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O´Neill won´t spare Barry from the hate-mob
| Written by: AFP |
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| 2008-07-24 14:36:59 |  |
BIRMINGHAM, England (AFP) - Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill has warned Gareth Barry that he won't protect the unsettled England midfielder from the hate-mob in Saturday's Intertoto Cup clash with Odense.
Barry was subjected to vicious abuse during Tuesday's friendly at Walsall as Villa fans showed their displeasure at his attempts to engineer a move to Liverpool. It could get even worse for Barry if O'Neill feels the 27-year-old is in the right frame of mind to play in this weekend's European tie at Villa Park. O'Neill said: "I think that in terms of fitness the game on Tuesday will have brought Gareth on so, if he's mentally tuned in and he wants to go and play, why not? "Why shouldn't he be in contention for the game? He's a quality player and that's what we're looking for." O'Neill's decision to put an 18 million pounds (22.6 million euros) price tag on Barry has slowed transfer talks with Liverpool, but the Villa boss admits he is keen to resolve the situation one way or the other. "We haven't heard back from Liverpool for some time and we're not exactly sure where we all stand," he said. "When people say people are in limbo, I don't think that applies to anybody more than ourselves. We don't know whether to move forward or not with it. "It's a long-running saga and I wouldn't mind it ending one way or another. "My preference - and hopefully I'm speaking for a lot of Villa fans, if not all of them - is that we would like Gareth to stay at the football club. "That would be great because it will be hard to replace him. "But we're not sure where Liverpool stand now. It was never mentioned before about them needing to sell some players before they bought - that was never in the system at all. But seemingly it must be part of it." |
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Discuss- Add comment
phughes699 July 24th, 2008 14:40
What is happening to Gareth Barry is a total disgrace. The Aston Villa fans should be ashamed of themselves. This guy has given his all over the years for Villa. Show him a bit of respect and allow him to leave on a good footing.phughes699 July 24th, 2008 14:53
O'Niell as a professional person should confront the press and tell his supporters, that their behaviour towards Gareth Barry is not beneficial for Aston Villa and the clubs interests and to curtail it immediately.Tontodonati July 24th, 2008 15:06
It's incredible how a small minority can cause such major problems. Where do those people come from?Guuner66 July 24th, 2008 15:14
let him go. villa is going nowhere fast. he is 27 and has not got much time to make a mark. let the man go and make a name for himself. oneill and villa are just not being fair to the player at the moment.cameroon July 24th, 2008 15:45
football is getting very interesting this days, if i was Barry i would use this advantage to live the club, he has done alot for villa and now i think is time for him to move on,adolfinho July 26th, 2008 18:29
Barry made his bed, he can lie in it! Had he handed in a written transfer request, thereby foregoing the 3 million pound loyalty bonus, he would have been a Liverpool player by now.