The Gareth Barry saga: Why Liverpool are hostages to Martin O'Neill's indecision at Aston Villa

I cannot begin to understand how you have come to these conclusions. Do you have inside information the rest of the world has? No. Basing this entire article on the mere assumption that O'Neill did nothing to retain GB, which is a farcical theory in itself, is both low and pointless. This brings nothing to the debate whatsoever apart from huge assumption based on dregs of information slapped across redtop tabloids.

its not martin o'neill it's the fact liverpool have not come up with the goods, would they sell torres for 4 million less?? no!!

Agree Tom ..... years ago, the reason we didn't hear much about new players until they had signed or about too ... was because we didn't have these sites throwing any crap to us to force an arguement (or should I have said debate) .... We all need to stop reading the make-believe stuff and not responding, then they will change ..... Reikirebel :-)

Yeah, that too. People going on like it's an unfair estimation? My arse. It's the context thats making it look like that - did anyone complain or moan when SWP was sold for 21 million to Chelsea? No, because they agreed, paid, and that was that. As Martin O'Neill is doing what numerous other 'non top 4' clubs should have done, standing his ground and demanding the full value, he is getting stick for it. I'm not even going to start on Jaffa's valuations of Carson and Crouch in relation to this either. Pitiful.

Utter Sh1te

Once again we have an article that calls Martin O'Neill indecisive, this is not the case. Barry has a contract and the club do not want to sell, therefore Liverplop have to pay what we want or go away, the Tom Jones look alike told Villa that with regards to the Carson price. Did we kick up a fuss? No. We said thanks over priced see you. Not once did we try the underhand tactics that Liverplop have employed over this transfer. They have been quoted a price and thats it,end of like they did with Carson. Barry should have accepted that, but no his so called mate, and his agent have whispered in his ear, the end result is no transfer and a year sat in the stands loosing fitness and his England place.

Martin O'Niell has done nothing wrong other that put a price on GB's head. Either LPool pay or GB forgets about his loyalty bonus(£3,000,000 apparently) and puts in a transfer request

When will Liverpool put up or shut up? If they have not got the cash we'll take Stevie G - or will Mr Barry be lost without his "new best Friend" How come Stevie G never came into the picture as far as Barry is concerned untill Martin O'Neil got him playing good enough for England

What a ridiculous article, Barry has maintained that he wants champions league football and that the move is not about money...so what use would a new contract make? He also claims that he hasn't heard from MON for seven weeks whereas its a fact that he had a meeting with MON and Randy after the last game of the season, and met with him again after he returned from international duty where he said he wanted to move to Liverpool..What more can be done?? Should MON be ringing him every day begging him to stay? I'm sure MON won't lose too much sleep about losing your respect. Whereas Barry's lost any respect Villa fans had left for him.

Barry has stated in an exclusive interview that he has had NO contact from MON or the club since the season ended. Why would he say that if it's not true? Barry has been a loyal servant to Villa and in the circumstances i think Villa & MON have behaved in a disgraceful manner. They cancelled his testimonial and have had no contact with the player. My opinion of MON has gone down over this, he has lost the respect of a lot of people, it will be interesting if the Villa players still hold him in high respect when the season starts.

All u aston villa fans are being blind here.. why would gareth barry lie about not having contact.. mon has canceled his testimonial match .. he's making barry put in a request to make him look like a villain and also so that he doesnt get the loyalty bonus

The lowest point this whole saga reached was when Liverpool made a suggestion that MON would allow Barry to leave before Villa's season had ended. True or False this was terrible judgement and there has to be laws in place to stop it happening again. Barry's comments to the press, from his holidays in Florida, were a true testiment to his character. Why no transfer request? Martin O'Neill is holding out for the evaluation he has put on Barrys head, and by doing this he is earning more respect from the Villa fans and more respect from all the fans of all the teams who are desperatly trying to break into the top four, he has respect for himself and the clubs reputation is stronger for it. Prashant s, your opinions are worthless

lol i dont get how fickle u villa fans are.. ure ready to blame everything on barry whos played for the last 10 years and give so much credit to MOn whos been at the club barely 2 years... acting so greedy .. and if by doing this he is apparently gaining respect outside the big 4 then i think that the other teams really should take a hard look at themselves

What I would love to see is for Liverpool to walk away and leave Villa in the position O'Neil has made for himself. In case Villa fans haven't noticed, most Liverpool fans could not care less about getting GB. He might be the best player and captain of Villa but he would be the sixth or seventh most important player at Liverpool. Initial valuations of GB were between 10-12 million and that is only because he's coming off two good season, so in my estimations are on the high end. He's not too far of 30 and has just now broken into the national side. I'm not saying he wouldn't fit in at liverpool (I think he well might), but there are about 20 other players around the world that could do what he does for half the price. What I would for Liverpool to say "sod it" and for Barry to "rot in the stands" until next summer when he could take advantage of Fifa's article 17 and buy himself out of his contract for 3 million pounds. That would roundly show Villa fans and staff what they are, a mid-table team that can't hold onto their captain (despite the Uefa cup spot they earned this year...congratulations by the way).

Scouse logic beggars belief. Another club says pay us what we think our player is worth and they are wrong to do so because the player has played for that club for 10 years....so what?????? because Liverplop are the bidding club, thats why.

Okay I am getting a bit sick and tired of people having a pop at MON, Gareth Barry or Liverpool for that matter. The situation is VERY clear. GB told MON twice that he wants to leave to play CL with L'pool. If thats his desire why would MON waste his time by trying to convince GB to stay when he wants the one thing we can't offer him? GB has spoken out for one reason and one reason only - to annoy MON to the point we accept L'pools undervalued bid. Now MON looks as though he won't budge. Liverpool don't value GB at 18mill and GB clearly does not want to play for Villa again. Its what we call a Catch 22! No one is really at fault here... apart from the two American Clowns running Liverpool who have ripped the heart out of the clubs finances, leaving Rafa to sell off half his squad to finance moves for Keane and Barry. I can understand why GB wants to leave, he has been a great player for us, so he goes with my blessing. But listen, he is worth every penny of the 18million I have watched him for ten years and can count his bad games on one hand. If Liverpool can't afford him thats not MON's fault not the Villas fault. I want an I-Phone, can't afford it, so shall I just stand outside O2 stamping my feet until they give me one? Jamie

What utter rubbish this STORY is! Shamin, why would Barry make this up? To force a move without giving up his loyalty bonus of 3 mill perhaps?! As for testimonial, are you making a serious point? First off he's leaving the club, and secondly he earns 45k a week! He hardly needs the money for his retirement fund! As far as I'm aware he wasn't planning on giving the money to charity. Fair play to MON I say, showing the big four he won't role over. Take note when you come trying to cherry pick Young etc. Cloughy would be proud of you MON

What is Shamim talking about - if Barry wants to go - why has he not handed a transfer request in? As for canceling the testimonial, who would go to it? After the way Barry has acted no Villa fan would. you have a testimial for loyalty. Maybee Barry should pay the difference in the transfer fee, if he wants to go there so badly

What an ill thought out article! The only indecision here appears to be from Benitez who cannot decide whether or not to pay the asking price ( or perhaps more accurately whether or not he can afford it?). Do Liverpool really want Barry or not? If they do they pay up somewhere near the asking price and business can be done. MON has been very decisive over this issue, stating clearlt that Barry can go....but only if Liverpool meet Villa's valuation....how can that be described as indesicive? On the other hand Benitez has proved that he just can't make up his mind what Barry is worth to Liverpool....put up or shut up!

lol i dont get how fickle u villa fans are.. ure ready to blame everything on barry whos played for the last 10 years and give so much credit to MOn whos been at the club barely 2 years... acting so greedy .. and if by doing this he is apparently gaining respect outside the big 4 then i think that the other teams really should take a hard look at themselves

I would let barry go, but i think Liverpool are struggling to get the money, if they dont wanna pay 18 million then we will keep him, simple as that. we never paid much for him and hes been good for the club, but why should we sell him? unless we get the 18 million? were not a feeder club for Liverpool, maybe in the past a lot of clubs have fed liverpool players, but you watch this season they will struggle to make 4th let alone win the league. I think if Liverpool dont wanna pay the 18 million then we should keep him and leave him on the bench for 2 years, playing bit part games.

It worries me that as the author of this article, you do not command any knowledge of the English language. The Definition of Indecision: The inability to decide on a course of action, especially if two or more possibilities exist. MON has made his decision; Barry will not be sold until they meet his valuation and if and when they do Barry can go. I can't make up my mind if I could ever again take this site seriously, now thats indecision for you.

MON is spot on to hold on to his best players, just because liverpool come knockin. Big clubs and greedy players have to much power nowadays. im not a villa fan but i agree completely with what they are doing. they have every right to try and get as much as possible for barry. if liverpool dont have the money, then barry doesnt go. simple. its a contract!