To Antony Clough, Mon is a better manager than Rafa will ever be.

To Mark B, Villa are just like Liverpool then.

To Dangoddard, spending money on players isnt everything, Manc spent a fortune last season and where did it get them. 18m on Jo, he needs good players around him .

Gers fan you are a prat, if you took the the time to watch Barry play then you might appreciate how good a player he is. He always puts in 100%

Gareth barry is a leader for Villa. That is what makes him great to watch and support. The strength of a team is based on a strong backbone of players and a team full of experience. Gareth Barry's style of play supports this.
In two seasons under Martin o'Neill, Aston Villa have gone from 16th to 6th. Few teams can argue the incredible transformation that has undergone around villa park. And out of all the players who helped push Villa back up the table, it was Barry.
He might not be as classy as Ronaldo or Gerrard or fabregas. He's a player who does exactly what it says on the tin. He leads by example and plays the game with a great deal of effort and brings the best out of the players around him.
When Alf Ramay won the world cup for England, he didn't pick all the skillful players, or all the individually gifted players. He picked players who he knew would work well in a team. That is barry in a nutshell.
Lampard and Gerrard won't work together because they both have high egos, high standards; they are opposite poles; one plays in red, the other plays in blue. Barry is a team player and I would pay a lot of money to have a player to provides this.

can anyone tell benites we do not like to be second best.i am sorry but barry is not good enough for the LIVERPOOL team, he is average.we need somebody with a bit of flair like Silva

Seems to me the only problem is that Liverpool don't rate Barry highly enough to pay the rate for him. Guess that doesn't say much for Barry. Liverpool would do much better to hang on to Alonso.

what's with this 'english players are trash' talk? ridiculous! the price tag might be inflated (see: gareth barry), but manchester united field rooney, carrick, brown, scholes, hargreaves, ferdinand & a pretty decent welshman in ryan giggs, and last time i checked, they were doing okay for themselves. even if chelski is committed to buying half of the available players on all continents, john terry is probably their most important player, and when they won two league titles, no one scored more important goals than the cherub formally known as frank lampard. any doubt steven gerrard was the best player on the liverpool side that won the european championship? arsenal does play a nice style, but maybe they wouldn't have taken such a nose dive at the end of the season if they had a little english "character" (or at least patrick viera's french equivalent). english players are among the best in the world, perhaps not on par with brasil, but that's not exactly a crime.

England are rubbish. No technique, no cunning, lack of true ability, no heart, no do or die for country, but most of all no idea!!! If Steven (I score 1 amazing goal every 5 games, but cannot pass it 5 yards) G is your best???? Then I fear more heartbreak!

why waste 18mill on barry when you could get young talent likr Bojan from barca for less

Don't know what all the fuss is about, Gareth Barry's not even a good player, Liverpool will be lucky to finish in the top 4 if they keep on buyin average players like this! He might be an England international but these days that doesn't count for much! And Aston Villa are just as bad, £18m fo him, that's a joke! Why is it only English players that command such high fees when there's better players around that would cost half the amount, maybe even less!

villa would like 15 mlillon bt for a 27 year old would be a wsate of money

Deano could you just explain what tapping up is please?

Gareth, You have been a good a loyal servant to the Villa, but,, my o my,, you have a short memory,, just two short season ago you were just a good player under Mr O'dreary,,, then enter MON,,,, he and his staff have turned you into an England International and an integral part of our midfield,,, It would seem loyalty counts for nothing again,,,, go if you must,, as I can't blame anyone for wanting to improve themselves,,,, Hmmm,,, but don't start crying when we take fourth spot next season,,, because we are on the move my son, with or without you,, av4eva

Villa and Everton love getting beat by Man Utd!!!

WHAT'S WITH PEOPLE WRITING REALLY LONG COMMENTS AND NOT USING ANY PUNCTUATION AND WRITING IT ALL IN CAPITALS IT'S REALLY ANNOYING AND I DON'T EVEN CARE IF YOU'RE SLAGGING EACH OTHER OFF HAVE SOME DECENCY OR AT LEAST A HALF DECENT GRIP ON THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE.

cheers =]

He he this is a really funny post. Not much reality in many of them though. Hey Mr Alcott yours is by far the funniest though well done. The last bit I mean about you being a Villa fan for 20 years!

this is football fellas (and ladies...)

more tapping up from a club which aparently prides itself on dignity,what a joke.

Another overrated English Player!!! He is not as good as he thinks and should stop making empty noise!!!!!!