As the first ever Aston Villa roundtable gets under way, I caught up with William Cooper, Yoosof Farah, and Chris Rowlands to discuss an important issue.
After Liverpool relentlessly pursued Gareth Barry during the off-season, the question remains; Should Barry have gone when he had the chance? Especially considering his performances have dropped alarmingly since the move fell through.
Jermaine Koko:
Gareth Barry has been a loyal servant, turning in performance after performance and gradually getting better as the years have passed.
It was just two years ago, when Barry was getting frustrated at the lack of ambition at Villa Park. Then it all started happening. Doug Ellis made way for Randy Lerner and Martin O’Neill was brought in and hailed as the club's saviour.
Aston Villa are one of the teams—along with Everton, Man City, and Tottenham—with genuine ambitions of knocking Liverpool or Arsenal out of that top four and establishing themselves in the Champions League.
Along with Everton, Villa did a good job of pushing Liverpool for a while with the smallest squad in Premier League.
It only took a quick chat with O’Neill for Barry to realise he should stay and take Villa forward.
I’m not saying Villa are better than Liverpool—that would be disrespectful to England’s most successful club—but the things I have outlined are the things that Gareth Barry needed to consider before he made his mind up.
Despite seeing the level of his performances drop alarmingly thus far this season, staying at Villa was the best decision he could have made. Although O'Neill took the captaincy away from him, he still remains the star of the very young side. A young side that have been taking huge strides in the right direction.
He could have gone to Liverpool and risked sitting on the bench—and maybe slip out of the top four that he was moving into.
His England credentials are under no threat plying his trade for Birmingham’s elite, as he is always on show doing what he does best. He won his place in the national team's starting line-up through his performances for Villa, so why should he be forced to move on?
William Cooper:
Liverpool's chase for Villa's former captain certainly unsettled the 27-year-old Barry. O'Neill decided he was to be replaced as club captain, instead giving the arm band to Martin Laursen.
Barry's form has not been as eye-catching so far this season, but his goal tally already looks good; five goals so far this season in all competitions. Last season Barry bagged nine goals, the highest tally of his career.
Barry was, and it appears still is, torn between a huge move to Liverpool and sticking with Villa. As January approaches, the same will he, won't he saga is sure to return. O'Neill appears to be of the position that, no man is bigger than the club, the change of captain was a statement from O'Neill—Villa will continue to progress with or without Barry.
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about 1 month ago
Nice work guys.. Barry has been a little on and off this season.. he'll only get better as time goes on.. I don't think he'll sign for Liverpool any time soon though.
from about 1 month ago
Cheers mate. I hope not either..
about 1 month ago
Good stuff. For Villa I think it was a mistake not to sell him last season, unless Martin O'Neill believes that this season Barry will be worth the £15 million or more he will miss out on. If he convinces Barry to stay then it was a great decision, but I don't see that happening. Barry's contract runs out at the end of this season, so a transfer is almost inevitable. Whether it will be to Liverpool, however, with Xabi Alonso playing so well, is debateable.
from about 1 month ago
Fair point Barney but if O'Neill managed to keep hold of him when there was so much money on the table for Villa, don't you think he will fight harder to keep him next summer when there is no money on the table?
about 1 month ago
Great job guys. Let me know next time your doing it again, and i'll be sure to contribute.
from about 1 month ago
Thanks Miley. Of course I'll let you know.
about 1 month ago
Nice work. I like the concept of the roundtable. It would be great to have a roundtable discussion for other teams.
from about 1 month ago
Yeah, people shouldb e catching on soon hopefully. Thanks for the pick Roberto
about 1 month ago
as aston villa community leader, i'd like to say thank you to all who contributed and have commented on this article, and thank you jermaine for doing this roundtable. great work guys.
from about 1 month ago
Good stuff Yoosof, as Spurs CL I'll be asking you for some advice, keep up the good work.
from about 1 month ago
congrats on becoming spurs CL mate.
from about 1 month ago
haha Yosoof is relentless..
about 1 month ago
Guys,
Awesome job getting this together in such a quick time. You really put forth a quality effort and it shows here. I hope to see more of this from you in the near future. I hope this serves as an example of what other EPL communities can strive to do.
Keep it up!
from about 1 month ago
Cheers Rory. Means a lot! I'll do my best to keep going.
about 1 month ago
Great idea for a roundtable. Awesome read! Keep up the great work!!! I am a fan.
from about 1 month ago
Thanks for the fan add mate ..
about 1 month ago
Great stuff everyone. It was great reading everyone's opinion in the round table. I will look out for future ones.
from about 1 month ago
Thanks mate, I'll make sure you know about the next one..
about 1 month ago
Great stuff guys and a great question.
I don't think Arsenal were ever actually interested in Barry. I think Wenger was trying to pressure the move to Liverpool so that Alonso would be free to join Arsenal. As I understand it the Arsenal deal for Alonso fell through because the Barry move fell through. It seems the whole goings-on in the summer have unsettled Barry and I don't see him staying at Villa too much longer.
from about 1 month ago
But Maire, there was some interest. It was all over the media that Wenger had put forward an 18M bid. Of course, the interest was short lived as he quickly withdrew his interest but none-the-less, there was some interest.
Thanks for the comment Maire.
from about 1 month ago
Yep but I think the "interest" was in an effort to get the Liverpool move going because Alonso could only move to Arsenal if Barry moved to Liverpool. That is my understanding but maybe it was an honest bid by Wenger.
from about 1 month ago
Im not saying your wrong Maire...
about 1 month ago
Great article guys.
Your work is allowing me to get to know Villa better by the day!
I don't reckon Arsenal a roundtable discussion I suppose? Perhaps it's time to start one!
Once again, great work!
from about 1 month ago
that's good to know alden. hopefully soon you'll know enough about villa that you'll be able to write an article on them *hint hint*
from about 1 month ago
haha yoosof
you do know how to get people to contribute to your growing Villa community. If anything, this shows your absolute dedication in getting it going.
I may consider writing one on Villa in the near future.
When I do, you will be the first to know!
from about 1 month ago
thanks alden :)
from about 1 month ago
Lol Yoosof is just his job..
about 1 month ago
Outstanding roundtable discussion.
from about 1 month ago
Cheers mate
about 1 month ago
Should Gareth Barry have gone when he had the chance?
Sorry but I think the whole question is flawed because he never actually had the chance to go. All bids by Liverpool were rejected by Villa so there was absolutely no way in which Barry could have gone. He did about as much as he could to force Villa’s hand but at the end of the day they decided not to let him go – much like the Ronaldo/Real Madrid situation.
Barry never had the chance to leave – Villa didn’t let him have this chance.
from about 1 month ago
Well fair point mate, but O'neill did actually have a chat with him and have change his mind, if not completely, but he did have a temporary change of heart. As Cooper said in his input, He still seems torn between going to Liverpool and staying at Villa.
about 1 month ago
He 100% made the right choice , the amount of competition hed be fghtng against at anfield , he is a class midfielder in my opinion and doesnt deserve to be on the anfield bench every other gae while Rafa plays with ifferent teams , he should stay at the forward moving Villa .
from about 1 month ago
Cheers Mark.
Yeah he definetely made ther right choice, but he was kinda hoping that Alonso would move onto Arsenal. If that happened, I think it would have been harder for us to keep him. The fact that they were waiting for Liverpool to make a move for Barry so they could get him played it nicely into our hands. We refused and Liverpool kept hold of Alonso. Funny how its all linked innit?
from about 1 month ago
Oh yeah it is funny , but what I mean is if he had gone to Liverpool they wouldnt of loved him like Villa and the fans do , he is young and Villa are definatly aiming upwards , plus with players like young , carew plus a couple of signings in January in the setup they are going the right way . I admit it was a bit wrong of him to publicly dclare he wanted to go , its not loyal to the fans or the club , he will stay tho , for now at least .
from about 1 month ago
Well most Villa fans like myself, didn't see "him wanting to leave" as an act of betrayal. Of course players will always be caught in two minds if a bigger team comes in for him.
about 1 month ago
He's more useful to Villa than he would have been at Liverpool to put it simply.
from about 1 month ago
Amen to that. ..
about 1 month ago
Firstly the title is misleading. He never got the chance to leave as no one could afford his absurd value. I would say £15 million tops and if u have fabregas, gerrard, alonso, lampard etc in your team you don't really need him. Arsenal could have found more use for him and he could have played central midfield with cesc but he showed his limitations playing the holding role for England. Top player but not better than the ones I mentioned. He made no choice. Liverpool didn't and couldn't pay so end of story.
from about 1 month ago
There was a point during the whole thing where Barry had a choice to make. O'Neill managed to make him realise that staying was the best for him. Momentarily, he did have a change of heart, but in the the move wasn't possible anyway.
about 1 month ago
Wonderful RT Jermaine, Barry should have gone last season...
from about 1 month ago
Cheers Sara..
You though he should have left? Why?
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