Decision time Gareth Barry: Submit your transfer request or time for a heartfelt apology

If Gareth decided to stay, I don't think it should be a problem so long as he apologised, extended his contract (accepted what Martin offered), but most of all sacked his agent. This would show the commitment we want.

Normally, Damien, I think you talk a lot of sense but I think you're miles off today and in danger of being branded a hypocrite. You say Barry has acted like a spoilt child but your attitude is no different. You say this in the middle of a rant in which you throw all your toys out of the pram at the prospect of Barry returning to the team after an apology. Surely you must see that it is of no value to the club for supporters to get on his back if he admits to making a mistake? Also, you say that once you have burnt bridges with O'Neill, etc, etc. I don't think you've got it right there either. I think O'Neill is a bigger character than that. It is a lesser example, of course, but he forgave Berger for refusing to play in the reserves. I don't think Randy would be too happy if O'Neill sulked when his star player (or one of them) admits he has made a mistake.

Of course, we can all recognise that Barry's apology would be limited. Though he may describe it as such, he would not be apologising for making the mistake of wanting to play for Liverpool over Villa but the mistake of how he has handled the affair. If he is genuinely sorry about that then there is no reason why he and O'Neill cannot patch things up. The most that should happen is that he is robbed of the armband but apart from that, that should be the end of it. We need to get behind the team - especially one with GB in it.

Either way, he wont ever play the same in a villa shirt again

Bored now, can the red side of scouse land just give us the wonga so we can get rid of him, he's not wanted anymore due to his newspaper outburst, if it wasn't for that then he might have been able to grace the hallowed villa park turf again wearing clarot and blue but not any more, and I think he knows that and thats why he's hiding at his mommy and daddies house like the child he is!

He's bottled it totally and lost all respect I ever had for him!

The guys a prick!

Paul MW

Normally, I think I write a lot of sense and maybe this time you've misunderstood my point.

I'm not fussed either way what Barry does as I think Martin O'Neill has gotten his replacement in Sidwell, even if Sidwell says he's not a replacement for Barry.

My point is, if Barry wants to leave, he's got to do one of two things. If it was really about Champions League football wouldn't he have handed in a transfer request by now?

As for opinion on O'Neill - like I said, I think if Barry was worth all the hassle, I think O'Neill would allow him another chance - but he isn't.

The Berger thing you talk about was an internal thing and the first we heard of it was when he was shipped out on loan. When Berger made his public statement about Barry/Liverpool we were told he'll never play for the club again fairly quickly after.

What Barry did was much bigger than privately saying something about not playing reserve football.

It's just my opinion that he's burnt his bridges but my point is, if Liverpool don't meet the price - Barry has two options; which one is it going to be for him?

No toys out of the pram but if Liverpool don't meet the price, Barry only has those two options or he faces a wall of hatred at Villa Park.

Is there a problem between MON and Raffa? MON was pi**ed off with Raffa's approach for Barry and his unwillingness to negotiate for Carson (10Mill and not a penny less).So in return Barry will not be sold for less than 18Mill. Now i read Carson could be sold for 4Milland cannot help but wonder why lpool would accept this from another club. Theres something strange going on in these parts.

The more I here of the Barry saga , the more I think that his agent was behind the whole News of the World Incident, encouraging him to think, that he would have got out club quickly.
I really think he has been naive, now he has the fans and a large part of the club against him

I don't think he will grovel an apology, he's backed into a corner so tight he can't be seen to back down. I would dearly love it if he did, and say sorry to the fans, but i think it's too late for that.

The root of the problem is the middlemen in football, leaking, faint intrest in players to unsettle them, agents want money, they will talk players up so they can make more money, there's was no money in him staying at Villa, and sadly Barry's head was tempted away from a club where he was the big fish to a part player in a rotating squad.

You've never liked barry so your opinions are hardly surprising.

Ranieri (juve manager) said yesterday all i need is one goalkeeper no more outfield players. Looks like alonso ain't moving so i don't think barry is either.

However he should apologise to the club, fans and manager whether he goes or stays. If this is done there is a chance he has a playing future at the villa. coker, young, bentley, sidwell and barry in midfield

I don't know where MON stands with regards to Barry, but i think if a situation arose where Gareth was willing to swallow a rather large portion of humble pie, Mr O'Neill might just be able to find it in himself to find a solution where by he stays. The reason for this... Barry is better than any player we have a chance of capturing. Much better. While there are players with enormous potential at the club and rumoured to be coming in, he is already a genuine class act and still improving. MON knows how good he is and principled as he is, i don't believe he would let anything slow down the club's progress unless the situation truly was irreversible. If the Holte can be rebuilt... why not a bridge?

Having said this, i think he'll go and no attempt to repair their relationship will be ever be made.

Maybe you've misunderstood your point...

"I'm not fussed either way what Barry does as I think Martin O'Neill has gotten his replacement in Sidwell, even if Sidwell says he's not a replacement for Barry." does not sit with "Personally, I'm not easily bought and it doesn't matter what he says now. I don't want anyone playing for the club after they've said what Barry has said. If he was a man from the start and acted like a man and not a spoilt child, I'd show him some respect but he hasn't and if he comes out with the apology now, I'll have even less for him, if that was even possible."

And then maybe you've missed my point. I'm saying if Barry does have a 'change of heart' (but more accurately a sweaty palms moment where he realises that his move to Liverpool is not happening) and apologises to MON for his lack of respect (which I agree was totally out of order) then the fans do the club no favours by not getting behind the team - even one with GB in it. Of course if GB is in the team then that means MON has forgiven him (otherwise he'd be in the reserves). At that point I think the fans should put the thing to bed (or else get the 'we're not fickle we just don't like you' flag out of retirement).

Paul MW

I'm going back into the garden now .. but I've not missed your point and you've probably not missed what I'm saying.

I don't want this to turn into something. I don't think Martin O'Neill will give Barry a second chance if Liverpool don't come good with the money (although I think they probably will).

I may be wrong and Martin O'Neill will welcome Barry back with open arms. I'm not going to question Martin O'Neill and if he does, that is he decision and I guess you've read the site before so you'll know I hold Martin O'Neill in the highest possible regard, so I'm not going to question his decisions .. I just don't think he'll welcome Barry back - but again, like I've said, I think Liverpool will find the money and I think Barry will be off.

I'm off out into the garden now. :)

Paul MW - I don't see your point at all and Damien's position makes perfect sense to me.

The thing is, I'd much rather have a midfield or Young, Reo-Coker, Sidwell and Gardner/Maloney that have Barry in it, regardless of whether Barry is 100% Liverpool or 100% Villa.

Damien's statements make perfect sense.

Statement 1: I don't care what Barry does (as we have a replacement)
Statement 2: I don't care what he says, cause it doesn't matter.

Fair enough.

if rafa really wants barry and not alonso id be happy with a straight swap wouldn't you? also for if we gave liverpool 4.5 mill for carson and finnan in the process id be happy with that rafa gets his man and cashes in on a few he don't so its win win for us!

The water is getting muddy regarding this Barry to Liverpool transfer - I think that Alonso's lack of a transfer to Juventus has thrown a huge spanner in the works. I actually think that he may end up at Arsenal as a replacement for Flamini and Gilberto - makes sense to me anyway.....

I have no problem with Gareth Barry wanting to join Liverpool and wanting champions league football. Honestly - what player with any ambition doesn't. But the way things have been handled by Barry have been a disaster. If he had just come out and told the truth in an interview and handed in a transfer request - I think everone would say - he has given us 10 good years and best of luck to him. 18 million - thank you very much! But now the regard in which he was held by Villa fans has been shattered and will never be fixed.

Maybe i'm missing the point, but think what could be bought with the £15Mish? Now, we are never going to get that amount of money for a player like Barry again so he should be sold eventually even if it takes up til 31 August and we only get £15M. And for anyone who wants to point out that we have a rich owner, get real, hes also a business man with a sound financial plan for the club, Villa isn't his play thing like Chelsea is Roman's.

The fact is Barry will be in his last year of contract in a years time, he will be a year older and Pool will have dropped their interest, just like they did with Stelios and the like.

And like Josh C said, he'll never play the same for Villa again, i personally thought his performances dipped when he started getting in the England team again.

The question shouldn't be, Can he stay? It should be, At £15-18M can we afford to keep him?

No!
Sidwell is not the replacement for Barry. If he is then we have gone backwards because i do not feel sidwell can do the same job as barry. They are totally different types of players to do two totally different jobs. I feel MON is yet still to sign Barry's replacement, wether David Bentley will be that, or not, i do not know yet. But Sidwell is not Barrys replacement.

DevonVillain
Adam Hackett :)

Agree with JohnnyW. Just sell him, take the cash and run before we end up with nothing and a player who's heart isn't in it.

Or get Alonso in a swap deal with Finnan.

altho i wud rather see barry at arsenal, the hoyte factor dampens that, wud rather hav finnan plus cash or alonso plus cash or both plus cash, but thats jus dreamin no?

I'm all in favour of MON's stance-he's playing hardball with Liverpool [up your offer, throw in Finnan and pay the lot in 12 months] rather than kow-towing to a so-called 'bigger club' [remember how cheaply Ferguson got Yorke]and he's telling his squad exactly where the lines are regarding bleating to the press. I'm sure GB was set up by his agent to speak to the NOTW. Bad decision. A lesser manager would have pretended to wrap his star player on the knuckles and then sold on quickly at Liverpool's price.
Anyway GB was AWOL during the majority of matches last season and the deal we eventually get could be a marvellous piece of business. If the £10M for Bentley is right we could get him, Sidwell and Finnan for Barry's price-though in the event that will probably be wishful thinking.
Another thing about GB-"I want to be sure that the manager's ambitions meet mine". That is suspiciously close to saying "I am more important than the Club". If MON were to accept that sort of c*** he would never dare to drop Barry. We have no room for that here. UTV.

A puzzler. But we have to accept that Barry might be here in August, so what do we do?

I know Villa fans are upset by the NOTW story but look at it this way...

Imagine you had a f**k buddy,( for those of you who don't know this is someone you sleep with on an occassional basis). Now we can rate rate them from 1 to 10, 1 being Bella Emberg, of Russ Abbott fame, and 10 would be Kylie. Imagine the players for Villa being as f##k buddies, metaphorically speaking, or not as is your want. Some would come in at 2 or 3,Shaun Maloney, some would come in at 9 or 10, Ashley Young

Now Barry would probably rate about 5 to 7 on this scale, or Nicole Roberts to Cheryl Cole from Girls Aloud. If either of them said they wanted to be f##k buddy of someone else but this broke down and they apologised, heartfelt or not, and asked to be your f##k buddy again I think most of us would reply in the affirmative.

So it should be with Barry. If he apologises, or makes his piece with MON, who accepts it, he should be welcomed back.

To carry on the analogy, it might be a bit awkward at first with Nicole or Cheryl but I am sure we would all get back into the swing of things again.

So Gareth, ask to go or apologise. If you do apologise then I am sure a lot, but not all Villa fans would welcome you back.

If you by any chance read this Gareth, don't see this as advice for you to join Girls Aloud or to shag Ashley Cole. (This is purely to cover my back because I am sure he could afford a very expensive lawyer)

I agree he has to go...I think he was a t**t for the NOTW story but I still don't think he meant for it to look as bad as it did.

Take Alonso or Finnan.

Or even...test arsenal and ask for Walcott?????

I would welcome Barry back if he commits his future to the club and states he's not looking to hold out for another season until he can get his big transfer. Champions' League football may not be something Villa can achieve in his career, but he can have a UEFA Cup run if he contributes to the Intertoto procedings and there's the small matter of the 2010 World Cup if he keeps his performances up.

He showed some selfish ambition, but for the league position he helped us to this season, and his ten years, he does deserve another chance.

Good analogy Woulfeman...however i think your rating of Cheryl Cole is a little on the harsh side..personally i feel she would be pipping Kylie to the top spot...even with her dirty accent!

If Barry hadn't done wot he'd done, we'd all be proud of our captain n be 100% positive for our Euro campaign. but this Barry nonsense is starting to bug every1 n I just hope the team is focused. I think its better he goes as he will never play the same again. I believe its all to late for any apology n he must leave now, no player is too big for the team.

If Gareth Barry, or any other footballer for that matter, asked me that question - they'd get a swift kick in nuts. That's why the Premiership has Jermaine Jenas and Matthew Upson.

Hey people who would welcome Barry back (which is becoming fewer and fewer thank god).....…………….grow some damn balls and get some pride! In particular Colloquick, Be an Aston Villa fan and not a Gareth Barry sympathiser!

Whilst I have respect for MON, I feel this is another example of him trying to throw around none exisistant weight in the transfer market. Barry is never worth 18 million quid, anyone who went down villa park last season will tell you that. He's a player who has benifitted big time from the Lampard/Gerrard problem with England and the complete lack of any other English holding Midfielder with any degree of skill. We should be snapping people's hands off at 15 mill plus add ons.
What annoys me about MON though is that he puts the Barry deal in jeopardy by holding out for stupid money then puts in a derisory offer of 10 mill for Bentley! This is what I mean by thinking he can throw non existant weight around. What does MON think is so special about himself when it comes to the transfer market? Routledge, Petrov, Harewood, Carson, Knight, Maloney, Samoan Kid...the list does not exactly give him some mythical status when it comes to buying and selling!!!!!

I think everyone should just wait & see what happens with Barry there is to much talk about it, MON has taken control of this situation brillantly by puttin Barry to oneside & focusing on the games coming up & bringin in players. Benitez started this tapping up tryin to cos unrest at Villa for 1 of two reasons A. To get Barry or B. Upset a team that is building to taken there place in the near future. I base this on the comments made at the start of this saga made by Benitez to his relucantance to say anything on this since MON said yes you can have barry. So as Damian said this is PR so lets concern ourselves with gettin into Europe, signings & the barry thing will sort its self out.

I think, to a degree, Barry has been totally ripped off by his agent, Alex Black who takes god knows what in fees. Surely any kind of mess like this is down in part to a player's personal management? Footballers do football, agents do the negotiations, no?

[b]Barry:[/b] "Alex, I'd quite like to play CL football next season, and in the process I'd quite like to alienate upwards of 100,000 people and potentially shoot myself in both feet. can you help and how much would yo ucharge for this? Yours, Gareth. PS: Is it OK for me to slag off one of the most respected managers in the game to one of the most non-respected newspapers?

[b]Black:[/b] "Yeah. no bother. Laters."

What the feck does this guy do for his money again? Admittedly the intention to leave Villa for a CL playing club (preferably one with Gerrard in) was there in the first instance but surely, SURELY, Black has to take some of the flack for this pointless, damaging, unecessary shambles of a deal yet to be done?

eddielotr - I don't think that it's anybody's place to say how anyone else should react to Barry's decision be it to back-track or go. The guy's cocked up, granted, but so have I, big time, and no doubt you, and if everyone pilloried me without exception, I probably wouldn't be here. If he stays, deal with it how you feel best, if he goes, boo him, cheer him, whatever, it won't matter. The point being that either reaction doesn't make you more or less proud to be a Villan.

Can someone just sort the thing out though, please. Soon.

Why could Barry not keep his mouth shut. If he had came out and said nothing and left it between the clubs the only 'villian' of this transfer saga would be the chubby Rafa. If liverpool do not buy Barry then they should be fined points. Even before the season had ended they were busy unsettling our captain and now as the summer has progressed thanks to Rafa and Stevie G one of our best players, our captain with 10 years service to the club is no longer wanted at Villa Park. Was this a ploy from Liverpool from the start, could they see how fast we were progressing as a club and thought lets unsettle the squad and piss off the manager!! This may reak of conspiracy theory but it seams like this is what has happened. Our season starts on Saturday and one of our most experienced and valuable players that would have helped our progression is going to be sitting in his mum and dads wondering what he can do. I for some reason don't blame Barry for what has gone on, yes it was stupid what he said, i agree with the posts saying his agent had something to do with that interview. If Barry stays we need to think of whats best for the team, yes i think Barry is a quality player and in a way i would be delighted to have him back on the team. However, what kind of message does it send out if we still pick a player that has disrespected the manager and expressed his desire to leave. It's a hard one for MON but we will just have to wait and see if he needs to make that decision.

Gosh it seems that everybody thinks they know best don't they? Just face the fact we are powerless and whatever will be will be.

number 11.....

how can barry come out and say nothing to the papers that would be a bit pointless selling blank pages lol ..... but i get your meaning if not your wording lol ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

Liverpool have tryed to buy Barry through their name, just because they are a top four team (not for longer) they think they can push other teams around. o'neil has stuffed the apple in rafa's face. Barry has made himself look a fool! caught the greed syndrome! Judas

As long as you get the meaning the wording is pointless, :D :) :D :D :D :D

Thats how i feel,but do you mind not adding man u players all was one!seeya im gonna play box head.

F**k Barry, F**k his agent an F**k Raffa..,They can all rot in the depths of hell.
I aint supporting no-one that is not 100% commited to the club.

MON is king, long live the king!!!

all we need to do is sack O'neill. He's cr*p.

I see that the club issued a statement saying Barry will be back in training from tomorrow, well lets hope he keeps his head down and his mouth out of the papers

Barrys coming back to training, the only thing i can think off is that Liverpool have requested that he train just to keep up his fitness so he won't be to far behind match fitness for the Champ League qualifiers

It says on the official site that Barry is back in for training at Bodymore tomorrow!! the plot thickens

joey the ak you box head freak! :D

Returning to training in the morning... could he possibly be staying???

GET RID OF HIM

I for one really really hope Barry stays.

I have said all along I didnt want him to go, yes he made silly comments in the press but what we must remember is that he was advised by his greedy fame seeking agent.

I understand your thoughts Damian, It is a kick in the teeth when a player who we have loved and supported over the last 10 years declares he wants to leave but if he does now make a u turn and makes a public apology I think we should all back him 100%.

Everybody in all walks or life makes mistakes and just because he is a footballer on massive wages it doesnt make him any different.

I have just read on sky news he returns to training tommorow, that for me is the best news we have had all summer!

I think its because we have to let him back into training after his punishement. He can't be punished again unless he does something else wrong. I don't know, like maybe turning up to training in a Liverpool top?

you should all remember the club is bigger than anybody. if he stays ill still support the club 100% i hope whatever happens is sorted out quickly so we can push on again this year.

Right from the very begining of this saga I've been sayingg that Rafa is trying to unsettle Villa. I'm pleased to see that others think the same. Number 11 - I agree totally with you, Liverpool should be penalised in some way if they fail to sign GB. This is such blatant tapping up. I really do hope that AVFC instructed their lawyers early on, because they [i]will[/i] be needed.

If He wants to go I agree he should put in a transfer request so we can at least respect him again.
No more Hiding behind his Agents Advise or he is moveing for the Champions League It is All about money.
If he has to stay as the pennyless club he wants go to cannot afford him, I do not want some PR appology written by the General.
Just a performance on the pitch that is all the fans really want
As for Mon he has not handled the player well either, i believe he could have told him our captian the clubs real plans instead of letting us beilieve Big things were going to happen

VILLA FRIENDLY ON BBC RADIO WEST MIDLANDS. 95.6 FM

omg 3-1 down wtf

Barry shouldn't be welcomed back by club or fans. He's made his bed and now he should sleep in it. I hope Arsenal take him but I doubt they will as this is all agent talk as his agent has messed his move to Liverpool up by giving Barry the worst advise possible.

I'm worried that Barry is able to train with the team. But either way i think if he (Barry) wants to get his career back on track - MON should make him before the Odense match say sorry for to the fans. The lad needs to be humbled and shame is the best way.

And then I'd sell him!