Gareth Barry set to start against Estonia and praise for O'Neill
Thursday, 11 October 07, 02:21 AM · Comments (19)
Maybe I was wrong about second choice Steve. Maybe he really does understand that Barry should be ahead of fat Frank Lampard in the pecking order.
Gareth Barry had two very good games when fat Frank was injured and the results are evidence enough that the manager shouldn't change the teams and according to the papers today, he's starting this weekend.
"It's always great to be selected to play for your country. To play the last two games was a bit of a surprise, but it's nice to put in two good performances and for people to talk about the way I played." Barry told the FA website.
I'm fairly confident that if Barry does start and he gets 90 minutes the results will be positive for England and it's only going to make it more and more difficult for fat Frank to get back in the team.
On fat Frank for a minute, there are a few rumours this morning that he may be off to Real Madrid in January for £9mn. which if true would for me, secure the place for Barry as fat Frank doesn't have the same pull as Beckham and Owen and will soon be forgotten if he does go.
Barry also has loads of proase for Martin O'Neill: "Martin O'Neill has been very good to me. One of the first things he said to me when he arrived at Villa 14 months ago was 'if you stay here with me, you'll improve a player and you'll eventually get your England call-up again',"
"He is a quality person, someone you listen to and he has been proven right in what he said, which goes to show what a good manager he is.
"At that time, I was facing a big decision, whether to try moving to a new club, whether it would be good for my career. But when I heard Martin O'Neill was arriving, that got me thinking straight away, even before I spoke to him, that it maybe best for me to stay around and that has been the case."
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19 Comments · Add yours
If McDoughnut plays the same team on Saturday, then he will go up a notch in my view. As It shows he won't put the players in on reputation alone.
Barry played in both 3 nil wins recently for England, why would you want to change a team that has gelled so well? Yes, if it isn't working second half, change it round abit, its what the manager is paid to do. But don't change a winning formula, I think it was Sir Alf Ramsey that said, he would pick the best team not the best players. Says it all to me, as that is what will win you games
Barry should be above Lampard in the pecking order from now on. Lampard has slowly lost interest since picking up a nice wage increase to 17 Gold bars a week. Heskey is injured so it should be Crouch alongside Owen, unless Rooney decides he can do better.
I think Barry should be one of the first names on the teams sheet. Not Lampard is a good playing but just hasnt been playing great for England, lets not forget who scored a large amount of the goals to get us to the world cup and for that i think everyone is thankful. But if the team plays better without him then he must be dropped.
We should beat Estonia pretty comfortably. I dont think gerrard is playing anywhere near his best for England and he didnt really perform that great for me in the last 2 internations so why not give Lampard & barry a try for Estonia. If we can get competition in the middle for England the players will have to step their games up.
UTV
Lampard has been poor for too long in an England shirt, I dont despute his form for club, and that he is a great player, but he doesnt work alongside Gerrard - Barry does. I am glad to see Steve isnt going to bottle this decision and I think he will earn alot of praise for having the bottle to leave Lampard on the bench.
A great sign of the times for Villa, Gareth Barry keeping Lampard out of the England team...very pleased for Barry, Villa legend in the making.
Let's not go overboard on praise for Mclaren if Barry starts. Barry was man-of-the-match over the two games and bossed midfield in two 3-0 wins. Rather than being impressed with old porcelain-teeth if he starts Barry, isn't it the least we should expect? Frankly, I would think the bloke had a beetroot for a brain if he did anything else...
Go for it Gareth, this guy's a legend in the making.
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Just happy to see a few Villa players in the squad been a while since weve had 3 players in the set up. Hopefully a few more will push on and be joining them there.
Ryanvilla3, I here ya buddy. How great is it that we are approaching an England game and we have some Villa players in the squad to up the interest levels.
Im chuffed for the lads that are in there, however they deserve it, you don't get in there unless you are doing something right. I would like to think that in the next few years we will see a claret and blue onslaught for England places. Because looking at the top 4 and their transfer policies, it is only a matter of time before our crop of young ENGLISH players comes good.
Barry's chance is long overdue, it never made sense when England was crying out for someone to play left midfield and Barry was putting in solid performances for Villa week in week out, in that very position, he was overlooked. And he was ex-Under 21 Captain no less!!
For me this is a bigger issue than just Barry, it's about Villa being back in the spotlight. Villa's been a forgotten team for years. I don't live in the UK anymore so I don't know if it's still the same, but it used to annoy the hell out of me that unless we were playing one of the top four teams we'd almost always be the last game shown on MOTD. Anyone else notice that?
What I'm getting at is that now the club's making the progress it promised our players are reaping the benefits too. Which in turn, over time, means we'll also be able to attract the better class players everyone's been talking about so much. It's all good baby!!!
If Gareth can get a third solid performance in there then he should cement his place in the starting line up for future fixtures. Lampard should be on the bench to replace Gerrard if he gets injured or isn't playing to form. It would be interesting to see what a Gareth and Lampard partnership in midfield would produce. :-*
Agree with all. Good for Villa, deserved for Barry. Says loads about MON. If necessity is indeed the mother of invention, then one hopes McClaren has enough self-interest to leave in place a winning team instead of a shambolic collection of big names. He'll hear no criticism about fat Frank if England win. Other than from Lampard.
This is what England need, and it's fantastic for Villa's profile.
just picked up fifa 08 and did the villa players get screwed on ratings. no one is over an 80, not even barry. the gameplay is a bit tedious and i dont like it as much as last years game.
well if gb puts in a third strait performance, then for me, that shud be him a permanent fixture in the starting 11. if carson n young make cameo appearances on sat, presumin they make the bench, how gd wud that be! get in.
well i dont see how wank lampard can come back from an injury and walk straight back into the england fold, fair enough michael owen can do it but thats because there is no other player that can do his job as good as him. but over the last 2 games we have seen barry do an even better job than lampard and watching him and gerrard in the centre seems to make sense. drop lampard and play barry.
Yep it is about time to that steve o mac realised that barry is doing just as good as lampard if not BETTER 2years ago i would have went with lampard all the way but he has lost that form that made him considerd as one of the best midfeilders in the world
Let ashley young loose to cause twist defenders minds for fun he dose annoyin to defend against he is but absolutly great if plays for you lucky villa i say to have him :P
Please God return Barry to us fit for next week.................Also on the transfer gossip, Bosingwa, Riquelme(who is still available), and Pedro Mendes would hopefully help us avoid any late season slump due to tiredness or injury. Maybe Taylor because he fits with the english criteria. But Riquelme should be our main focus, wishful thinking........
PETROV OUT IN JANUARY !!!!!!!!!
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Porcelain teeth, nice one.
come on wheres some new topics to talk about