A bid for Bentley as Barry heads off to Liverpool

I'd concentrate on your own prospects before writing off Liverpool's Champion's League campaign ;)

Hmmmmm speculation in deed.

Why woudl it be funny if he got knocked out of teh champions league? Loyalty means nothing in football.

And by the way, martin o neill is no where near as good as Benitez and when you gusy realise that you will see that its good for Barry to move. Villa will not be in the top 4 for a very long time and as soon as a really big club go in for him your beloved manager will jump ship too.

sorry but its true.

Bentley would be a very good buy, if it is true, as for Barry, its a shame he can't see what he's leaving behind just to go and warm the anfield bench

To be fair, IF this is true then Bentley coming would certainly sweeten Barrys departure. But we know that with Villa there's always a drawn out finger nail biting wait for any

Hope Crouch isnt part of any deal. Common sense says that we should be pushing hard to get people like Steve Finnan and Beyayoun in part exchange for Barry. Need a RB and a creative midlfielder, and those two could fit right in. If they want Barrys that badly, we are in a string negotiating position

Sour grapes about a lad that has served Villa well for 9 years. I think he deserves more from you than terse and cutting remarks. Shows you to be the poor lad and not Barry...

Of course Rafa is rubbish at upping peoples games, which is why just about everyone he has sold (bar Morientes) has been sold for more than he was bought for.

When was the last time Villa were in the champions league, ask your grandfather to answer that one!!!

sour grapes anyone

Barry is Villas best player and Captain.When he wants to leave he becomes a "good player". Listen here you Brum Scum, Liverpool are one of the most famous names in World Football, 5 times winner so the European Cup. Villa are mid table/top8 at best so what the hell shouldn't he leave to further his ambitions. Playing with Gerrard and Torres will raise his game and Villa will be forgotten overnight. Signed, The Belfast Ballbreaker.

i would love bentley a real quality player

utv

yeah because the thought of intertoto cup will clearly excite bentley!! ha ha thats why barry is leaving you moron!!!

Il faut toujours prendre la vie du bon cote!

at least were in the champions league pal. and we will finish higher than you, yet again. you focus on being above fulham stoke,and everton..

I'm afraid you're deluded if you think Bentley will want to move to Villa park. We all get blinded by loyalty but Bentley is a big-time-charlie who would not consider a non-Champions' League club - even with the Mark Hughes factor at Man City.
Maybe he will show up at Villa after a Pennant-like failure at a top 4 four club.

A wee boy did a wee poop on the lino :D

Can someone explain why villa fans are slagging off barry so much? He's been at the club 10 years and one of the top clubs in the country comes in for him and he decides he wants to move, play regular Champions League football and challenge for trophies on a regular basis. Can't they just thank him for his loyal service and wish him the best of luck?? Can so many people be deluded?? PLEASE EXPLAIN!

Barry won't be half the player without Martin O'Neill to up his game. I mean come on, look at Aston Villa, their players always look up for a game. Like against Wigan at home a few months ago, or at home to Sunderland. Maybe at home to Portsmouth? United?

Barry will probably sit on the bench for 10 - 15 games next season, but we will probably play around 20 more games than you anyway. This season you played around 40 and we played around 60. So even if he did sit on a bench for 10-15. He would be still playing more games than if he stayed with you, and against teams like Inter Milan, Ac Milan, Barcelona and the likes.

Playing next to Steven Gerrard for Liverpool as well as england will boost his chances of keeping the 4 shirt as well.

So the chance of playing more games, against better teams, finishing higher in the league on a regular basis, with players like Torres, Mascherano and Gerrard. Playing for a team that has had 2 CL finals in 4 years. Playing for a team that has won more trophies than most of you guys could count up to. Barry isn't stupid, he knows its his time to move on.

Martin O'neil isn't even on the same level as Benitez, so don't be giving it all that. See you next season, lets see where you finish. Lets see how you get on at Anfield.

Barry is a good player,[b] but he's not going to strengthen the Liverpool team and I wouldn't be surprised to see him sitting on the bench after ten or twelve games, mostly because he won't have Martin O'Neill to up his game.[/b]

So, is Barry still the great player you Villains have been talking about, and O'Neil wants £18m for, or is he merely a 'good player' now that it looks like he is coming to Liverpool? I do agree though that he will play less games for Liverpool than he has for Villa. Oh, and by the way Damian old son, I will have a bet that our Champions Lge Campaign lasts longer than yours in the Intertoto.

Last time i looked i thought this was a Villa comment board?!?

Not sour grapes at all, we like you as fans have a connection with our club captain as you do Gerrard, and i don`t want to see him as a bench warmer wasted, he got into the England team playing for us.

I just don`t like the way your club (Liverpool) has conducted itself in this saga, and TBH never thought a well respected club like yours would be like that.

I`m sure Villa will have the last laugh ;)

Barry wants champions league football.

Bentley wants champions league football

Id rather have Arda Turan than Bentley ,the goerdies have bidded for him so the papers are saying. He would be a better player for around 8-9mil. As for Barry he has deffo gone, I would of preffered him to jus say he wants to go,instead of "theres not a decision to make" and "I just want to get my future sorted" MON has told us n more than likely Barry to his face he dont want to sell him.So his future is sorted according to MON and us fans.But not Barry!
Check out the youtube of Turan I love the little bit skill he does to about 3-4 liverpool players haha

Bentley is destined for Anfield also.

Two quality english players to Liverpool whilst we get to palm Crouch off on Villa ;D

A bigger team than Rovers or City - on what basis??? Behave yourself young lad. You loose Barry and Young and you're back in the bottom half of the table... bentley wants a top four team, otherwise why would you leave Blackburn.

Bentley is our next target after Barry. Damn life's a B**** ain't it? lol

gerry g said:a pile of crap...how much have liverpool spent in the last 6,7 years???to keep on finishing 4th,pool will be lucky to finish 6th next year.
the team is built around two good player,gerard and torres after that theres not much...what about,young,gabby,laursen,davis and barry and what will MON get in the transfer,the guy has a brain unlike RAFATA....he just lie's about everything,i bet he's not even spainish..haha

Gerry G - playing with torres and gerrard every other week would raise barrys game (face it he looks better for england than he does for us) but he wont be loved by the liverpool fans mainly cos alonso is better, and his form will suffer with all those splinters
he's not what liverpool need, you can put all the shine on you want, players like barry wont take you forward

liverplop will and always will be the weakest of the top four, villa, spurs, everton etc will push for that 4th spot and one of them will get it. I also see an early exist from the CL for the scousers!!

bentley wud defintily make barry departure less painful! if barry does decide to go, best of luck to him, but i reckon we are headin onwards and upwards, an in time, it will prove to be a side step for him.

have to laugh at Gerry G
Tell me , do you do your ball breaking when they hit your chin ?

aye gerry g harp on about the past, best thing scouse fans do. Torres Gerrard brilliant players the rest tho have no end product. Hardly profilic, voronin, kuyt, babel, pennant etc etc

O'neill ain't stupid if barry wants to go that doesn't mean he will. O'neill has a set price hopefully without crouch, and the only way liverpool will get him is by breaking the bank. Why the hell should we be selling our best players to liverpool on the cheap. If you get him then hopefully you won't be able to afford some wide players who you really need. Then villa will at last edge into the top 4

damo you dangerously close at becoming the next caughtoffside webiste with articles like this. If you got sources name them, otherwise the messenger gets grief

What i can not understand is when a team can be as good as Liverpool can be, then why are their fans so ignorant about football and the modern game. Without Benitez you could have won the league with the players you have got. How can Benitez be a better manager than MON?

Gerry G is gay. I know of him, "The Belfast Ballbreaker", he is a shirt lifter. He is also known as "The Belfasts Ballsonhischin", notorious pillow biter. Bewarey of him

QUOTE from Above "Sour grapes about a lad that has served Villa well for 9 years. I think he deserves more from you than terse and cutting remarks. Shows you to be the poor lad and not Barry... "


I'd like to see how you guys would react if/when gerrard was/is tapped up by madrid/barca/inter/chelski

at Gerry G -

Gareth Barry has been a great player for Villa and will no doubt have some influence at Anfield - maybe start by telling Gerard not to cheat everytime he plays Villa. By and large his departure will be welcomed by most Villa fans as our team will be able to re-structure as well as cash in.

ps. From my college days in Belfast I encountered a few Ballbreakers, all I'll say is I'm glad I had protection ;)

if barry goes then i hope liverpool gp out in the qualifiers it wud be great as for bentley-i would love it, him and ashley on the wings would be fantastic.

I would love the bentley rumour to be true but doubt it some how as he would probably favour a move to liverpool!wish the barry rumour wasnt though but i expect it is!

bigger then man city - can see you guys fighting for relegation – after Barry leaves the one man team is no more!

I hope Bentley comes to us, im a big fan of his and have been crying for us to sign him for the last year, so i would be delighted. Barry is a gonna no problems, but joining liverpool is the wrong decision, if it would have been arsenal, chelsea or manure then i would understand. We need to replace Barry, i dont know much about Sidwell to tell the truth, so im prepared to trust MON's judgement on this one but only if he signs Bentley!!

To be honest there's no truth in these rumours yet but I would like to be proven wrong about Bentley he would be a great signing for us.

That is a rash comment about Liverpool. You do realise they are the first seed in next seasons champs league.

Barry could offer Liverpool the perfect balance of left and right footers alongside Gerrard - With Agger back in central defence then Liverpool might just be the surprise pick for the title.

If it's to be believed our Gareth is off to the doleites to ply his trade.
You shouldn't underestimate what MON has done for his game - remember 3 yrs ago he was just an average prem plodder a mile way from the national team.
I hope it doesn't turn sour - but it easily could - Liverpool are a mile away from the top 2 and won't close the gap in the forseeable future.
Barry could have been a legend at VP - JUST HOPE HE DOESN'T BECOME A BIT PART PLAYER AT DOLEFIELD AS HE NNEDS TO PLAY 30 PLUS GAMES A YEAR TO GET THE BEST OUT OF HIM.

Do you know, I read this blog post and felt genuinely saddened. Although I am a Liverpool fan and as such delighted to be hopefully getting Gareth Barry, I have a lot of respect for Villa, easily Birmingham's number one club and one I believe is going to do really well in the next few seasons under MON.

From what I have seen and heard from Villans, Gareth barry has given Villa 10 good years and has been a model professional during that time. Now, as one who felt truly desperate a couple of seasons back when we nearly lost Stevie G to Chelski, I can entirely understand why you'd be sorry to lose Barry to us or anyone else. But to forget all about the good years so instantly and wish him a big come uppence seems incredibly harsh. The comment 'wouldn't it be fun if Liverpool get knocked out of the Champions League early and that's his season over? shows a complete loss of respect for a previous fan favourite.

Is that really a measure of your great club and the fans who I considered one of the fairest in the Premiership? If so, I feel very disillusioned indeed. Liverpool are not just buying, we are also selling other players, all of whom I will wish nothing but the best for in their future careers. Obviously I will always be rooting for my team if they should play against us but other than that I totally wish them well.

While I think the reds fans on here are wrong. Barry is not as good as the recent hype. Average, as I said before. However if Rafa and reds fans are that intent on getting him, stop trying to get him on the cheap...it makes Liverpool look cheap and they have no respect. It actually questions their respect for Barry if they don't want to pay the fee for him?

That said....Damian I think you are bang out of order in your with the comment 'but wouldn't it be fun if Liverpool get knocked out of the Champions League early and that's his season over?' You should hang your head in shame at such a statement. I know you are now going to come on here saying you just mean it would be good for Liverpool to get knocked out and you meant no malice to Barry. Assuming he does go, he's been a good servant to villa and I wish him happiness, except when he plays against the villa! UTV

Nice to see the Scousers taking interest in our current affairs anyway :)
Just abit perplexed as to why they are giving us stick when they sit at the feet of the three teams above them. They should be concentrating there efforts on getting themselves up past Arsenal let alone have a pop at the teams below...grow up guys!
If Barry goes its by far the end of the world. Making signings like Young for the money we paid was a huge buy for us (in relation to the "cash strapped" years of the past), but MON has taken his potential and made him in no time at all the highest assisting player last season. Dont forget we had no Gabby 2 years ago and now hes in the England team.

Have some faith guys, it could be alot worse...I live with a Geordie :)

Whoever we buy or sell, I have upmost faith in the backroom team and the quality academy squad available. Hopefully we can promote a few more stars of the future.

A quick mention for our previous transfer windows....have we been making a good profit or what?! Cahill for 5mill for one...is MON being given that money aswell to play with?!

After listening to a season review on the radio, Van Der Sar got the nod for keeper of the season mainly due to his distrabution ability. We urgently need a keep that is solid on the air and quick to feed the ball to our speedy lads up front. Couldn't think of anyone off the top of my head thats available, but any suggestions?

Up the Villa!

you lot need to wind your necks in!!
Barry will be welcomed by our fans, there is genuine respect between us and Villa, however having read some of these comments, would you really prefer your skipper to go to another member of the top three who are complete arseholes, and would treat him as an actual bench warmer?!

realistically we're not gonna have Alonso at the start of next season, and Mr Barry would be a welcome replacement!!

plus we get to get rid of Petey at the same time!! ;)

What a load of bollocks. GB has been one of the best midfielders in the country left side or central in the past 6 years. I remember him being widely accepted as the best player on the pitch at Old Trafford under Graham Taylor so don't give me all that MON made him nonsense. Yes his form dipped for a season under DOL (remember Villa fans? That was the season we were booing him)but by and large he has been an outstanding performer scandalously ignored by Erickson. I'm Villa through and through but if he leaves best of luck to him and good luck to Liverpool - they are a truly great club that we should aspire to emulate.

Gotta love that completely baseless arrogance that typifies Liverpool fans. Just to clear this up:

Liverpool [b]Football Club[/b] is a club rich in history and achievements both domestically and in Europe. Liverpool [b]fans[/b] have only ever achieved in getting English clubs banned from all European competitions for five years. To hear terms like [b]we[/b] and [b]our[/b] being used by a bunch of bog-brained scousers, referring to onfield activities of a Spaniard and his squad of primarily international players amuses me...

UTV

I'd love to see Rafa pick a squad of 21 men and take them through an entire season. 9 of them would need to play in at least 32 games too.

Just like we did. Rafa ain't got the man management skills to pull it off.

if barry wants to go to liverpool let him,but liverpool are a team on the decline,with loads of problems on and off the pitch so make them pay top price if they can,not joke offers like so far,or any rejects like crouch then will see if they have big club money or just big club talk.no sour grapes i wish barry well,but i think the move will be a mistake

got to agree the liverpool lads here..as much as i love villa, were not on the same level as them and most likely never will be..breaking into the top four could happen if and when chelsea go back to being the mediocre little london club that they really are...but like us liverpool have the history of being a top club and are light years ahead of us now..god just mention the names of gerrard,,torres,,mascherano..babel..in the same sentence when we have joker,,routledge..petrov..and the legend that is salifou..and you will see why...i dont blame barry from wanting better class football,,good luck to him and thanks for the service hes given us..i just hope than MON doesnt get crouch,cause that tells me were gonna be one dimensional again with no plan B .good luck gareth go and show what you can do...and lets hope MON gets some quality in this summer,,not the unheard and unused rubbish that he seems to favour,,ash and carew apart,,the rest well what can you say....ps i wonder if mon knows weve only one keeper,,cause it took him 12 mths to find out we didnt have a right back...there you go thats why liverpool are where they are,,and we well were just in the chasing pack...best of luck to the pool this season,,knock those mancs and cockenys of the perches for us...

Liverpool are No.1 seeds in next season Champions league so they will not draw any other seeded team during qualification, so there little chance of them being knocked out by a side no one has ever heard of.

I think Barry has been a Liverpool player before the bid was put in. Barry will not come out and say I want to leave as it will cost him a number of millions of pounds - he and his advisors are not stupid. Rafa would not have put the bid in without sounding GB's advisors out first.
They obviously said he would be up for a move otherwise no bid would have been made.
I too feel it is not good to be talking about hoping Liverpool go out in the knock out stages - we need the PL to be doing well to help our league and more importantly AVFC to attract the best players in the world.
Bentley is a great young player and would improve his game playing in the AV team. Blackburn are too one dimensional and he would get a better run in our team than Shitty's or NUFC.
Just read that Spurs has signed Dos Santos - please let us sign someone good - its not too much to ask is it??

Barry would be a regular starter for Liverpool. He is being bought to replace Xabi Alonso although I would rather we kept Xabi. Your right that he won't improve Liverpool. Its a strange one and I suspect Rafa and Xabi have had a fall-out.
Liverpool need wingers because the one's we have got are basically average. I'd rather we got Ashley Young but hey, Rafa has won more trophies than most clubs have won in there history, so what do I know?

Is it a case of Liverpool buying Barry to strengthen their team or a case of buying him to weaken ours.If you look at it in a more positive manor it may be a case of the worst club in the top 4 (Liverpool) are scared of us catching them and see this as a step to them securing 4th next season.Its hard to say but we do want to be where Liverpool are,and we have more of a chance of getting where they are than they have at getting where Man,U are

I agree Bennayoun and finnan would also be good in a deal.

Just hope Barry has a house alarm when he moves up there because of all those theiving jobless scousers who always want somthing for nothing.

Well well well looks like martin is ready to make us all wait AGAIN

Just been reading on the site and in the mail telling us to be patient AGAIN

Same words as the pass two season we was patient and still nothing really happend

What's the betting we sign 3 players this summer and two of them will be at the end of the transfer window

Next week it will be yet again the same words as last season only not be patient but these words we will try to streghthen the sqaud

Martin forget going round and round like a clown repeating urself ACTION is the key NOT words

I dont know why the pool fans are coming on here giving abuse over a club that lets be honest they are afraid of cause we're coming for the 4th spot along with everton and spurs....our club is on the up and up an improvement of ten league places in two seasons is something I am very proud of and MON has done it.....Im not saying it'll be next season(anyone remember the 5 year plan that we're two years into)but it'll be very soon so beware......If Barry wants to go so what have him who cares thats football and it happens all the time we'll replace him and screw ye over for a fee ALSO why do you keep saying Bentley is next..... Potatoe Head didn't stick a 15million price tag on Stretch Crouch(only worth 7) for nothing its cause he has no money ye planks......why would two warring owners give money to a club there trying to sell its a business principal when selling investment is not needed and is just a waste of the current owner's money.......they just want there money back..... so get over yourselves and go back to the liverpool blog im sick of listening to ye lot s**te on about the red-side of liverpool and ye're great past on our blog ye its called AVFCBLOG I didn't see LFCBLOG at the top bugger off to your own one..... Damo if you dont stick up I understand its fairly long and im just venting

[b][/b]UTV

Cjamesk, I have to disagree with the behaviour of the LFC. Though I don’t think either manager came out of this looking too good, I believe it was MONs’ constant running to the press (with anger) that was the reason for the media frenzy. I also believe that it was a deliberate policy, as I think he always knew that GB wanted to leave. He did a good job in raisin the fee, though he made himself and to an extent Rafa look far lower than the class I held him in.

Moocher, you make me laugh, if you understood anything about football, and a bit of arithmetic, you would be able to see that the Mancs and the Chavs have £20m defenders when we have one player costing that much. To accuse the KOP of not knowing football is a mark of your true knowledge.

Andyarkitekt, if GB is undervalued by LFC, then what is this £7m for Crouch all about? Kettle and black come to mind.

AVMark is absolutely right. Barry has always been a quality player. Were it not for the inept Ericsson, Barry would have the stature in the game that Gerrard has. Admittedly, he wouldn't be playing for Villa, as he'd have gone long ago. Still, from a Villa perspective, we can be happy that he's 50 England caps light, because he's our player, and there's every reason to believe that he will be come the start of the season, leading a much-strengthened Villa with every chance of breaking into the top 4. Of course, if there's insufficient investment, then Barry will leave, which will be a huge shame. But I still can't help but think that there would be better options than Liverpool. And as for those saying he's only being good enough for the LFC bench, you don't have a clue.

I HATE BLUES, that was harsh but hilarious...they can't exactly deny it when one of their players gets robbed every time they play Champions League...haha. And i agree that the Scouse missing out on Champs league thing was a bit harsh, but no more than the scouse deserve...their fans have been absolutely disgraceful and arrogant throughout this Barry saga, and the fact that Barry would sooner play for their sort instead of us reflects poorly on him to be honest...i know there's no class from a fan of the top 4 but I'm sure the scouse are the worst. Will we miss Barry that much? In terms of quality, he's replacable, but i do think the fact that he's our captain is pretty damaging for team morale...it's gonna require a good replacement. MON just seems like a dithering Mr McGoo when it comes to the transfer market...

I think it is a shame that there is so much bitching going on here. I can remember several good Liverpool players going on to play for Villa and wishing them well when they left. Now I appreciate that there would be uproar if Villa was coming in for our best player and captain but unforunatly at this moment in time Liverpool is the better team and it is a step up for Barry if he decides to join. But Barry has done really well for Villa and has been part of the club for a long time so it's a shame that he is not being given the respect I think he deserves.

I also don't understand what the problem is with Crouch. There are many fans on many Liverpool forums that think Crouch should have played in more games than he has this last season. He certainly got a lot of stick when he joined Liverpool (the main reason seemed to be connected to him being aesthetically challenged) but he is a really good forward. The only problem seems to be his heading ability (which for someone so tall is a little unexpected) but his footwork is first class.

If Crouch does join Villa I hope that he gets to play Champions league again the following year (when you finish second and we win the league) :)

Come on u people think bentley (very overated in MY opinion) will come to villa park i'll believe it when he signs

As well put by somersetvilla if barry wants 2 go, let him NO PLAYER IS BIGGER THAN AVFC just make sure we get the best deal possible, and that doesnt include crouch, why resign u were shite b4

Liverpool Fans f'''k off, why have they been allowed to post on this blog its for ASTON VILLA FANS not fans of hearsay clubs in the country, ban these fools or post there com's to a different page, real fans couldnt care two hoots about where they are or where their going

Put urself in barry's shoes, your at a club for 8 years and won nothing (dam nearly 10 years) your current club is the smallest in the league and show no sign of buying big or goin places, i was watchin sky sports news the other day and it displayed which teams were in uefa next season, we no who they are but
1-porthmouth
2-everton
3-tottenham
4-man city

intertoto
1-aston villa

THaT SumS ViLLa Up like conceeding goals in the last ten mins of games?

All them clubs finished quite close to villa, are we really better than those 4 clubs???

IT KILLS ME TO SAY IT BUT WE ARE NOT
Silverware counts in my book

Spurs and pompey both won sumthing last season so they are bigger

so after the big 4, those 2 clubs........
villa really need to step their game up this T.M come on its a big world there are players out there that are unknown and brilliant we dont have to go for named players......just get some quality in and quick, stupid people run avfc do we employ any scouts and do they actually scout? joker, maloney, petrov, knight, carson fools fools fools

I do find it funny that you Villa fans are moaning at Barry moving onto a BIGGER club when you stole him off Brighton in the first place for next to no money at all. So shut your whinging, what goes around comes around in football.

Liverpool fans, you maybe a bigger club than us but you still have a load of overrated shite in your team and O'neill is a far better manager than Benitez, so jog on and stop trying to nick everything while you do.

I'll tell you why Liverpool want Barry and that is they see us as their biggest threat of being overtaken for the fourth place position so by reckoning Barry is our best player, buying him would weaken us. It's tactical, been done before with Dwight Yorke. I couldn't care less if he stays or goes nobody is bigger than the club let's move on.

Blah balh blah... Barry is a red scum bag wig-wearing tosh now - who wears a shell suit.

Forget him and move on!

Drop the posts about him too, your making us look like a one man bloody team! He's not the be all and end all, he's going to a better team, but wont play as much! Now forget it!

ahh liverpool supporters r all scum and leach of the system. they spend all their welfare money on games at that dump anfield then go home 2 there sheds and cardboard boxes they call houses. Liverpool supporters=smelly ferals

ahh liverpool supporters r all scum and leach of the system. they spend all their welfare money on games at that dump anfield then go home 2 there sheds and cardboard boxes they call houses. Liverpool supporters=smelly ferals

L pool are a big club in a little shity city with a European and FA cup history every L pool fan must be proud of...scum

hey, who stole my wallet?!

Ok this is ridiculous. I'm a villa fan, which would appear to make me an ethnic minoirty on this topic. Nevertheless, how can so many "fans" say that Barry is our best player and we all love Barry, then when he decides to move he is treated like something you found on the bottom of your shoe? A little bit of respect for the man wouldn't go a miss. I'm really disappointed with the reaction and i just hope he doesn't get booed when he comes back to villa park. I for one will be giving him a good reception.

I see theres quite a few nicked laptops doing the rounds in shell suit city ;D

In the metro this morning:
"...gareth barry could be set to join him(andrea dossena) at anfield with dirk kuyt being used as bait in any deal for the villa skipper."

ouch!!! :o

GB will flourish under Rafa, he motivated an average team to win the european cup Igor Biscan Vladimir smicer et al. He has made Jamie Carragher the now great defender he is. Pepe Reina wins the golden gloves season on season. Macherano sat on west hams bench now look at him. It cant be a good sign for any club selling their captain, the 5th spot & europe was Villas for the taking but ONeil failed to deliver it. GB will get competition for his place which will be good for him.

Just about says it all when you here the name Liverpool FC. Were any of you scouse muppets at villa park for the opening game of last season the only reson you beat us then was cause of that twat you call a captain Stevie Gerrard went down as if he'd just been ran over by an artic lorry CHEAT and stop borning the premier league with your pathetic song STE Gerrade, Gerrade. Wheres your throphys for last season how much did you spend on Torres 20 Million was it? Look what that won you. Fair enough youve won the champions league 5 times how many times have Real Madrid won it? Man Utd are cathing you up now 2 more thats all then lets see what you muppets will be saying then, and the team utd have at moment are only going to get stronger and win more trophys.As for Barry how would you like it if Real Madrid came in for Torres knowing that he still has 2 years left on his contract and that one of his Spanish team mates was urging him to go mmmmmm thought so you muppets. We aint got a problem with Barry its you scouse muppets we have it with

i will be sorry to see barry go : :'( i hope that liverpool do well for barrys sake ;)up the villa

If Barry leaves Villa ... good luck to him, he has been brilliant for Villa. I can understand at this time in his career why he would want to play in the Champ's League ... he deserves it. I think the real argument should be centred around the blatant tapping up of Barry, which if reversed on Liverpool would have you shouting too. Not only your Manager but your Captain have shown little respect for Villa ... which has obviously ragged us off. Good Luck to him whoever he plays for next season.

what are these liverpool fans talkin bout this for. he ISNT better than alonso, mascherano, gerrard and lucas. i have watched barry throughout his carrer, i woul take alonso over him in a heartbeat. as for the idiot who said he might play AC next year he needs to check what competitions there playin in next year, the same as us not you. i thank him for his service, but non too concerned about his departure

Liverpool fans, YOU'RE NOT A BIG CLUB ANYMORE. ;)

barry will regret leaving if he does go, for all liverpools past, they are the weakest link in the top four and the one most likely to drop out of that top four.
at least on the bench he can keep an eye on his spare boots, which in liverpool he will need to!

Barry has given you ten years of great service, and you want him to not succedd at Liverpool and hope he doesnt get a good shot at the Champions League. Very Nice Gesture !

At the end of the day not even you can deny liverpool are a biggesr club than villa and that he will not get as good a chance at winning trophys at Villa as he will at Liverpool. Let the guy have his moment and shot at the the biggest club competition in europe, and remember him for the service he has given your club. Its not like he will be leaving on a free !

If Liverpool, Chelsea or even Arsenal came in for Barry (whihc would never happen and you Liverpool fans will find out why soon enough) then most Aston Villa fans wouldn't begrudge him the move because he'd have the opportunity of winning the league - but picking Liverpool can not be considered a step up, in the same sense it would be with those other clubs.

Sure, Liverpool have won the Champions League, in 2005, but it's 2008 now. You cant forever live on past glories - although we know you will.

Good luck to Barry - if you end up giving us Crouch plus £8mn. then it will be the scousers who get robbed this time - anything over £7mn. is a right bonus.

If our captain doesn't BELIEVE in MON then why the fuck should I? Good luck Barry and thanks for your service, Iunderstand you just want a chance a winning things other than finishing mid bollocks again and again and again.

Frankly he's had a moderate season for Villa and a good one for England. He'll do well in Pool's mid-week side and he's becoming a bit too big for Villa now ['see if the manager's ambitions meet mine'. I don't like it and I'd take £15m any day.

When will martin o neill learn the longer u leave ur targets and while ur sitting around haveing cups of tea and talking crap about being patient the more chance u have of loseing ur targets ?

Give gregory the doe he will bring in ronaldinho swp and other top quality players

I'm about to send you an email about little green men on Mars, maybe you'll swallow that whole too Damian.

I am not convinced that Barry is going to leave, its a fantastic opportunity for the lad to join a very good club. But i think Barry has seen first hand the huge transformation that o'neil has started at villa, and deep down would like to complete the job that he started 10 years ago, and get villa back into the european cup. Villa are very much on the accendancy and i think at least 5th place is our aim for next year. He would be leaving for a club that although has performed superbly as a cup team, struggles for league form and together with arsenal, risk a drop out of the big 4.

All said, if he goes.....its a shame but i wish him well, and like a fellow villain i too hope livrpool leave the cup in the early stages.....not too sour barry's season but to drain the liverpool bank accounts so they cant do the same to us next season when they come knocking for Ashley Young!!!

These hangers on get everywhere don't they!

i know it doesnt take long to get to liverpool from marbella/puerto banus these days, but my mates bird is a air hostess and on tuesday had hendrie and barry sitting on one of their flights to malaga.

oh and liverpool; arent they the third club in the north west these days behind manu and man city???????????????

Liverpool Champions League campaign will flop..'cause they've used all their luck in the 2005 "win" over Milan ;)

Come on Damian, your better than that with your back-up evidence. If your going to cite Liverpools past glory of a 2005 CL win and say they hang on such glories, it's a bit of a bad example....Look at how much Villa hang on to our last and only European Cup glory! Accusing Liverpool of the same thing we have done for all the years we have done makes us look right numpty's.

Also Damian, stop letting my high opinion of you down. You agreed with me yesterday that Barry was average, then today he is now a good player. Stick to your guns. Average is Barry, Good is Rooney, Tevez etc and Fantastic is Pele etc. But I suppose you have added another £5 million onto his price by increasing him from avergare to good today? So well done!

I'm not stressing about this Barry stuff. At the end of the day life goes on and I firmly believe we can and should be able to get better for the money raised. But I don't think he will be actually going to Liverpool anyway, because when the other bids come in from Chelsea and Arsenal MON will accept them and then it's back in Barry's court, where MON asks him...'Well Gareth do you want to go to Chesea or Arsenal, because they have put up the best offer for you, I have to do the best for the club, I am sure you understand Gareth'....'Or you can stay here and be part of something special...something you are the foundation and hero of?' God I sould be the manager should'nt I?

andyarkitekt

i'm following a theme from today - that is that martin o'neill makes barry what he is - as it's thought martin o'neill can push a player up to the next level ..

i'd have barry at villa, if he wanted to stay but he wouldn't start for me and i dont think he'll start for liverpool come october - they have much much better in midfield

re. the past glories thing - we don't profess to be one of the big four and you ask a liverpool fan at the start of the season and you'll find it's only liverpool fans that think they can win the league - every year - they're deluded

we can delude ourselves with our european cup glory because it is our only one and we're a few years away from competing in that tournament again - but we all accept that and we can see what is happening.

liverpool cant accept that it's not actually a big four anymore; it's a big three and liverpool

but this post wasn't supposed to turn into this ..

Also - the comments about Liverpool getting knocked out of the Champions League early - that's basically because it's the reason he wants to go.

He's leaving a club that have made him extremely wealthy at a time when things finally seem to be changing around. He's leaving the manager that promised him International football and delivered on it and at the first chance to leave - he takes it.

Why would it be nice? Because regardless of the years of service, he's leaving for something he may very well get at Villa (European football almost certainly) mostly for very Dwight Yorke reasons.

i like barry but i dont really mind if he goes. and i no its a baisic certain but he if he goes i wud like him to go anywhere apart from liverpool

how many years has he served Villa, if he stays I'll make a point of looking for your next waffle, to see a huge U turn. Barry is a great player and clearly loyal. I would be gutted if Gerrard left L'pool, but I'd wish him all the look in the world. Villa are improving but look around at the other clubs, I would seven out of the top ten are on the up. Enjoy finishing in double figures!!!

If he just said straight out that he was going instead pratting around in this drawn out farce it might not leave such a bitter taste. e all know he wants to go, it's how you go that matters. Dwight Yorke Mark 2 as Damian has said.

He has been poisosned by the Gerrard Disease. Gerrard's Big Ego is the reason Liverpool cannot move forward. If Barry stays with us he may prove hamper our development in the same way. Fergie would have told Gerrard where to go years ago. That is why he can regenerate his teams so successfully. Team. That is the key word here. Buy who you like, you can't buy a team.

wheres gregory with that gun.............lol

seriously guys whats this all about he hasn't said he was staying he hasn't said hes going not much point dwelling on somthing that hasn't happened we are fans who put money into their fav teams and that includes the liverpool fans on here....but we dont get to decide or make decisions for the team the people who own the respective clubs and their appointed managers do so why are we all talking like we own the clubs we have no powers to change anything so whats the point speculating on nothing!!!

f*ck me, someone's jacked the blog up on bricks and has had away with it's wheels!!!

for you liverscum fans, if you ned reminding when you captain marvel wanted to leave for the bling of chelski your local mafia threatened to remove mr gerrards knee caps! so what if some of us villa fans are a bit bitter about him leaving, at least he's not getting any death threats!!!

it will be villa who will benefit out of this situation, the money generated by the sale will bring in 2-3 quality players martin oniel can develop into the next ashley young or gabby agbonlahor!!! see ya barry, who needs you anyway!

I, for one, am mainly irritated by the continuous comments stating that Barry needs to move to Anfield to secure his England career. What nonsense. A year playing under O'Neill developed his game and secured his England position. The reality is he'll be sitting on the bench more often than not, as part of a rotation policy. We've endured 10 years of mostly inconsistant performances / seasons and stuck with him. Developed his game, given him his confidence back. 18 months worth of consistant performances, a club come sniffing, and he's off. That's what irritates me, not Liverpool being the club coming in for him. I'll show some gratitude to Barry when he starts showing some gratitude to us for making him the player he is today.

Look guys I'm a villa fan but disagree with some Villa fans slagging Barry off. He's been at Villa 10 years, great servant, he's 27 now and understandably wants to win trophies.

At this current time Liverpool is a bigger club than Villa. We all know it. Were not too far off but they are a bigger club at the moment and we have to face facts about that.

If a player wants to go then theres no point in keeping him. That is if the deal is for the good of Aston Villa Football Club, however.

Good luck Gareth if you go to Liverpool, you deserve success mate and i hope you get it.

And heres to us having a good season again and replacing Barry.

Losing Barry will be a big blow to Villa as we have missed his presence any time he wasn't in the team through injury or suspension.

What I am worried about is the message it will send out to other players at Villa when the so called 'big clubs' come sniffing about for our top players if they have good seasons! If we have a billionaire supposedly backing us we should no longer be a selling club & instead we should tell clubs trying to poach our talent to PFA!!!! PERIOD!

I dont mind him leaving but please not Liverpool he has great for us over the years and I hope he has sucess (unless he goes to Liverpool) Liverpool supporters are off there game they talk more crap than anyone and they won't be the most sucessful club for long what will they talk about then? One of the biggest names in football? Its not the 80s anymore. But as ye say this is your year a clean sweep of all the cups and league that will show us all. Benitez spent £160,000,000 since he got there only Chelsea have spent more in that time and compare there sucess to yours. Mourhino was right gerrard will regret his decision in the long run

Damian...Stop getting defensive...It's a blog...I'm only trying to prompt healthy debate and reasoning behind peoples opinions. Your top banana, as are all Villa fans on here. I think this gets your article into triple figures. Has Doc's Euro 2008 article got into double figures yet? Keep up the good work Damian.

GET A JOB YOU SCOUSE C@@TS & F@@K OFF BACK TO YOU'RE S@@T HOLE IN THE NORTH WEST. Why would Barry want to leave his Mansion with stables etc in Henley Warwickshire to live in Kirkby or Formby for F@@Ks sake it's an open Prison up there. F''K ugly women with orange skin .
You are a bunch of pikey tramps......................laaaaaaaaaaaaaaa ya bunch of divys.....haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.

It will be a sad day to see barry leave, but if he wants to go then we need to get as much money as possible for him.
I really dont like the way your club has gone about this transfer using all the tricks in the book to sway his mind.
What i am sure is that if you get him (and nothing in life is certain )then you will be getting a quality player.
What has ruined football is sky sports and the money they have pumped into it and it is for this reason that loyalty has gone out the window, just look at your beloved gerrard who was close to jumping ship to chelski. Its not sour grapes that makes us villa fans upset its the fact that we are possible going to lose one of our top players , a guy who has grown up with the club and at a time when the club has finally got a great manager and chairman to take our club forward. It seems such a waste of an opportunity for him to become an all time legend like MR McGrath himself to possibly bench warm for liverpool but as i said loyalty is a fast dying trait for any footballer now so i wish him all the sucess in life and hope that he doesnt regret later in life the chance he may be throwing away.

Villa are bigger than one player and I am sure with martin at the helm that we will push on an challange the top 4 in the near future.

GSM_81
[i]"As for Barry how would you like it if Real Madrid came in for Torres knowing that he still has 2 years left on his contract and that one of his Spanish team mates was urging him to go mmmmmm thought so you muppets. We aint got a problem with Barry its you scouse muppets we have it with"[/i]

Thats the point, liverpool think they can bully us. If barry leaves, it should be at the end of his contract like mellberg, but you guys want him now. gerrard is great and all but he cant deliver on the league or get into the euros

Seeing as there are such alot of scousers on here tonite my car sterio has just gone tits can any of you chaps help,oh and maybe a new set of hubcaps,while were at it my lads birthday in a week how bout a new mountain bike

Lulz about Liverpool fans going insane and mega defensive.

You're a bigger club than us. Congratulations. Take your Barry and leave. Simple fact is Barry has been completely revitalised by O'Neill, and has a great relationship with him. Just because you believe Rafa Benitez is a better manage doesn't mean that a) they'll have the same great relationship and b) he'll up his game even further. Sure playing in the Champions League will develop him, but i doubt Rafa will. Too different a manager to the man who's made him worth £15mil and an England regular.

To be honest, Liverpool can and should be doing so much better. But hey, you need those English players just in case this 6 5 rule thing works out. So get 'em now while they're cheap (well, they're really over-priced, but cheaper than they will be) instead of paying twice as much if the rule is accepted. You have Barry and we'll have the player you should've gone in for a long time ago, Lucho Gonzales :]

let them have barry, as long as we get a good price and maybe a buy back clause, for when we finish in the top 4 next season and liverpool finish 6th behind everton. and get a good hammering from man utd, twice in the league, once in FA cup, once in League Cup and twice in the champions League. Rafa for the sack and liverpool scum to crumble

UTV

BREAKING NEWS!!!!!!

it has emerged the england coach fabio capello is a scouser.
by using more than the legal amount of substitutes he has further proved that the scousers are actually cheating bastards

Kieran McAss.
What a twat!
Talk about deluded sour grapes. "Liverpool scum" you say and proceed to declare Man Utd as apparently the team you support.....
Well I guess you have your local team and the glory team (unless you're a real football supporter and then you pick the team in your blood)
But if you have no history......and no chance of CL football and you're twelve years old, you make posts like that.

He's given the club 10 years for fucks sake, leave the bloke alone and let him make his mind up. Why we have to slag the kid off because he wants to change things up is beyond me, bit of a childish post Damien usually you a little more thoughtful. I assume that you have been at the same job since you left school and have complete loyalty to your boss. Gareth Barry has always been a quality player, stop this idiotic "MON made him who he is" because it's not true, is Petrov of the same class? Is he fuck, so let's grow up a little shall we, if he wants to go, give the kid a break, Olly moved on and he didn't get this much shit. If you have that much faith in the manager stop moaning and wait to see who he brings in, either that or direct some of the frustration towards him for not convincing the player to stay.

We all want great things for our beloved club, but personally i'd rather see us beat the scousers rather than wishing that they get knocked out the CL by another team. If Gareth decides to join them I am sure that MON will get a good deal and we'll bring in new players and move on. All this trade speculation is just that, and is main being published in in the daily rags, none of us know what's going on behind closed doors so let's keep the faith and trust that MON will come good in this transfer window.

just stumbled on this website by accident, what is it wth you villa fans,"liverpool, the worst in the top four" and "wouldnt it be fun if liverpool got eliminated at the qualifiers".now gareth barry wants to better himself, you cant blame the lad for that,but why the snide remarks? by our own standards we (liverpool) have underachieved in the premier league, and man utd have gained A LOT of ground, but for all their sucess, WE ARE STILL THE MOST SUCCESSFULL CLUB IN BRITISH FOOTBALL HISTORY!. at the end of the day villa is in the INTERTOTO CUP! ITS EMBARRASSING! so please no more snide remarks, for all our success, i think weve earned our respect!.also the person who said "doleites" and the "stealing" remarks, have you obviously have not been to liverpool lately? it is one of the most affluent places in the country, with bilions and billions of pounds invested in the city,and lets face it birmingham isnt exactly london,paris or rome is it? with crime and unemployed levels the second highest in the country!, no wonder gareth barry wants to leave, at least his HUB CAPS will be safer in liverpool! :D. liverpool are the weakest out of the top four, but after a 18 year sabbatacal,were STILL the most successful team, and were getting better. 18 TITLES, 5 CHAMPIONS LEAGUES, SHALL I GO ON?.the moral is DONT SLAG OTHER TEAMS SUCCESS, BECAUSE YOU HAVE NONE OF YOUR OWN!

Can someone please tell me why all the scouser scum are comin on OUR site goin on with their crap. This is a Aston Villa website for Aston Villa supporters. Get the hell off here. Go back to ur Shitehole and do us all a favour and leave us alone!!!

[b]the king[/b]

because if he really wanted to better himself he's be going to arsenal, manchester united or chelsea - or possible someone in italy or spain

liverpool finished 2 places above us and are the team that the likes of us, everton and spurs have our eye on as the team to go past - he's not really bettering himself and "champions league football" for his "international career" is a lie - he's played for england quite a bit recently without it and as promised to him by martin o'neill

[b]Jimmy Villain[/b]

which is my point - i dont care either way if he leaves or not, but football these days isn't about what is said it's about actions and barry's actions remind me of dwight yorke

and when he left he got loads of stick - childish or not, what barry is doing is leaving at the first opportunity and forgetting abotu waht villa have done for him

If Gareth Barry decides to leave, my best wishes go with him, he has been a loyal servant to the club.

However, he can do much better than Liverpool. I hope one of the big clubs come in for him and turn his head away from Steven "Eh Eh Eh Eh" Gerrard.

Reddi!

every single one of us would be loyal for the money he's earned. he wasn't very loyal 2 years ago when he nearly joined portsmouth

however you can understand why martin o'neill could convince him to stay

real loyalty is turning down liveprool - especially when you consider our situation and where we are going

loyalty isn't leaving to a bigger club (i'll always admit that liverpool are a bigger club than us) at the very first opportunity

Damian,

At the end of last season Liverpool played a settled 4-5-1. With Gerrard off Torres- Alonso and Mascherano in centre midfield, Babbel / Benyoun on the left and Kuyt on the right. This is now seen as their preferred team.

They are selling Alonso to fund the Barry deal - so will you tell me who will play in centre midfield ahead of Barry next season? You say they have all these better players in there - so who are they?

get off the grass damian - he wants to leave villa coz they are shit and will finish no higher than about 6th for the next 20 years. Just face up to it mate, u guys have no chance of catching the big boys of the league and should stop dreaming of it. Barry wants to leave to finally play for a real club, not a team that has no hope what so ever. yes liverpool did not come close to winning the tile but we still finished a whopping 16 points clear of you guys. u can have crouch and a few of our other rejects for Barry. i live in australia and no one has even heard of aston villa here.

Peter28

how many user names is this you've used now? why not register, have just one and get your comments posted without having them moderated?

but what you are asking me is pointless ... how do you know if this is their preferred team? how do you know what rafa wants to do next season and how do you know they're not going to be buying other central midfielders?

how do you know that he's not going to play 4-4-2? but the better players are gerrard, mascherano, even the brazilian lucas, in my opinion is better .. but it's just about opinion and when are you going to let this barry thing go?

the only time we'll know for sure is after he's played 10 to 15 games - and if i'm wrong and he's played some wonderful football then i'll say well done - but lets just wait and see what happens after he's played these 10 to 15 games shall we?

Damian,

"lets just wait and see what happens after he's played these 10 to 15 games shall we?"

In respect of Barry - why dont you stop slagging him off until he has actually left in that case? You are going to look pretty stupid if he stays. But then Barry is good at making you look stupid - cause the more you slag him off the better he seems to play. Its like you want him to leave and then see him fail to prove you right. Well, I like most villa fans from [b]birmingham [/b]want to see Barry succeed at Villa and lead us to trophies.

Please Damian start slagging off Zak Knight next season - and then he may start playing well
;) ;) ;)

Damo, always respected your opinion mate but theres no way Lucas is a better player than Barry. The guys awesome. However, always the optomist, I think that this could be a good thing for us. I know that we don't fall into the same bracket as Arsenal but I remember everyone writing them off to 5th place when Henry left and Fabregas emerged as their saviour. Who knows??? this could be the opportunity that Osbourne/salifou or one of the unheards of in our outstanding academy seizes to become a true world class player. I've got my fingers crossed! whatever happens in this saga I will always love Barry and be keeping an eye on his progress if he does eventually decide to go. Nothings set in stone yet.

What do you mean by Currently a bigger team than Blackburn!? :)

Scott D...I'm going to be really childish now and get into the 'my dads harder than your dad' routine...Now it's not strictly true that noones heard of Aston Villa in Australia. A quick google search found one Liverpool site and one Villa site of supporters clubs. You know Liverpool have a supporters club in New Zealand too. You know what else, so do Villa!

Wouldn't you think that Liverpool would have so many more supporters clubs down under, especially as they have so much more history that Villa.

You know what I agree Liverpool have had more success in the modern game, but Villa had more success before that. Now I'm not just hanging onto very old past glories here. I'm only making the point that teams all go through their 'purple patches' in history. Well done to Liverpool and well done to Villa for past glories. Why don't we all just stop looking back. It's going to be the teams that look forward that will succeed, I can guarantee you that.

Take a look at the video on Youtube (click below). It's reminds me of this Villa/Liverpool handbags at dawn argument! It was actually done by a couple of local Sheffield lad!

[url]LINK

Just wanted to say that I hope Barry comes to Anfield but can totally empathise with you villans as it will be a big loss to you guys.. I know I hated it when Gerrard was almost off to Chelski and had all the London chavs winding us all up about it so on that note....

To all LFC fans, don't rub it in please.. Indeed we will get a quality player in Barry but think of what it would be like for us if it was Gerrard going to Man Utd or Chelsea.. Doesn't bear thinking about really does it?

@Scoot D
"yes liverpool did not come close to winning the tile but we still finished a whopping 16 points clear of you guys. u can have crouch and a few of our other rejects for Barry. i live in australia and no one has even heard of aston villa here."

Wow no ones heard of Villa in Australia WTF?!?
, i personally don`t give 2sh**ts if we were popular in China, Australia etc i care about the other 40000 fans in England that turn up every home game to the Villa got to the pub after and support a team through thick or thin, not plastic foreign fans (usually top4 supporters hmmm), who should be supporting and financing their your own Hyundai own league.

As i`ve said before like any club captain i`d be sad to see him go NOT jealously just because i really do think it would be a wrong move for Barry.

part of damian's point is where is barry gonna fit in at liverpool? they have mascherano, who they paid £17million for, and they wanna offer part cash part player for barry, who essentialy does a same job. wot does that say in their real valuation of him. either way, goood luck to barry if he goes, he has given us 10 yrs of service, but in time, its gonna prove a side step, forget about the past successes. its all about the here an now.

Peter28

you really are becoming a bore. where have i 'slagged him off'?

you're making things up to position yourself on the high ground. i just don't think he's as good as others think he is - i know you cant deal with other people having a different opinion to you as it's a recurring theme throughout all your comments.

also - just to feed your pettiness, why did you chose to put the birmingham bit in bold. are you suggesting i'm not from birmingham? well, i guess technically burntwood isn't birmingham so i guess you are right ..

also peter - if you [url=LINK]look at the poll results[/url] from some time ago - you'll see that maybe it's not as many as you'd think that are the keen for barry to stay

Has everyone forgotten that this is just a forum and nothing we say on here will EVER make any difference to the outcome of actual events...

What will happen will happen, so let's just deal with it and stop bitching!

FYI - Liverpool will buy another expensive player, but will underperform and not challenge for the title. Villa will buy a few players, but not enough to get near the top 4. Let's just hope we put in a better showing in the cups this season!

haha

Dunno whether this is true or not, but after Rafa gets Barry- he is apparently set his sights on Bentley....

After a couple of years of optimism, Im not feeling so good about villas prospects next year or of having any signings of worth come to our club this summer.
O Neill has come out today and said we wont get the top four next year. He is realising that we arent going to be able to get anyone of quality this summer to take us forward and we are loosing our best player.
Its obvious to me we have a wage cap in place that is going to stop us competing for big players. The only players villa will get are players other teams arent competing for.
Diego, Van Der Vaart, Dunne would all be great additions but I guarantee we wont get them because we wont match other clubs wage offers.
Lerner needs to stop relying on Oneill to make the best of an average bunch and put his cash on the table and break some records. Its going to be an upsetting summer because by the end of it we'll have signed Dawson, Sidwell, Milner, Hoyte and maybe one or two more, and none of them are a real step forward.
Martin O Neill will bang on about needing to increase the squad, and he will do it for as long as he is at the club because the investment wont be there,and the paackages wont be there for the players.
Its very annoying because on one hand O Neil tells his players they can beat anyone and then on the other he says we cant make the top four. the penny has dropped with him that the money isnt going to be spent.
These guys need to stop penny pinching, and go out and get the players they want or not bother at all with the charade that that is what they are going to do....

"bigger than man city? - can see you guys fighting for relegation – after Barry leaves the one man team is no more!" what an absolute tw*t of a comment, laursen, young, gabby, carew, all of which were just as important. I think if you check pretty much most of the stats it will show villa as the bigger club.

oh how foolish most football fans are. so because we havnt won the league lately, and by this i mean the 1st division not just its current cash cow incarnation, it means we never will does it? in which case red scousers, neither will you, as your domestic domination is also long cold. as for snide remarks bout how liverpool is a nice city these days, well so is birmingham, being awarded the best city for retail in europe, thats ahead of milan, rome, paris and london. im not going to knock liverpool but i will say every city has unsavoury people, yours included, and you dont get a stereotype without some grounding in truth. and as for success, villa are the founders of the league and in the top 4 of trophy winners in english football, so we are hardly minnows, we are just in a trough. but i worry not for everything is cyclical and we are on the rise again, we will peak again and liverpool will go through years of being mediocre. to be honest i dont care bout the last part, just added it for perspective, because man utd, chelsea and arsenal will also suffer at some point to. im a villa fan and liverpool, regardless of whats happening to them (good or bad) take up as much of my attention as big brother does, i.e im aware it exists and some like it, but thats about it. maybe you scousers should adopt a similar approach and just follow your team. unless you like a rep as annoying chavs, in which case tally-ho old bean.

Bloody Hell Damian is this the most popular post you have written on here? Please clarify. But I must say it's starting to get a bit acrimonious now, so can we have a new subject please?

Peter28. I agree with your points, but was it really wise to have Birmingham is bold. I am from Barnsley and 39 years of age and have supported Villa all my life. So have 4 previous generations of my family from Mansfield northwards. My 12 year old son is 100% Villa, wallpaper, curtains, pyjamas, shirt, the lot. Are we then not worthy to have an opinion on Villa. We chose to be Villans and support from distance. We have to travel to get to games and we do get to as many as we can..It's easy for you, a quick walk or bus trip...Who are the more committed? Respect to all Villan wherever they are from. The more the merrier as far as I'm concerned.

Yo dont slag Barry off?

"Barry wants to go and good riddance. Aston Villa have made him a millionaire and Martin O'Neill has developed his career exactly how he told him he would and he then goes and p**ses off at the first opportunity.

He'll fail at Anfield and will, after a while, spend more and more time on the bench because let's not forget - O'Neill makes average players good and good players very good.

Barry is only a good player made very good by Martin O'Neill and that will come back to haunt him". ;) ;)

Peter28

I still fail to see how that is slagging him off?

And exactly how did a Birmingham boy end up in Slough?

Provocative Damien, but I tend to agree. Let them free loaders have Barry but at a price.

He is not that good...at intn pace,which is slow, he can play.

Faced with Essien etc..he is left behind. Even the likes of Sidwell and Bullard.

I make no secret of disliking most of the people from Liverpool and will not wish them luck.

Think about the damage you lot caused to English football on more that one occasion.

True support????? Only when it suits.

"real loyalty is turning down liveprool - especially when you consider our situation and where we are going"

No, real loyalty is staying somewhere for 10 years, you have some twisted logic at time Damien and you are getting loads of stick about this post. Man up and say that you may have been a little harsh with this post and leave it there. Gareth has not stirred things up in the press, he's done nothing but get on with his football, the scousers have made this media mess because they want to sign him, that's not Barry's fault at all.

Now when you mention "where we are going", there are many other teams going "where we are going" so it's not an exclusive position we are in and we are yet to sign anyone bar Ashley Young that's been of any real quality over the past 2 years. MON has done a great job with players, apart from Stuart Taylor that for some reason has been left out in the cold when he's clearly a better keeper than Carson. But the move to the top 4 requires a lot more than what we currently have, so lets all hope there are a few surprises in the next weeks before the start of the season.

Liverpool/spain fans - shut up, get off our blog, you are NOT Liverpool anymore so stop trying to pretend you are. Liverpool WERE a great team that in the 70's and 80's everybody loved and they were everyones secret second team
Nowadays you are not that club anymore. You are over-rated, big headed and a shadow of the club that people like Shankly and Dalglish made so great ....and you know it. You know it and cant accept it, at least villa respect their history and embrace rather than trying to hold onto it like you F***rs do.
As for Barry - F**k off
Two years ago before mon came along you were on the verge o signing for pompey (who arent bigger than villa, its just the way the magic of the F.A cup goes sometimes), all due respect to Pompey though as they were a breath of fresh air this year but come on. You wre a good player in a s**t squad for years, then with the help and guidance of Martin o neil you became an excellent player in a very good squad that will only get better and better. So if you wanna turn your back now when we are so close, do one. Villa fans, dont forget that he wasn't good in every game this season, im a season ticket holder and i remember he would go missing in some games, even 3-4 games at a time so he's not a bloody genius like we all think he is. It's time for us to move on, There is a world of talent we could replace him with, MON just needs to sor it out, players like Arshavin who piss on Barry, i'd rather have him anyday.
Liverpool - see you in the champions league, you know that your time is nearly up and thats what scares you most.

p.s - i forgot to say that in my opinion BaRRY wasnt even our best player last year, my top five
For me, in order it was
1.Laursen - solid and vastly becoming a cult hero, who we all know, villa fans love a good cult hero
2.Young - Consistently good deliveries. More ASSISTS than barry and more hard working, therefore - more effective and more important
3.Mellberg - ONE bad game against Newcastle at home, he will be a much bigger loss than BArry ever will be, what a shame we villa fans never got to truly see his central defensive partnership with laursen blossom
4.Barry - Flashes of brilliance but not consistant enough, created some goals but often lacked the voice to pick the team up and lead like a true captain should. I'm not just saying this coz he's going but its true and the one game Reo coker got as captain, to be fair to him, he played his socks off and got us into a winning mentality at Anfield, something we havent been abe to do in over 20 years
5.Davies/Gardner - Hard to pick, couldve been gabby but he a bit off the boil at times and to be honest wouldve been happy offloading him to aresnal for 15m and paving the way for delfouneso and than purchasing a striker that understood Carew a bit better, anyway Davies was a revelation and i cant wait for him to return, top class in the making and a great buy from MON, get well soon, PLEASE. Gardner was our best utility man, a true villa fan and player willing to do anything and play anywhere because he loves the club. Still only young and if he gets the chance to play more central in midfield we will see a great player emerge, in years to come i think we will be looking at him and seeing a midfielder who will be able to pass well, shoot with power and accuracy and get stuck in because of the defensive duties he learned from MON during the days he used o play him as a right back. Reminds me of someone.
6. Agent Ridgewell - Lol he did so much for us this year, Nice one.
anyone agree??

Jimmy Villain

He stayed for ten years granted, but so would any of us if we were getting that money and there were no other offers. But there was another offer wasn't there ..

When Portsmouth came in for him two seasons ago, he was as good as gone until he spoke to O'Neill - who said stay and I'll get you back into the England team. He's done that .. and now he's done it; he's wanting to leave again.

Basically, it was quite easy for Martin O'Neill to persuade him to stay last time as it was Portsmouth, but this time is different because it is Liverpool.

Loyalty for me would be him staying; him going wouldn't be loyal. I don't mind arguing this point about loyalty because it is opinion and I've not exactly been his biggest fan for the last two or three seasons.

My opinion is that if he leaves, he wouldn't have been loyal and I manned (not sure if that is a word) up 3 seasons ago about Barry and I've stuck by my guns, mostly because 2 or 3 good games on the bounce does not make an excellent player.

But on your last point - I agree; there are huge strides needed to challenge for top four. But those strides haven't changed from two years ago when we were told of the five year plan.

Martin O'Neill is a terrific manager - [url=LINK]read my season preview from June last year[/url] to see exactly what I think of his abilities.

But the top four isn't just about that - you do actually need real quality and for me, that's what we're missing now. Three or four more very good squad players (we can have 18 on the bench next season) and three or four real quality players that you'd expect to walk straight into the team.

We are so very close - the challenge now is not really about getting the players but are we willing to spend the money to get them ... we'll find out in the next few weeks.

West Derby Red said:
So, is Barry still the great player you Villains have been talking about, and O'Neil wants £18m for, or is he merely a 'good player' now that it looks like he is coming to Liverpool? I do agree though that he will play less games for Liverpool than he has for Villa. Oh, and by the way Damian old son, I will have a bet that our Champions Lge Campaign lasts longer than yours in the Intertoto.

Yet another fan from Liverpool(I think not). How did your real team do last season you mug.

andyarkitekt
i'd lock the comments but i'm waiting for Peter28 to come back .. or maybe if he reads this, he'll register and join in at the forum

Who cares if he leaves. £15m for a midfielder that goes missing in 1 out of every 3 games ain't bad business. There are far better CM then him out there for half that amount (if MON can spot them). Totally agree with you Damien on this one. Total lack of loyalty by Barry and very similar to that scum bag Yorke.

Damian,

Slough?? I aint David Brent - through you do talk more rubbish than him.

I am from Sutton

Peter28

you may very well be from sutton but your ip address today and from the last 20 comments or so point to slough ..

Its totally wrong then. I have never been to Slough in my life!

Bloody hell Peter28 just get another post on here so we can get it all over with. I think were all getting bored now. Let's move it to the forum, so we can get a new article. Boring, boring Barry....just bloody shoot me!

It says on the BBC website that Spurs have signed Giovanni Dos Santos for an initial £4.7m... Why arent we in for players like him? I watch a lot of La Liga and he is a very exciting player and a very good prospect... Spurs have now bought him and Luka Modric. We are in need of a playmaker, and yet we havent gone for these two wonderkids....

we are in desperate need of a star quality player... Ive also read today that Chelski are in for ricardo Quaresma... Porto have been kicked out of the champions League and his buy out clause in £24m... He's awesome, as ive said before, his skills match Ronaldo... Look at him on Youtube..

Im not fussed that we havent signed anyone just yet but we cant have another start to the season with such a small squad.

All this debating is pointless. Villa have lost big players before and i would like to reiterate that losing Mellberg surely has to be the biggest loss for Villa since Yorke. Barry is replaceable but a world class defender like that is not. I think if Bentley comes to villa Martin o neil will make an England regular of him, same if Sidwell comes. However i must stress that Villa need a playmaker and that man has to be someone like Arshavin, before Chelsea or bloody Liverpool get their hands on him.
As for the whole champions league debate, Liverpool, look behind you. You are falling away from Arsenal, Man u and Chelsea because Rafa has a poor rotation policy, he said recently that he needs to spend to win the league. Oh, sorry rafa was spending over £100,000,000 on players last year not enough? It was down to your poor coaching and bad judgement. And doing the typical thing that big four clubs do, which is whip up every other player in sight with the lure of cash before any of the other clubs can get involved, just to keep other teams signing to compete. Fair enough you can walk in and just take any player you want but I think you know that even though some people say that the top 4 is getting harder to break into, I think we all know the truth is that it's going to be harder for Liverpool to stay there. Villa are closing in, so are spurs, so are Everton and i Predict Newcastle will only get better in the future.
Barry is not your answer. But i suppose we will see next year.

I for one am quite proud of myself for breaking such a big topic of debate!!!

I will give an update as soon as I have one.

I think MysteryMans rumour about Bentley was a falsehood though..

Please can you stay off our blog scousers, we know you won the european cup five times, its all you go on about. (Boring).

Up the Villa!!

And to the scousers; was you there when Marlon scored an overhead kick!!!!

Oh hang on now. This is getting beyond a joke and what the original post was about. Are we now looking at breaching the data protection act using personal computer info to locate someone and then publish it? I'm no expert on this (data protection act) subject though!

Chuff me, drop it you two will you. Now say sorry to each other and let's all play nicely!

To all u rose-tinted liverpool fans, we're not stood outside villa park burning an effigy of barry are we?
Funny, cuz i can remember an effigy of good ol' Stevie G getting torched outside anfield as soon as it seemed he was on his way to chelski. What a bunch of car-stereo theivin hypocrites. Now get off our blog an go and crow about your european cups and fourth-place finishes somewhere else........

P.S Granted you might be a bigger club, but nobody would want owners like yours, and you wish you had a chairman as discreet as our Randy.

I can't help but add my opinion and looking at the facts lets face it, it's not a bad deal all round. Barry wants champions league football and liverpool have that - now. I can't begrudge a player who has served us so consistently for 10 yrs the opportunity to play in the top competition, I also think that I'd like to see liverpool do well in the competition so the move can be seen as a success for him. As for the villa -we picked up barry for what can now be seen as a nominal fee, got 10 yrs excellent service out of him and will most probably reap a massive profit at the end of it. It also doesn't necessarily mean we will not be able to make the next step if we lose him -it just means the team will have to be given a new focal point, it may or may not be a massive signing but a revamp may just be what we need..... I'm wondering now if we had picked up Sidwell instead of him going to chelsea, would it have caused waves among us if he had been put in the side ahead of barry? There's no doubt in my mind that barry's performances, however good before, have most certainly become international class since O'neil has been here.. why can't that be true of someone else?

MON our captain wants to leave and you are going to the Euros on a BBC Jolly? Fucking disgrace get back here and do the job WE pay you to do and stop him going by buying proper players and no more shite.

im sorry taglor but you're wrong

MON is getting paid to watch games of football that he should be watching anyway, whats wrong with that?

plus have you ever seen the shite that is BBC's football coverage? its not like he's gonna be spending 4-5 hours a day learning lines, he'll be 5 mins before, half time 5 mins after

shabba The reason we have not gone for dos santos is because he is not crap enough for o neill as he prefers crap players so he can try and get the best out of them yet there best isint enough because there best is no where near dos santos's best

Harewood,Routledge,Salifou,Carew some examples of players martin is trying to get the best out of which is our problem cause martin needs to sign players that allready have it and dont need to work to get the best out of them

Shame that policy wont be changing

One other reason aswell is these sort of player's dont like to hang around when it comes to signing for clubs they (Or There Agents) want things sorted out quickly

But martin o neill is a man that hangs around talking bubbles while missing out on his targets

to put and end to all this will he wont he! ! !
why don't we just loan him to liverpool so he can be tested in their system play some champions league that he craves and see what happens if it works for him liverpool and us then we sell if it dont work at liverpool he comes back no halm done he'd have sown his oats etc....and it'll help him make his mind up....
thats effectivly what we've done with carson so why not loan barry it a simple solution for all parties

to be honest all these non villa supporters searchin other teams websites is quite sad...good luck to gareth in whatever he chooses to do, obviously id love him to stay but, its his own choice and hes earnt that right for being a great servant ova th past 10 years!! As for Bentley would b a great signing but i cant see it happnin myself...would like 2 see either james milner bak or aaron lennon on th right side...neway i trust randy lerner and good old martin o'neill to do right by th villa and giv th fans th success we deserve afta sittin thru th misery under david o'dreary. UP THE VILLA!!

Martin sign bentley for us i wish but not a chance in hell as is said u have to be a crap player to get martin to sign u so he can try and get the best out of you

Three words....

Steve. Bull. Loyalty.

Or combinations of the above.

Steve Bull had loads of chances to join other 'bigger' 'better' teams and turned them all down.

It would have ruined my faith in football if he had gone to Coventry or a team like that just to play in the Premier League, but he didn't because he wanted to play Premier League football with Wolves.

GB is 27 now, Villa could easily be playing CL football in 3-5 seasons time and he would be 32 at worst, his game is not exactly about pace so he could still do the job.

IMO villa should snap Pool's hand off for anything over £14M, NRC will get better, so will Gabby and Webcam and Laursen is already one of the top 5 defenders in the league.

Go on now GB, go, walk out the door, just turn around now, you're not in the England team anymore!

Anfield Bench Warmer!

Jon Boy (Wolves fan with Villa interest)

Actually Brett MON said that he isn't watching any players with a view to buying them at the euros, so if that's the case why's he doing it?

I'm somewhere between Damian and Thom's views on Barry. I've never been convinced that he's as great as people make him out to be (though he is good), and i think MON may be holding out for more dough off Rafa (please no player swap). If we could get £18-20 mill cash for Gareth I would be happy for him to go...not because of greed but that is what we will need to spend on a proper replacement IMO.
GB dictates a lot of what goes on in midfield at VP (apart from when he goes missing) but i'd personally like to see someone attacking play from the centre a little more, Barry sometimes lacks mobility and tends to pass sideways more often than not.
I keep harping on about Diego, but the boy is sheer class and i reckon he just might be the man to make GB a distant memory if he goes but that is just my opinion. That's why we need as much dough as possible cos' players like him won't come cheap and need to be sold the plan.
If the AV board are willing to up GB's wages and break the current structure by offering him an improved deal to stay, then why can't we spend that on the wages of a superstar in order to entice them to the club. Extra shirt sales alone would generate massive income.
There's loads of them out there who we would all like to see at VP but Diego would be my choice. I dont know much about Werder Bremen, (dont think they CL this year?)but ffs, if David Villa is up for £17 mill as reported the other day and is a target of Spurs, what chance do we have unless we match that ambition ?
It's great to have all this youth and players who MON will "bring on" but how will our boys fare against Modric, Dos Santos and David Villa (prospective) next season unless we can match the quality ? and that's just Spurs !!

Anyway, i'm enthralled by Damo's Big Brother I.P tracker. I must say that I always thought that andy architect and Peter whatever were the same person since I had some unecessary slagging of one of my posts not so long back. So fair play Damo for your investigative prowess at unmasking Slough Boy (if that is the case, you must be sure to publish it and reveal your tricks !) Good riddance.

It's a bit scary though if people can track you down just by surfing and replying to a blog. I'm not that au fait with internet stuff and just know enough to get by...but that has truly worried me. I'm a very private person !

Anyway, whatever road GB goes down I hope he does well, he seems a really nice guy. You cannot blame personal ambition sometimes and it's a gamble that might bite him on the arse, but if he's willing to take that gamble he's now in charge of his own destiny !
Although he has earned a lot of money through Villa and we have made him who he is today, he has also given us maybe his greatest years of football because who knows how he will perform without his comfort blanket, trying to get into a very talented Liverpool midfield.
i wish him the best but fear for him, it's a hell of a gamble.

Anyway, UP THE VILLA and congrats to Damo if this is the longest thread in home page history (ages old though, you crafty get !)

We must be the single most popular team in the country judging by the amount of non villa supporters on this site. I can understand why you all want to be here coz after all this is where it's at.

Gareth has gone, i think we can now take that as red, and i don't think we should be too down about it, we will survive. Truth is that him going will be more a indictment of him than the club. By going he is saying that he does not want to fight for the club any more, in effect he is giving up. in a world of instant fame he wants to play for a team that is already there rather than help Villa achieve it, and i don't want anyone playing for my team who doesn't want to.
Any way him going could be a blessing in disguise, giving other players a chance to shine, new and old.
Gareth, i wish you well mate, you have served this club with dignity and pride......NOW F**K OFF YOU RED TWAT!! lol.

villa_rules how do you know mon has missed out on any of his targets.like harewood if he was gona miss out hed make a bid. id rather wait an extra 2 weeks to sign someone for 5 million instead of 10million. thats an extra player.

hahahaha lol...like Bentleys going to leave Blackburn and sign for us, Martin whO'Neil is a fcuking joke, Tottenham have just signed two QUALITY players, they've shelled out the money and have the balls to do so, what we done??....NOTHING!!

AV33..superb post.....couldnt have put my gloom or doom better

get in arron lenno and huddlestone we wont get bentley hes goin to man city we need 2 spend

We can replace barry if we have to.Bently fab for right wing ;D ;D ;D

AV33, you sussed Pete and myself out. He is my Jekyl to my Hyde!

It's actually taglor and myself that's one of the same...so I have been accused of by others on here. I have that Heor's Perter Petrelli thing where I take on the persona of others!

No seriously Damian can confirm that I only have one username and with his internet spying thingy will tell you he only has one contact to this IP address.

IMO though AV33 you are 100% correct on the Barry thing. Don't really want to see him go, but life will go on and if the money is right for the club to make suitable replacement then life will go on and we will all get behind that new replacement player. In fact if you think about it, Barry leaving is the only way MON will be looking at signing Diego.

I meant Hero's, not Heor's whatever that is!

Leave me out of this, apparently I'm a bluenose x100 anyway.

If you were blue you would not be so passionate with your views about the villa taglor. Keep the passion going.

Take the Beatles and the Mersey out of Liverpol and your left with a car factory, european city of culture my arse.Liverpool are just another club chasing Man U, hense the sale of Anfield for a new stadium because they cam make tens of millions out of sponsorship .You have been sold out big time but your just to dumb to see it.

What liverpool need to remember is that as it now stands Barry IS the latest and therefore current England captain so as rafa rates crouch at 15m he should be paying 25m for barry! at the end of the day villa should cash in for big money say 18m or tell barry he will play in the reserves untill his contract expires enough of these modern day money grabbing big time charlies.. did you hear this type of thing about peter withe after he won the european cup or even savo when his goal set up the league cup win against leeds? c"mon barry sort yourself out you know you are only in the England team because you are playing week in week out!

We should keep gareth brry on are team he is a good player and we need him so for once we migt get about 4th in the premier lege ;D >:(

Now Villa are about to take over Liverpools place in the premier,we should act accordingly,tell them we will take gerrard and 15 million for barry.

The other day after being shocked at the amount I got taxed on my payslip i phoned the inland revenue to change my tax code. Anyway the call centre was in Liverpool, so naturally me and this bloke on the other end got chatting about Barry. He said that the last thing Liverpool need is another central midfielder. They need someone to partner Torres. This apparently was also the view shared with him by all his mates too.
SO how does barry expect to fit in with Gerrard, Mascherano, Pennant, Alonso, Babel, Lucas (who looks like he could be quality), Benayoun and all the young midfielders waiting to get their chance like El Zhar, Hobbs, Leto ....AND whatever other midfielders are gonna be on the radar?? It's gonna be well tough for him. Will he once again settle for playing out of position. I will bet anyone £100 that on more than a couple of occasions next season we will see Barry at left back.
Anyway, when the hell are we gonna be linked with my dream signing of Arshavin, quick before the mighty Everton or Schalke 04 get him!! He pisses All over Sidwell.
Also agree with AV33, as would anyone i suppose, that seeing a player like Diego would be fantastic, but to be honest i can see that being like the snjeider rumour last year, he'll go to somewhere like Barcelona, watch this space. But we definatley need a playmaker more than we need BArry to stay.

why dont those scousers get back to their day job of stealing radios out of cars. jus like your trying to steal our best players... and bentley for villa would be a sweet move the best two crossers in the league on each wing im sure we would jump ahead of them scouse arseholes!

andyarkitekt, too what you said about villa fans in oz .. i live in Aus and im a die hard villa fan along with 5 of my mates and my brother .. i see people everywhere wearing villa shirts all the time up here :D