table team
it really is that simple
our biggest summer for years
we will all know come september what the future lies

I'm disappointed that Villa have allowed the situation to get to the point where we said "no way he's not going", when the fact is, he is. We don't come out of this looking good. I hate to say it, but Mr O'Neill's rant at Rafa was untimely, and not what we needed. We've been smacked about by Liverpool.

phillbull

i tend to agree with you - next season is vital and this summer, while not the only factor, is a big one, especially with the likes of spurs spending and having a very good manager, everton already up there ..

this summer is about bringing in the quality (that you can get without champions league football) to secure top 6 and fight for 5th .. if we drop down this season, it's just further to fight the season after ...

but i got stick for suggesting this the other day ..

i think its about time he put his cards on the table , now his intentions are in no doult we can move on ...we now know we need a top class baller in the middle of the park...but barry can be replace.. good luck to him as i live in london its going to be a nightmare listening to the london wannabe scousers banging on about the best player to come out of the villa academy since dwight.

i agree with damian let barry go we are not a one man sqaud we could use the cash to buy, as it looks like randy may have very deep pockets and he will only spend what we have made in the club. i will be very surprised if we buy players who have made it else where for other clubs because the teams who splash the cash get the best players, we are not and never will be in there league so we will have to carry on looking for the barrys,david platts,andy grays etc of this world that wont cost us an arm and a leg to get us by, its sad but its true ive seen many chairmen and even more managers come and go and they all promise great things only one delivered and that was the great ron saunders whom we should of given him what ever he wanted because he made a team of nobodys into world beaters,its all so well giving free scarfs away free trips to chelski etc etc etc we need MONEY SPENT NOW AND LOTS OF IT or we can kiss the dream of 4th place good bye be more like 14th you cannot win a league just with a bunch of kids we need players who have great footballing brains as well as a bit of magic at there feet what i say to martin Oneil is spend the cash or else we are doomed...ps hope i,m wrong for the sake of the thousands of villa fans out there

Damian I respect your views on Barry. I still think he is top class but personally I prefer him on the left where he demonstrated under Taylor that his lack of pace did not prevent him from getting quality crosses in from deep or behind the full back.

If you concede that he is top class (which obviously you don't but all the pundits and the current England manager disagree with you) then the problem is simple. We are losing a top class player that we will not replace. Villa will NOT pay top dollar to get players in regardless of what MON says because you are competing with other clubs who will pay way over market value.

Next year we will therefore lose players like Young and Gabby IF they progress. It's inevitable I'm afraid.

Thats why I would turn down £30m for Barry.

Anyone who thinks he's not leavin is clueles...
Anyone who slags him for not bein loyal is clueless, he's made over 400 appearances for u, and won what? FUCK ALL.
He's a talented, ambitious player, who has established himself as first choice in Englands midfield, so why would he stay at a club with no hope of winnin anythin or playin European football, not even UEFA cup???
Is not about loyalty, its about progressing his career. If Villa were half decent and actually challenging for things, he's be goin nowhere.
Maybe you small minded brummy idiots will realise this when he's walkin round the pitch in Rome next May with a Champions League winners medal round his neck...

First of all am i wrong thinking this is a villa blog,ive noticed theres been alot of input from liverscum fans,i mean they should have their say but why not on thier own blog!!secondly trader you say .. Villa have never been in it while Liverpool have won it,.. but mate 1982,was the european cup then and when you won it in 2005 still the european cup check your facts mate!lastly im a big gb fan,and have been saying he wont go,but for 20 mil id take him there myself!!

Damian,

I totally agree there are many who overrate Barry. Over the 8 years he has been one of our consistently better players though, so it's fair enough the fans want to be well comepenstated to see an integral part of the team leave. I'm inclined to agree with your valuation though, as much as I'd love to see us squeeze every penny out of a richer club, I just can't justify a player like Barry being sold for more when he's not worth it.

I do disagree about loyalty and about a slap in the face to O'Neill though. Yes, he wanted to leave (Portsmouth/Spurs... it's irrelevant), but in the situation the club was in can you really blame him? O'Leary had us in rut and we were going nowhere but backwards. In this day and age 90% of players put their personal ambitions, that's a given and we have to accept that, so the prospect of facing another relegation battle can't be appealing to anyone. Barry didn't particularly want to leave Villa during that offseason, I think we could all tell that. It was a very difficult thing for him to come to terms with, but for the sake of his career he had to consider it. Barry made a brave decision to put his faith in O'Neill and we all know how that turned out. I don't really think that just because O'Neill helped him reach a higher platform, that Barry somehow owes it to O'Neill to stay in a situation like this. It's not abandoning us, it's a great opportunity. I'm sure O'Neill will understand this and so long as we're appropriately compensated and can bring in a suitable replacement, it won't matter anyway.

Rampage personnally I agree with most of what Jamie the Red said and I don't mind other fans coming on it's interesting to get their take. Unfortunately though both of you ruin it with your petty insults and I would rather not read contributions from either of you.

Good to see your not responding Damien ;)

I said in this site yesterday it won't be $20m, at most $16m IMO. Maybe it's just his agent being quoted and it seems as if it is in the sun and vitaless football, these things get exaggerated and could be the agent wanting some of his sign on slice?

MON has let players go if they want to and has said he does not want anyone at this club that's not 100% (Ridgewell,Cahill, Davis), so if he does really want to go, he will.

I think that numb nuts Rafa should get reported though, severe tapping up, then Gerrard follows suit. Bang out of order.

If he does goes,although I love Barry, it would be nice next year if we pip Liverpool to the last or one of the Champs league spots. With their Chairmen carrying I really can see a collapse coming from Anfield, so maybe not a wise move.

Barry did tell us make the signings this summer and I stay. We have not made 1 so far- so maybe we have made his decision for him??

Report Rafa

McVilla

I didn't think there was anything for me to respond to .. my views on Barry are perfectly clear I think .. after three years and more comment in the last month.

I think my views on Barry are perfectly clear ;)

With this being GBs final decision this will be my last comment on the subject:

I'd like to wish GB luck and thank him for his efforts through the good and not so good times, I'd love to have the Gerrard/Barry midfield down at villa park but thats never gonna happen - and I cant blame him for wanting to play at the very highest level after so many years of mid-table dross!

I've got this horrible feeling that whatever spout MON and RL gave him (during the meetings) about players coming in and where we want to be was just not enough, and if they couldn't persuade a player who has given us 9 or 10 years of service to stay then how are we supposed to attract "top class players" (sorry to bring that up). As a die hard fan I have the right to now question the ambition of our club and our ability to attract/keep better players, the proof is in the pudding, we did not give our club captain enough reasons to make him want to stay - does that mean our clubs ambition is less than our captains... to me that is the only possible outcome, and a very worrying one too!

I suppose the other way to look at it is that he's heard it all b4 and just thought [i]"fuck it, I cant be arsed anymore, I've been here ten years and won the intertoto cup, I'm off!"[/i]

Has anyone heard Barry say he wants to go? No is the answer. The idiot who is his agent - this Alex Black bloke or whatever his name is - has gone to the press to put pressure on Barry. Just remember, the agent gets 20% of any deal, so if Barry stays at Villa he gets nothing. He is obviously worried Barry won't go, otherwise why go to the press at this stage. Let's wait to hear from Barry before we judge him.

What will happen to us if FIFA instigate this 6 5 rule and the top four have to go out and buy the best of English Talent???

You know the first step will be Villa Park, if GB goes and justifies his decisiion by cementing himself in the team then all other players will jump at the oportunity to go. That is the real harshness of the situation.

Although we have made massive strides under MON and RL, we are realistically 6/7 world class players away from breaking into and staying in the top 4, if GB goes I think it's a sign that we're struggling to up the ante!

I agree with Damian, if we can get over £15M I would be happy. Yes, he has ben a great servant to the club, but let's look realistically, he is only a four or five goal a season scorer (open play, anyone can take penalties!). I would rather cash in now, while someone is willing to pay stupid money, then invest that on Sidwell (£5M), Wright-Philips (£7M) and Finnan (£2M) as has been "speculated". I am sure MON can get the best back out of the first 2 and Finnan is a good steady defender who would be an asset to most teams.

Craig Cochrane

1st - i doubt his agent gets 20%
2nd - barry might not have said it himself - thats whay he has an agent
3rd - rafa has even said barry wants to leave - he's not going to say that unless he knows

2 ways to view this:
either he wants to move to a team who are in the champions league and not play for them in that competition because he is not good enough
or he is holding out for money from villa

interesting if arsenal were to come in for him surely 20 then!

Damian you wrote

[quote]If you're offended by my opinion, there is a comment box for you below, but I won't be replying individually again as it is too time consuming and it's just an opinion - you don't have to like it or agree with it. [/quote]

However you have made 3 personal replies to users. I don't need a reply to his one thanks!

This here Barry subject is obviously not going away so I'll stick my two penneth in....

If you want to go to Liverpool or any other club that plays CL football Gareth then you have my personal blessing and thanks for the service, you have helped keep Villa in the spotlight, especially in the last 2 years. (let's face it when have we had any other Villa England regular standard bearer recently). Also at 20 million I think it's a fair price. Until we get quotes from Gareth saying he wants to go or we get an accepted offer and Gareth then wants to go then I ain't bothered. But thats only my opinion.

It's good to have opinions of the other teams fans, but both parties don't need to have a vitriolic exchange with each other (for the Liverpool fans than means 'bitter word'). Sorry, could not resist that, but I would have said it about any other fans, so not personal! You gotta be able to laugh at yourself ain't ya?

Up The Villa

Wow. In the time it took me to write the last comment you have done two more replies Damian!

Let's get taglors opinion on the Barry thing!

McVilla

I get it now ;)

What I meant was I wasn't going to respond to the type of comment usually left by Peter .. ;)

and andyarkitekt

please read above ;)

Interesting that DOL got fined for saying that James Beattie was a player 'who wanted to play for us'. If Rafa gets away scott free it'll be a joke.

I think we will get 15 mill for Barry, however I believe what goes around comes around. It will be interesting to hear them cry when they start to get their players poached.

I am concerned though that we aren't being more proactive, purely from a logical point of view. If we are playing the intergalactic cup in July, then surely it's better to get the players in now, so that they can gel.

Of course there is another argument, that we wont be able to get better players until they have seen that we have qualified for the UEFA cup.

We are in danger of experiencing the three year curse. Gregory wanted to spend when we were top of the table and he was turned down. We are in a very strong position again and we really do need to buy quality, otherwise next season will be a lot more difficult with the likes of Spurs, Man City upping the ante.

vivavilla! Couldn't agree more with you but Damien has some warped notion of loyalty that he keeps harping on about which is getting a little tedious. Yes we know your feelings, because you post the same views every few days can we please move on or at least wait until a reputable newspaper prints a story? This is getting old, can we move on or at least talk about i when it happens? What happened to not responding to comments, you just want to argue don't you?

Damian you wrote

[quote]What I meant was I wasn't going to respond to the type of comment usually left by Peter ..[/quote]

There's two things that this points out...

Firstly, that's the point Damian you say I have misunderstood you, that it was directed at Peter, but you then put the bit 'What I meant was....' So having to clarify it means that it was easy to misconstrude in the first place. I think well call it quits on that?

Secondly it just goes to show what's written and sounds correct and plausable it gets taken out of context. So when we read these reports in the papar etc allegedly from Gareths agent they may not actually mean what some people are 'reading' into them.

It would be grate for the nerves if we could leave it all until it's sorted and we now who will be signed in a few weeks time. But I suppose all this speculation and rumour passes a lunch time....Back to work!

Get rid of this asshole now !

If he doesnt want to be part of the future at Villa and just want to do it the easy way and join his bumchum Gerrard at Scouseville then let him go ! I dont care that he's given 10 Years service to us he's still a glory huning ass wipe and i hope he gets his just deserts when he returns to Villa Park in the future ! Id say to Liverpool you give us 20 Million and you can have him otherwise we will drop him and stick him in the reserves for 2 Years, thats the price , you want him you pay it !!!

wish this whole saga will finish, its probably holding all efforts to sign other players.
Its quite funny that a contract nowadays means absolutely nothing even if you signed 4-5 years. Fifa need to step in and stop these pouching of players still under contract! >:(

I've disagreed with you on selling Barry before Damian, and certainly still disagree with anyone who thinks Sidwell/Petrov/NRC should or could replace him. That said, If we do sell for 20m it would be good business in terms of the fee, but still looks really bad on us as a club if he wants out for Liverpool. How are we going to attract anyone if he leaves before we sign some more? Assuming he goes for 20m, I would estimate we need to spend 60m if we want to move forward, as Spurs/Man City & co will all be much stronger next season. I'm worried!

Barry is awsome, he is easily worth £20m. He has served us well and I think we should respect his decision. He has not left yet so dont slag off our own player. Look at the facts, he is easily our best player and he is one of Englands best and most consistent performers. I hope he stays but as MON is not doing anything in the market why should he hang around.

I agree with Craig, though Craig it's pretty obvious he wants to go! I doubt however that he is as desperate as Dwight Yorke was for example. There is no guarantee of silverware at LFC and there is a risk to his England place if he goes and ends up benched regularly like Crouch. If Villa stick to their guns however and are prepared to write off the opportunity to possibly £10m I believe GB would honour his contract.

PS Deltic you are a disgrace.

does no one else think if our manager wasnt off playing tv star and was sat down lookin to buy some quality players, it would give one of the best players our club has seen in over 15- 20 years the confedance that this 'big' club of ours can be great again and him want to be part of that.
but MON seems quite happy gettin a free ride from the bbc does he need the money does he need to be spending his summer like this remembering we start our session earlyer then eveyone else correct me if im wrong but wasnt big ron given the ultimatum when he was in charge club or media just a thought????????

Like most id like Barry to stay but you can understand him wanting to go to Liverpool we are on the way up but if you look at the players the scouse can bring in compared to us were still a way of challenging year in year out. I dont think we'd get 20 mill but id take Finnan 15 mil, they can keep all the other tat they are trying to offload including Crouch. I wish we'd start making some moves for players no excuses this season its time to splash Randy's dollars on some quality.

Dixie: Do you not think that if you were in one of the most performance related, high powered jobs that you would give 100%? All premiership managers do and I'm sure whatever MON is doing it has absolutely no impact on his job as a manager. I think everyone should relax a bit and realise how lucky we are to have MON - most other fans would love to have him including England!

look if he wants 2 leave let him go but we dont need the money we need players so hopefully we can bring back crouch and sort out our right back position with steve finnan im shocked barry wants 2 leave after we got him in the england team just when were startin 2 break into the top 4

If We do get 20m for Barry, I want that spent on one quality Centre Midfielder-not 10. We need someone to bring confidence and quality to our Midfield, and a big name to boost the fans

im in no way doubting mons ability his record speaks for its self im just saying that if we were workin on getting big names to the club we could keep hold of players like barry, i know we aint top 4 but thats no reason not to try and get a few big names we can build th club aroun look ar arsenal when they got dennis bergcamp (i dont know how to spell it) and chelsea with zola even bolton gettin anelka not big clubs but big players

dixie

first off - i'm a huge fan of martin o'neill, but what record are you talking of?

I have picture of new shirt...Man at villa emailed it me....if you want it email jurgenpopp@hotmail.co.uk

Dixie we won't get big names coming to the Villa. We won't get the sexy players like SWP and Defoe but we will get some of the emerging talent like Reo Coker, Davies and Young. Live with it.

10-12mil plus a player is the best we will get IMO, and if that player is riise or kuyt then we should bite their hand off

if its penant, crouch or finnan or less than 10mil then we should say no

If I were MON, I say to Barry - So you want off, well if we don't qualify next season you can leave with my blessing. By then Rafa would've been sacked which I hear as a cert before the new season. Also with Liverpool nowhere near good enough to challenge Man U or Chelski - Stevie G will leave as he keeps talking about. I would also like Barry to realise that he will get not only a hard time by the Villa fans but also England - I wouldn't think he'll get much of a look in with England as a sub for Liverpool.

Take the money and run, it pains me that Rafa seems to have won this round and i wish RL would seek to take *spit* liverpool to FIFA.

I will be gutted if he went but i think he`d fall flat on his arse at *spit* liverpool,and i hope he enjoyed the run in the England team.

I think we could replace him with a quicker and more consistent Midfielder for the money we would get.

BUT i was under the impression he had 2yrs on his contract and as it`s apparent Claret and Blue aren`t his favourite colours, (remember spurs and pompie "tempted" him not long ago) i`d more than welcome him serving me chips and a bevy at half time for the next 2yrs.

After this saga he`s lost all respect i had for him and imo has slapped MoN in the face with a poo finger just under the poor mans nose.

20 mill!?He isn't worth that much,is he?Well with that money imagine who we could buy! :)

Has Martin O'Neill got Aston Villa's best interests at heart????Martin O'Neill should be 100% focused on signings this summer, after making great strides over the last 2 years. This is the most important summer for decades for the club and he is off helping his own bank account with the BBC. We need at least 7 or 8 big signings if we want to better our position next season. Martin pull your finger out and focus on you job at Aston Villa and not lineing your own pocket.

has been a great player but we will b fine without him. i wouldnt want him now anyway his heart no longer lies wid our club. so lets cash in and see what player we can get

Anything more than £12mn is GREAT business for us. Take the money and move on. Now Martin canbuild HIS team.

Barry wants to leave because MON has failed to deliver in the transfer market. At this rate a top half finish is the best we can expect. We are being linked with average players so fair play to Barry but i expect he will regret leaving as soon as he has his wheels pinched for the 1st time.

£20m? thanks ...next.

Barry deserves to choose now what he thinks is his best chance of champs league experience, whether it lies possibly with villa next season or a quick fix with liverpool.

If he chooses the latter, then sadly i think he'll be nothing more thean mascheranos number 2 in rafa's tinkering. Maybe used as left back or left sided midfield during unstrengthened fieldings or through injuries.

As a result of a lack of club form, his new found international career will disolve and lampard will probably force himself back in to mismatch with gerrard once again.

Starlet and graft for glory? or bitpart and, maybe, a medal?

A big decision for Barry to make but still a chance he'll stay on to become a Villa legend.

I feel yr pain Villa fans. We had exactly the same situation when Gerrard nearly moved to chelski.

The difference in the end was that Gerrard was scouse born and he still saw the chance that we would win things.

Barry has looked at Villa and seen he is unlikely to win anything with them. Alongside that he is now an Inger-land regular and getting to mix with the elite (!) players and he wants more of that.

We will end up paying 14million for him and we will be very happy to have him. Many of us believe he is the missing link in our drive to win the League.

Good luck in the Inter-toto Cup by the way.

if barry leaves it wont be such a big deal, we have more important players in our team, Martin Laursen and Ashley Young. Barry is quality but far too inconsistent and £15m is great business!! we can then buy someone better, more consistent and give someone else the chance to shine. This is a big summer for us and we will be challenging the top four with our without Gareth Barry, remember when rooney left everton, look how they responded because the whole team were given equal responsibilty and i believe that will happen a villa. Martin Laursen for captaincy next season!!!!!

Damian,

You obviously want a response from me - so I will give you it.

You talk rubbish. You have your favourites and people you dislike - and it makes you inconsistent. If Barry is disloyal, then so is Mellberg - but you gloss over that don't you. Personally I would rather a player leaves and we get money for him - rather than he runs down his contract and we get nothing. I am sure Martin O'Neill and Randy Lerner would think the same. If Liverpool had come in for Mellberg, whilst in contract, do you honestly think he would have stayed? Because he would not have. So if Barry is disloyal so is Mellberg.

I just don't understand how it can be one rule for one, and one for another. Maybe its because Martin O'Neill took the captaincy off Mellberg and gave it to Barry. Maybe its because you are Swedish or live in Sweden or something - but you are biased.

As for you comment that Spurs did not try to buy Barry - how do you know. On the evidence of this site you know no more than the average fan at home. No in fact, before recommending we sign David Bentley, the average fan would recognise that he does not play left wing wouldn't they?

Enjoy the Sweden game!

Who cares? If Barry wants to leave us let him warm the bench every other match at Anfield. Then, if he's still worth it, we can buy him back when Liverpool go into administration. We'l,l find someone younger and better. Thanks for you hard work over the years, Barry, and I hope you leave the scum after a year to go to a decent side, like Man U;)

its a big mistake in my opinion as i cant see rafa being at liverpool for much longer, maybe a season or 2, i cant see barry being the difference in liverpool winning the league and finishing 4th, if rafa wins nothing next season i cant see him being there at the end of it, then where will gareth be???? who knows but the new manager will want his own players. gareth barry is in martin oneills plans and even if oneill wins nothing next season and finishes 4th he will still be villa manager and gareth will still be in his plans. and before you liverpool fans start saying it...NO martin oneill isnt going to replace rafa ' the riff' benitez. i can see why gareth wants to go to liverpool though, it seems like a good move in the short term

and people stop criticizing oneill maybe he has gave lerner a list and lerner is doing the negotiations or some1 has been appointed to do this

if he wants out, then let him go, but at our price. liverpool are to used to using their name to unsettle players and getting a FAIR price but when it comes to selling want top dollar!
he is not irreplacable and is a guilty of anyone of going missing in big games ie man utd!
my concern is all our targets dont seem to be coming out in the press to say they would want the move to us, club and iperhaps that says a lot about them and shows up barry for what he is.
hope you enjoy the bench and a slow death to your career at both club and international level

your all getting ahead of yourselves...the quote is from THE SUN...

has about as much credibility as me being married to jessica alba, keira knightley AND jessica biel

I'D rather have Bennayoun than barry

Damo, I'm not having a go but you must be pretty pleased, you have been harping on about him not being good enough for some time now. As miffed as I am about him leaving, it's just a fact players come and go, but if we are trying to push on this is a bit of a blow, who are we going to atract to the club who is as good or if not better? buying a young british player isn't going to cut it. huddleston and sidwell are no where near as good otherwise the pool scum would be in for them surely!!! So who will replace him?

Fivetimes... what a load of C_rap!

"I feel yr pain Villa fans. We had exactly the same situation when Gerrard nearly moved to chelski.

The difference in the end was that Gerrard was scouse born and he still saw the chance that we would win things".

GERRARD DID NOT LEAVE AS HE AND HIS FAMILY WERE THREATENED BU SOME NOT VERY NICE PEOPLE IN LIVERPOOL... THAT WAS THE REASON HE DOD NOT GO TO CHELSEA!

i mean if barry does go wouldnt that ramssey kid at cardiff be a good buy 5m only 17 ??? but mon is livin it up with linaker et el and not movin for someone who is clearly in our range of player

no man is bigger then the club, players come players go the club will still be around a long time after mr barry has gone

I would have benayoun too I HATE BLUES

Might be wrong, but cant Barry just repay 2 years wages (2 years on contract) and leave the Villa for nothing more?

That would mean his wage £45K a week times 104 weeks = £4,680,000
scared? I am. UTV

Ben Richards - why on Earth would Barry have a hard time from the Villa fans? Please don't tell me you're one of those muppet fans who boo players just because they don't play for us anymore.

why wasn't MON at the spain russia game? could it be to do with transfers???

he wasnt at the game because he was getting a contract sorted for iker casillas, david villa, xavi alonso and sergio ramos and @ tinker i dont think barry would do that on the villa, that would be like kicking us in the balls on the way out.

And we all no who his replacment will be dont we

Yes the lazy sidwell that guy is not botherd about playing football nor dose he have the class of barry martin better sign a quality center midfilder now and not someone that cost 2 million

More like 10-15 Million im not quite sure how people can say or think barry loves our club look at steven gerrard he will never ever ever leave anfiled because he LOVE'S them barry likes us theres a big diffrence lads

I dont care if im the only one but when he plays against us i will boo weather it means getting me head kicked in or not i dont care barry is getting booed

Why doesn't he go to one of the top teams if he wants to win things?

Yes if we get £20m for Barry it is good money but only if it is spent this summer along with another £20m as promised but I honestly cant see that happening can you? All we ever get from Villa is broken promises and false hope.

We are supposed to be in the middle of the the most important summers for years in terms of transfer activity and progression yet Martin O'Neill is off working for the BBC! I really hope im wrong and Villa are planning a big spending spree but I cant help but think that Gareth has asked about our ambitions and proof of it and didnt like what he saw.

We may remember a certain article written by Anthony titled 'THE MISSING MILLIONS OF ASTON VILLA'.....

I agree that