As a lifelong Aston Villa fan, I've been watching Gareth Barry's career very closely. I hold the versatile player in such high regard it got me thinking... just how valuable is he to the squad and to the fans?

When he started his career at Villa way back at the tail end of the ’97/98 season he made a couple of appearances and did enough to warrant his astonishing 37 appearances in ’98/99, including three in Europe and bagging a couple of goals in the process. Not bad for a left-sided centre-back.

If you think back to that season and you realise that he was partnering Gareth Southgate and Ugo Ehiogu at centre-back it’s not hard to see how he developed such a level head at such a young age of only 18. Ehiogu was at the club nine years, making over 300 appearances and earning four England caps. Southgate made 191 appearances for the club and an impressive 57 for England. Barry was clearly learning from players who had seen and done it all.

‘Barry has come on in leaps and bounds throughout his career and now he seems to have come of age – give him that England run he deserves from his Villa performances alone.’


Flash forward to now and you have a player who has played centre-back, left-back, left-wing, left centre-midfield and who has made 294 appearances for Villa and scored 28 goals – not bad for someone in his position.

Not forgetting that he is still only 26!

If Barry stays at the Villa until he is 32 – and it would take an extortionate amount to prise him from the firm grip of manager Martin O'Neil – that would make 17 years service for the club, rising from the youth ranks to captain and most valued player. He could even go on to force his way up the club all time appearance chart, which stands currently as follows:

1 Charlie Aitken 660
2 Billy Walker 531
3 Gordon Cowans 528
4 Joe Bache 474
5 Allan Evans 469
6 Nigel Spink 460
7 Tommy Smart 452
8 Johnny Dixon 430
9 Dennis Mortimer 406
10 Billy George 402

Barry has the makings of a great player and would easily fit into a Manchester United or Chelsea team. Ryan Giggs is close to retirement and Joe Cole is more injury prone than my nan, so who would be better to fill in? He's naturally left-footed, a great crosser of the ball, has an amazing ability to sit back and read a game and, best of all, plays every game like it's his last.

Is there a better left-sided midfielder in the Premier League? Only two others come close – Blackburn's Morten Gamst Pedersen and Stuart Downing at Middlesbrough. Both are natural left-footers and talented players.

Pedersen has 92 league appearances for Blackburn, scoring an impressive 19 times, but does he have the same natural ability as Barry? The easy answer would be yes, but look at it in more depth and you'd see that they are very different players occupying similar positions. Barry is more defensive-minded but also still able to attack, whilst Pedersen is more attack-minded with not so much defensive skill. Yes, his goal scoring record is impressive for a left-sided midfielder but if you were to place either of them in the Manchester United or Chelsea squad any goal would only be a bonus with the likes of Rooney, Tevez, Ronaldo, Drogba, Lampard and Schevchenko.

Now Downing – don't get me wrong, I like him. He is a good player and I don't want a lot of angry Boro fans on my case, but he seems over-rated. It has been said, not from me, that he only gets picked by Steve McClaren for England due to their close friendship formed at the Riverside. I just don't think he has the same ability as Barry or Pedersen. I know who I would rather have in my squad!

Being consistently picked for England can only help Barry as a player. With Saturday’s impressive game against Israel under his belt, with two assists and a good all-round performance and seemingly perfect partnership with Steven Gerrard what is to stop him getting more and more international experience?

Owen Hargreaves? He’s been touted as the saviour of English football with his holding midfield position. Frank Lampard? Everybody is well aware that Stevie G and Lamps just don't go together. David Beckham? The ageing star has stepped down to a league where the quality of football is dubious and he just can't seem to shake off his persistent knee trouble.

If you watched the Israel game you would have seem that Gerrard and Barry had a great understanding. Whenever one went forward the other sat back and covered the ball, occupying the holding slot so fiercely held by Hargreaves. Lampard has had his chance in the England fold and he is not the type of player to drop from the set-up, but good teams are all about the squad, not the team. With players like Barry and Lampard in the manager’s head, that leaves England with options. Exciting options. When Beckham plays (on the rare occasion he's fit lately) McClaren seems to shift Gerrard into the left-sided slot, but why? Gerrard is a centre midfielder and when you play him there you get the best out of him. The best of Gerrard is something that any team should fear.

Barry has come on in leaps and bounds throughout his career and now he seems to have come of age – give him that England run he deserves from his Villa performances alone. He would be a revelation at a top club and as an Aston Villa fan I would HATE to see him leave. But if Villa fail to reach the Promised Land of Europe then perhaps he should think about moving on. He has all the talent to be a success ... for both club and country.

I know people will read this and think it's just a Villa fan going over the top... but if you know the player, you KNOW he deserves his chance!

I'm going to finish on a note that will be very familiar to Villa fans who have sung it at Villa Park over the last few seasons, wondering when our main man was ever going to get his chance...

BARRY FOR ENGLAND!