Champions League - Barry: CL would have kept me

Eurosport - Thu, 11 Jun 18:27:00 2009

England midfielder Gareth Barry said he would not have left Aston Villa to join Manchester City had Martin O'Neill's side secured Champions League qualification.

FOOTBALL 2008-2009 Premier League Aston Villa Gareth Barry - 0

Villa faded in the latter part of the season to finish sixth having been fourth in mid-March. Barry, 28, joined Premier League rivals City for £12 million earlier this month after playing over 400 games for Villa.

"If Villa had finished fourth I would have stayed. I would have enjoyed playing Champions League football at Villa Park. It would have been wrong for me to have left had this been achieved," Barry said.

"But once it was looking like Villa weren't going to make it then my future became unclear.

"The whole point of me coming here was to have a change, something that excites me.

"Playing in the Champions League with Manchester City is viable. The manager has convinced me we can reach these heights."

Barry also sought assurances from City's billionaire owners that coach Mark Hughes would remain in charge before putting pen to paper.

"I have to look at the fact that I've joined a club that is not competing in European football," he added.

"People will question this decision but I'm confident that in a couple of years time people will realise I made the right decision.

"We all know about the ambition of this club and it excites me. They want to sign top international players and it just felt like the right thing to do to come here.

"The first question I wanted to know about was the future of the manager. "I've seen it before. Players join clubs then two months later the manager is gone and their future is uncertain.

"That was the last thing I wanted to happen here."

Reuters

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  1. lier,lier and thrice lier,if man city had told barry he­ would be paid 80grand a week,and not 120grand,he would­ not have gone,why would you move to a team 6 places­ below your team if not for the money,just admit your a­ greedy get.

    From KENNETH, on Thu 18 Jun 2:32PM

  2. Barry never said he was going to City for CL football,­ he said he would have stayed at Villa Park if we had­ have reached the CL, at this stage of his carreer he­ does need something new and that would have been just­ that, but now its gone his only option of something new­ was to seek another club.

    From ashleykeithhall, on Wed 17 Jun 10:34PM

  3. Barry plays for Man City now but almost every Aston­­ Villa news story on here has his name in the title.­­

    Hey Yahoo... stop displaying news about other teams­­ on our page. Who are Aston Villa trying to sign in the­­ transfer window??? I think I speak for most people­ when­ I say this is why we are reading Aston Villa news­ in­ the first place. Please update with some Aston­ Villa­ news!

    From eamon c, on Mon 15 Jun 5:41PM

  4. WHY IS IT AS SOON AS A PLAYER LEAVES FOR A NEW CLUB ALL­ THE HECKLERS AND KNIVES COME OUT OK SO GARETH BARRY­ LEFT VILLA TO JOIN US WELL IF MR O'NEIL WANTED TO­ KEEP HIM MAYBE HE SHOULD HAVE MADE HIM A FEW PROMISES­ OF POSSIBLE TRANSFER TARGETS AND OFFERED HIM A GOOD­ WAGE. THE SAME IS GOING TO HAPPEN WHEN ALL THE TOP­ NAMES START TO LEAVE OUR TOP CLUBS TO MOVE TO MADRID OR­ BARCA OR ONE OF THE MILAN TEAMS. SO PUT THE KNIVES AWAY­ AND SHUT UP AND SIT BACK AND WAIT FOR THE NEW SEASON­ AND IF VILLA FINISH ABOVE CITY THEN YES YOU WILL ALL­ HAVE A VALID POINT BUT IF THEY DONT THEN GARETH BARRY­ WILL HAVE MADE THE RIGHT DECISSION

    From BOB, on Sun 14 Jun 7:45PM

  5. BARRY UR A GRADE A WANKA!!!!

    From jon, on Sun 14 Jun 11:04AM

  6. barry the lier man city havent been in the cl this­ season either he only went there for the salery.

    From BETHANY, on Sun 14 Jun 8:07AM

  7. Hey 'Sick of it all' or should that be­ 'Thickest of all', what Man City are doing­ should not concern you in the slightest. Just keep­ taking the tablets and concentrate on this mythical­ team of yours who won everything with 10 English­ players.

    From michael.hardy11, on Sat 13 Jun 11:03AM

  8. this is an excellent move for barry in everyway he gets­ more dough an he is with a club than can break into big­ 4 if u cant see that your an idiot, in 10 years you­ will look back and see this is an excellent move

    From Jimmyrice man u are champs again, on Fri 12 Jun 11:44PM

  9. Getting bored of this now. Barry went for money,­ nothing else. Liam Ridgewell will get less flack that­ Gareth Barry at Villa Park next season. Swine Flu will­ me more welcome than Gareth Barry. Go & rot!
    UP­ THE VILLA!!!!!!

    From Ryan, on Fri 12 Jun 7:08PM

  10. Hey Sick of it all,

    United first won the Prem in the­ 1992-3 season. Did you forget Cantona, Kanchelskis and­ Schmeichel? Did they come from the UTD Academy?
    You­ whined about Blackburn buying the title when you lost,­ you whined about Chelsea doing the same. If you think a­ team can reach the top these days with average players­ playing well you are wrong. Let us see if you retain­ the title now that you have lost some "money"­ players.

    From Ezz, on Fri 12 Jun 1:03PM

  11. United won the league and THEN decided to buy some­ decent foreign players. your talking out of your arse­ you numpty. There isn't a reader on here that­ spouts such unsupported drivel. United have been in the­ top3 Delliote money list for aboput the last 21­ years...which "title" were you on­ about?
    Spend, spend, spend and haven't won anything­ yet. Thats because City's new owners only took over­ on the last day of the August window and have since­ then only had 1 Jan window to play with. Not even­ baconface could win the league with that amount of­ prep.
    Neither Villa or Everton have more homegrown­ talent than they have bought. City currently have more­ academy players in thier squad than ANY other premier­ club.
    Even Dickson Etuhu is an Ex-City academy player.

    From Andy, on Fri 12 Jun 1:00PM

  12. United won the League FIRST, then used the winnings to­ generate and purchase better foreigners and locals.­

    Here, City hasn't even won a single silverware­ YET. Yet they spent the most on foreigners, and still­ ended up 10th??? How does that compare to United. So­ when u win the league FIRST, and then subsequently go­ onto become better teams, then and only then is City a­ true footballing team, not one that buys it's­ success. Something City can never replicate in­ Manchester, or England as comapered to the other­ teams.

    So far, only Everton, Villa have managed and­ deservedly so, mantained a European league spot by­ finishing better than other teams with more homegrown­ talents than BUYING them. Chelsea, Arsenal buys their­ success with foreign talents and cash - thats proven­ with their purchases and winning the league. What about­ City, buying, buying, and still cannot even lift the­ League or FA cup for that matter??? Not even n the­ Europa next season and you want to compare yourself as­ a top team looking to break the top 4?

    Only on the­ account you buy a CL spot is the only reason how u can­ get there. Not through hard work or talent from your­ club players or management team.Oh by the way, the team­ I support, has on a onsistent basis have at least 10­ English players in the team on match day. And we still­ qualify for Europa. Can your team do the same?

    From Sick of it all, on Fri 12 Jun 11:12AM

  13. Firstly City didnt just buy "Johnny­ Foreigner" we bought Bellamy and Bridge as­ well.
    The first time in football history that City­ spent more than the current Top4 clubs, the fact that­ United, Chelsea, Liverpool and occasionally Arsenal­ regularly outspend every other team in Europe is­ quickly forgotten when the normal business of buying­ who you want is disturbed. (no Barry for Liverpool then­ this season...and Gerrard was so looking forward to­ it).
    "Try winning the CL with 11 homegrown­ players" Why? has a team ever done it? IF City­ were to lift the CL then there would be mmore­ "homegrown" players in the squad than ANY of­ the last 25 winners. Ononuha, SWP, Ireland, Sturridge,­ Richards, Etuhu, Evans. How many Academy players does­ your squad have?
    City don't need to "show they­ are not buying success" because thats exactly what­ winning at football is all about these days. If you­ think money plays no part in keeping the Top4 in­ Europe, you are wildly deluded. Money buys silverware.­ It is a reality that United fans seem to forget.

    From Andy, on Fri 12 Jun 10:31AM

  14. If the Champions League is what he wants, why­ didn't he goto a team that offer him that?­ Liverpool will likely still have been interested in­ Barry and Arsenal are also in dire need for a solid­ midfielder. City can never offer any player anything­ other than cash. To get to the coveted top four place,­ they will also need more than a Gareth barry. For­ starters how about some pride. Other than Stephen­ Ireland, I haven't seen a City player play with­ passion every game. Robinho's a big time charlie­ who can't hack the english game, mind you he seems­ to enjoy the english lasses and the nights out though.­

    If Barry truly meant to make a move based on his­ ambition, City was defintely not the defintive answer.

    From Dicehk, on Fri 12 Jun 6:07AM

  15. well...you know...simply as...money money money...sing­ like apperantice...donald­ trump...hehehehehehe...u'll never walk alone.....

    From planosamsung, on Fri 12 Jun 5:19AM

  16. well...you know...simply as...money money money...sing­ like apperantice...donald­ trump...hehehehehehe...u'll never walk alone.....

    From planosamsung, on Fri 12 Jun 5:10AM

  17. Once again, Man C??? Whos tat??? Oh, wait, the­ world'd richest club, who spent the most on­ transfers last season, bought an entire team of­ foreigners and still ended up in 10th AND without any­ major silverware....

    Must be drinking too much­ camel's milk u have... Man C lift the CL, yeah­ sure, either with buying talents or lifting a­ replica... try winning the CL cup with 11 home grown­ players through your youth system and prove to the rest­ of the world Man C dun buy success... Go on, u souless,­ immoral, unethical scumbags...

    From Sick of it all, on Fri 12 Jun 2:02AM

  18. We ain't bothered Gary Bareth, go away.....

    From nick.salter2, on Thu 11 Jun 10:08PM

  19. Sorry, I don't buy it. Barry is 28 and in a few­ years time will be in his twilight years and if Man C­ get to the Champions League, he will be cast aside due­ to his age. If he's that good, he would be playing­ for Liverpool or Arsenal. Furthermore, Mark Hughes will­ not be around by the end of next season if he­ doesn't produces the goods i.e top 5 place in the­ Premiership and a winner medal ina cup competition.­ Hughes is a good manager but he has yet to prove­ himself regretfully.

    From amidgley66, on Thu 11 Jun 9:38PM

  20. why? is manchester city going to buy its champions­ league spot or something? stop lying you piece of @#$%.­ we all know you are no better than any other footballer­ that england is producing these days. you are all a­ bunch of overrated media spoiled disloyal money­ hunters. how pathetic. I wonder if there is one english­ player out there who plays for love of the game. Me­ thinks there are none and that's why we are only­ good in our own eyes, but to teh world we are a­ mediocre footballning nation who only has credit for­ inventing the game.

    From go, on Thu 11 Jun 8:43PM
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