As I struggle to use the net since I have an agnosingly crap ISP, I cannot imagine what Gareth Barry must be going through right now. Aston Villa’s darling to villain, then again back to somewhat darling..it seems his wish to join Liverpool has taken a turn for the worse as it was officially announced by the club on their website that he is not going to leave the club. The reason being? That Liverpool failed to make a bid before the time both parties had mutually agreed. If whispers coming out of England that Rafa Benitez was 15 minutes late in putting his bid through, it will be even more bitter for Gareth.
Everything seemed to have been heading the right direction, as reports were emerging that talks were on-going between Liverpool and Aston Villa, with Liverpool even sweetening the deal by throwing in Steven Finnan also along with the 18 million pounds, the price tag that Martin O’ Neil set for Barry and refused to budge one penny from. 15 minutes late? Come on ! It’s not August 31st! Aston Villa is scraping the deal for being 15 minutes late?! Its absurd. But I have got my own theory behind Aston Villa playing such hard-ball..
It all went sour when Wilfred Bouma got injured. That’s right. The Holland international suffered a horrific injury early on in the game against Danish outfit Odense in the Intertoto Cup. And it must be pretty obvious by now, Martin O’Neil clearly has no faith in his bench. But there was a certain someone among the substitutes whom he couldn’t ignore and of course he would be the ideal replacement for Bouma, since he had numerously played in the left-back position before his transformation into one of England’s best central mid-fielders. Yes, Gareth Barry came on for the injured Bouma. Suddenly the crowd’s earlier boos from last week changed into applause as the England international came on to the pitch and the Villa fans themselves knew no one else could have been a better replacement. The manager’s earlier rants about banishing him to the stands had changed in the past few days after the England man started training with them again. Barry, being the true proffessional returned to training quietly after serving his punishment for his outburst to the press. After the game, Martin O Neil’s stance on him staying grew stronger and said there is a good chance the versatile Barry would be staying. Of course! Now that he definitely needs him since Bouma is injured! And his lack of transfer activity is really becoming increasingly irritating and frustrating. And whatever players he buys, he doesn’t seem to want himself. Besides Shaun Maloney to some extent, whom he coached during his Celtic days, he seems reluctant to sub players unless they are tired or injured.
It seems O’Neil’s wish of Barry staying will come true! Or will it? Will Gareth remain quiet? Or will he start rebeling against the club and stop going to training and lash out at his manager in the press? A loyal servant for Aston Villa for a decade, whose wish was only to play Champions’ League football because he knew he would have to wait for atleast 2 seasons more with Aston Villa to acheive that ambition and probably another 5 seasons in actually having a chance of winning it and at 27, he knows time is not on his side. He made a mistake of talking to the press, no doubt. But for 10 years he played his heart out for the team, played wherever the managers asked him to play, never did he complain, gave Villa fans joy by wearing the England shirt, never asked for Henry-like wages, but I guess all that is not enough..
Whether it was Rafa Benitez not trying hard enough to get him (first spending 20 million on Robbie Keane when he knew he had a deadline??) or O’Neil not trying hard enough to make him stay before (going off to Euro 2008 instead of convincing his main player to stay??), in the end Gareth Barry is left with the bitter after-taste in his mouth..playing left back, playin Uefa Cup instead of Champions’ League, losing his place in the England squad? I will truly hope this is not the beginning of the end..
