Liverpool and Villa finally agree £19m deal for Gareth Barry

[Tes]

From the Express and Star, a Birmingham local paper:

http://www.expressandstar.com/2008/07/31/villa-we-are-not-selling-barry/


"A new £70,000-a-week four-year contract will be put before Barry, which includes a testimonial and get-out clause should Villa fail to match his ambitions.

The olive branch is likely to be extended to the 27-year-old being reinstated as skipper. Nonetheless, some reports continue to suggest he remains unhappy and will consider handing in a transfer request."

So why not let him go now instead of waiting until he's even older when clubs may be less interested and he'll be denied the chance of Champions League football?

[the dude abides]

Villa picked off West Ham's captain Reo Coker, Watford's best player Ashley Young and WBA's big talent Curtis Davies, all on O'Neill's watch and none of those clubs kicked off.

yes, another good example re Rushie.

aye, MON kicks off when it suits him.

If I were Barry, I'd warn Villa that my head is all over the place and that I will be in no fit state to play top level football, if I am made to stay at Villa Park.

And I'd be true to my word.  I wouldn't put much effort into my performances.

Villa and MON are throwing the baby out with the bath water on this issue.  They badly need to bring players in, and getting the Barry issue sorted should be top of their immediate priorities.  They should be looking to take the money and get on with their lives.  You have to be pragmatic about the whole thing.  What they are doing, is doing themselves no favors.

[SuperSkrtel]

Regardless what happens now its gonna add some real spice to the games against Villa this season.

It's a shame it had to go this far cos traditionally we have had a good buisness relationship with Villa with quite a few of our ex players goin down there like Baros, Saunders, Staunton and Collymore also i had alot of respect for MON before this saga but not anymore.

[Tes]

Regardless what happens now its gonna add some real spice to the games against Villa this season.

It's a shame it had to go this far cos traditionally we have had a good buisness relationship with Villa with quite a few of our ex players goin down there like Baros, Saunders, Staunton and Collymore also i had alot of respect for MON before this saga but not anymore.

Add James and Houghton to that list also. It does seem a shame everything between the two clubs has become so acrimonious.

More on Barry:

http://www.expressandstar.com/2008/08/01/barry-remains-keen-on-liverpool/

If he becomes cup-tied until the knockout stages then surely we need to either refuse to meet Villa's valuation and leave the last bid on the table or officially pull out altogether and maybe re-visit it in January once the group stages are over. Even though he's being looked at primarily with the league challenge in mind IMHO, surely his value drops if he's not eligible to play in all competitions for us. I wonder if Barry will force the issue more by refusing to play a week on Thursday or will it all be sorted by then?

[the dude abides]

I reckon it will be all sorted before then.

For all we know, the events of the last few days may have merely been MON forcing the issue to come to a head. 

Once Barry joins us, MON may well come out and admit as much......and revel that he eventually got what he had demanded all along (18 million). 

[Tes]

MON may well come out ......and revel that he eventually got what he had demanded all along (18 million). 

I reckon that would be the ultimate in classlessness (if there is such a word, if not there is now) and O'Neill has shown he could co-author a book with Kenyan on that subject.

[PhilLFC]

Add James and Houghton to that list also. It does seem a shame everything between the two clubs has become so acrimonious.

More on Barry:

http://www.expressandstar.com/2008/08/01/barry-remains-keen-on-liverpool/

If he becomes cup-tied until the knockout stages then surely we need to either refuse to meet Villa's valuation and leave the last bid on the table or officially pull out altogether and maybe re-visit it in January once the group stages are over. Even though he's being looked at primarily with the league challenge in mind IMHO, surely his value drops if he's not eligible to play in all competitions for us. I wonder if Barry will force the issue more by refusing to play a week on Thursday or will it all be sorted by then?

as far as i know whether Barry plays in the UEFA Cup in will not stop him from playing in the CL, if he had played in the CL for another team then he would not be able to play

[Tes]

as far as i know whether Barry plays in the UEFA Cup in will not stop him from playing in the CL, if he had played in the CL for another team then he would not be able to play

Phil, that's what my understanding was also, with it being a different competition there was no problem, but the article seems to suggest otherwise.

Methinks further investigation is needed.

[Tes]

From UEFA's competition regulations:

Champions League:

17.07 

Excluding the three rounds of the UEFA Intertoto Cup and the UEFA Super Cup, and subject to paragraph 17.18 below, a player may not play UEFA club competition matches for more than one competing club in the course of the same season. A substitute player who is not fielded is entitled to play for another club competing in the same season's UEFA's club competitions, provided he is registered with the UEFA administration in accordance with the present Regulations.


17.18

One player from the above quota of three who has played UEFA club competition matches for another competing club in the current season may exceptionally be registered, provided that the player has not been fielded:
-in the same competition for another club
-for another club that is in the same competition.

Furthermore, if the player's new club is playing in the UEFA Cup, his former club must not have played in the UEFA Cup at any point in the current season.


The UEFA Cup eligibility rules are exactly the same.

http://www.uefa.com/multimediafiles/download/regulations/uefa/others/70/22/60/702260_download.pdf

http://www.uefa.com/multimediafiles/download/regulations/uefa/others/70/22/70/702270_download.pdf


 

[the dude abides]

I reckon that would be the ultimate in classlessness (if there is such a word, if not there is now) and O'Neill has shown he could co-author a book with Kenyan on that subject.

yes, I think MON has gone away down in many folks estimations this summer.

I can't seriously believe that he (and he is an intelligent man) seriously believed that his independent declaration that the deadline was now over and that the whole matter was now resolved, with the player staying at Villa.  Did he genuinely think that that was the end of it - and that everyone would live happily ever after.

I can't believe it.  I think he was merely fed up and wanting to finally force the issue (to be controlling the issue, as opposed to allowing us to drive it).  I also suspect that MON has allowed the whole issue to get under his skin.  He's not acting rationally.  He seems to be almost enjoying the flamefest. It sorta reminds me of a usenet/forum row - where someone is wanting to antagonize and create waves.   

[Tes]

When the original report came out before the Wigan game all he had to do was ignore it, or if asked, simply say "we've received no offer from Liverpool", which technically would have been the truth. No comment and all it is is purely newspaper speculation.

[the dude abides]

From the Mirror

O'Neill power play won't work. . but he is right to lay down law over Barry

When Martin O'Neill left school he studied law at Queen's University in Belfast.

As a player under Brian Clough he majored in grinding more skilful opponents into irrelevance. As Leicester's manager he negotiated an eight-week summer window which allowed him to talk to other clubs, meaning the final game of every season saw teary-eyed fans sporting "Please Stay Martin" placards.

And when the Soho suits interviewed him for the England job he refused to lick dead slugs off their Hush Puppies, so they gave the job to someone who would, Steve McClaren.

O'Neill has always marched to the beat of his own drum. At times he comes across as eccentric (remember him using screenwriter William Goldman's quote "nobody knows anything" during the 2006 World Cup as fellow BBC pundits spouted drivel?) And many think it's his eccentricity which has forced the Gareth Barry transfer saga to fatigue us to the brink of suicide.

In the modern era, cynics say, you can't hold a player when his heart is set on a move to a bigger club.

And they are probably right. Which O'Neill knows.

But out of pride and obstinacy, the wannabe lawyer has decided to filibuster. To take a stand. To invent a new strategy to fend off predators hovering over your star player. It goes like this: Publicly denigrate the reputation of the bigger club who are after your man, go on holiday (or on the telly) and ignore the player's pleas to be set free, demand an over-the-top transfer fee, stick rigidly to it, and set a deadline a month before the end of the transfer window.

When the pursuers finally come up with the cash, change the rules at the last minute about how you want it paid so they miss that deadline, announce you're delighted the player is staying then pray you have so drained the life out of all parties that the deal is dead. It's called Boring A Transfer To Death.

It may have Barry and Rafa Benitez tearing their hair out and it may backfire badly on O'Neill, but by refusing to yield to player power and Big Four power, he has done the game a favour.

He knows he's lost Barry and probably lost him this summer. But he's throwing down the gauntlet to clubs who think that next time they'll lure away Ashley Young or Gabriel Agbonlahor. Take me on and I'll fight you all the way, screw up your summer and hopefully grind you into submission. Many Villa fans say he should accept the situation, take the money and get a few new faces in.

But they overlook the point he's making about the size of their club. He's saying he's not at Leicester now. He doesn't need to sell to buy, and doesn't feel it's his duty to allow a player to move to a big club because they are already at one.

Those Liverpool fans who think he's acting like a mad bag lady should ask themselves this: How would you have felt if Chelsea had followed up their interest in Fernando Torres and bid £50million, with the Spaniard (and the American board) being tempted?

Would you have wanted Benitez to roll over and wave him goodbye? Or say OK, it's £70m, paid up front in cash, plus Shaun Wright-Phillips. Nothing less.

Then brazened it out in the hope that Chelsea grew weary and looked somewhere else. I think we know the answer.

Boring A Transfer To Death. Like garlic bread, it's the future.

He's probably lost Barry, but O'Neill is throwing down the gauntlet to clubs who think they'll get Young or Agbonlahor.

[the dude abides]

from the Mirror

Benitez and O'Neill come face-to-face over Gareth Barry
By David Maddock

Rafa Benitez and Martin O'Neill came face to face last night - but still couldn't settle the cold war over Gareth Barry.

The Liverpool manager and his Aston Villa counterpart - who have been squabbling over the England midfielder - gave each other a distinctly frosty reception.

The pair were forced to wait in the same room at a work permit tribunal in Sheffield as both clubs applied for visas for their players. Nothing more than grim acknowledgments were offered as the stand-off over Barry grew ever more acrimonious.

Benitez was there to talk in support of an application from his young Argentine winger Sebastian Leto, and was left fuming not only by the presence of O'Neill but also the Department of Works' refusal to grant the permit.

The two Premier League coaches refused to speak to each other, instead preferring to wait until the drama is eventually settled, suggesting that it could be some days before Barry's future is ultimately decided.

Liverpool thought they had finally signed the Villa skipper on Wednesday, when they had an £18million offer accepted, but failure to swiftly agree payment terms led the Midlands club to pull the plug on the deal.

That has left Barry fuming, and in a meeting with O'Neill he accused the club of betraying him. He also suggested that his current mental state will make it difficult for him to train and play for the club.

O'Neill believes Benitez has acted improperly throughout the saga, and that has led to Villa's unyielding stance.

Benitez has revealed privately that there is no love lost with his counterpart, and that is why there was such a frosty exchange between the pair.

Villa will have to back down from their insistence on Wednesday that a deadline has passed and the player will now stay at the club, if Barry is to be put out of his misery.

The player himself is praying that O'Neill and Villa owner Randy Lerner will see sense and allow the deal they have already agreed to proceed.

That is unlikely to happen until next week at the earliest, with Liverpool ready to approach their rivals once more to resurrect the deal.

Barry will have looked on enviously yesterday as the draw was made for the Champions' League qualifier, with Liverpool offered the relatively easy task of a tie with Belgian champions Standard Liege.

Even if the midfielder is allowed to move to Anfield, he will not now be signed in time to play in the qualifying tie, and must instead hope that his intended new club reach the group stages.

Benitez said: "I'm pleased we don't have to go too far, especially when you look at some of the teams we could have drawn."

[wittsy]

I see MON was on Sky Sports News saying that after talking to Barry and his agent the transfer was back in Liverpools hands and there was now no time limit. He sounded like he had had his arse kicked by someone over this issue. I wonder if Lerner told him to get this deal sorted.

Jas

[Edward]

"Fine no deadline, Liverpool can take all the time they need."
The MON emotional rollercoaster ride is taking another twist. Now he
sounds resigned and wounded. What next?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/football/7539228.stm