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Barry honest over Villa exit

Thu 11 Jun, 02:11 PM


Gareth Barry has admitted he would never have left Aston Villa if they had qualified for next season's Champions League.

Up until the final six weeks of the campaign, Villa looked good bets for a top-four slot, only to fade dramatically as Arsenal reclaimed a qualifying-round place.

The true extent of the damage inflicted on the midlands giants is only now becoming apparent, with Barry confirming his £12million move to Manchester City would not have gone through if Villa had been able to offer the incentive of a position at Europe's top table as well as a massive new contract.

"I was very honest about the Champions League and if Villa had qualified I would have been honourable enough to keep my word and stay," said the England midfielder. "It would have been wrong to leave if that had been achieved but it was something that did not happen."

Barry has been the victim of some intense criticism from the Villa Park faithful for his decision to leave. Taunts of 'Judas' have been made, as well as accusations of disloyalty, which seems a bit harsh considering Barry gave the club 12 years of loyal service.

He even wrote an 800-word letter to the local paper expressing his reasons for quitting the club. However, he does not view that as an apology for a decision he believes will ultimately benefit his career. "I am not apologising, I just felt it was right to give my reasons," said Barry. "I have been at Villa for 12 seasons and always had a good rapport with the fans. To leave after so long was a big thing."

 

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  1. I can't understand why he left for Man City -­ they'll have less chances to qualify for the­ Champions League than Villa will have. Further, why not­ join Liverpool? And how can Villa have asked 18 million­ and now give him away with 30% discount? What is that?

    From gordon.merk, on Wed 17 Jun 6:41PM

  2. 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 5:42PM

  3. At least Kia makes reliable cars as opposed to the Land­ Rover Cr@p

    From dannfamily, on Sat 13 Jun 5:49AM

  4. Well said Steve comment no.11. Villa fans feel­ betrayed. A note on Villa website from Barry said how­ gutted he was how we had let our form slide & that­ we would be back next season a stronger force. Why say­ that if you intend leaving. Also in his­ 'letter' to fans he states that Mark Hughes has­ ambition for Man City. Gareth does this mean that­ Martin O'neill doesn't for Villa?? Wish him the­ bet for his England career but hope he fails at Man­ City. This reeks of what happened to Kevin Nolan when­ he moved to Newcastle - Championship, not Champions­ League. Up the Villa!

    From Ryan, on Thu 11 Jun 8:28PM

  5. I for one echo the sentiments of robertsharvey1.Come on­ guys give barry a break i luv the villa and all who­ play for them,for me barry in this day and age is a­ rarity.You talk of loyalty 12 yrs you can't get­ much more loyal.I dont care if he went for money or­ ambition he will be missed and hard to replace but good­ luck to him.£12million for a player who cost peanuts is­ good business.Lets just hope we get some decent players­ in and move on.p.s micheal owen come on you gotta be­ takin the micheal.In his day fantastic but­ unfortunately injuries have taken there toll and he­ simply isn't the player he was by a long­ stretch.VILLA FOREVER

    From Martywat, on Thu 11 Jun 8:09PM

  6. Leigh, its not the fact he's left its the way he­ left.

    To carry on with your analogy, its say he was­ the design director at Land Rover and assurred his­ workers and fans (ok, that doesn't really work in­ this context, but bear with me!) that he wasn't­ going to leave unless it was for a step up in his­ career. He says he wants to join Bentley. His friend in­ the Bentley design team says that he wants him there­ too, but Land Rover and Bentley couldn't work out a­ compensation deal.

    Then 12 months on he goes and joins­ Kia.

    Kia would not be a step up, so what he said about­ wanting to only leave to move up was rubbish.

    Its that­ beytral that really gets up some Villa fans, the fact­ he said he only wanted to leave to go to a better club­ and then leaves for a worse club.

    There is no argument­ at the moment that Villa are a better club than Man­ City. Higher finish in the league and a place in­ Europe.

    From Steve, on Thu 11 Jun 8:03PM

  7. Barry leaving could be a good thing for villa. Now we­ can be a more rounded TEAM, not a team that revolves­ around one player. MON knows what he is doing, lets put­ our trust in him... Something good is going to happen­ to Villa next season. UTV

    From Sick of it all, on Thu 11 Jun 5:28PM

  8. Leave the poor guy alone, he's done us proud!! IF­ you worked at LDV and wished to further and better your­ career at Land Rover, would you be called judas!!! I­ think not!!! Best Luck for the future for him and the­ Villa

    From Leigh, on Thu 11 Jun 5:25PM

  9. Barry has made his bed & he has to lie in it.­ Don't care if it works out for him or not. Care­ about Villa & Villa players only. Please stop­ putting details of ex-players on Villa's part of­ this forum. Up The Villa. PS, We should have signed­ Ronaldo!! Ha ha!

    From Ryan, on Thu 11 Jun 4:25PM

  10. To all true Villa fans, Gareth Barry gave us twelve­ good years service, if he thinks that by going to­ Manchester city is the right move for him then let us­ all give him the the respect he deserves, if he thinks­ they have the money to help him with his achievements­ which is one of the reasons why he came to Villa in the­ first place then I hope it all works out for him, I for­ one hope he achieves his desires at his new club. ­ Villa can now concentrate on buying a few good squad­ players so we can improve on last seasons league­ position and hopefully bring in success to all at the­ club and all true Villans. from a Villa supporter for­ 55years through thick and thin, the good and the really­ bad. claret and blue through and through.

    From ROBERT, on Thu 11 Jun 3:51PM

  11. will owen sign for us,cause i can't see him playing­ for newcastle now.And how much will he want.

    From clive, on Thu 11 Jun 3:47PM

  12. will owen joint us,cause i can't see him playing­ for newcastle anymore.

    From clive, on Thu 11 Jun 3:41PM

  13. no honour.....loadsa money!!!

    From philliptaylor1, on Thu 11 Jun 2:54PM

  14. now can we buy some decent ;players and not trash like­ heskey

    From rahul s, on Thu 11 Jun 2:51PM

  15. It was time to move on anyway. I have no doubts Villa­ will be stronger next season.

    From tuscanvillan, on Thu 11 Jun 2:50PM

  16. @#$%. If European football was that important he would­ have stayed at Villa. He left Villa for the pay cheque,­ clear and simple.

    From Steve, on Thu 11 Jun 2:38PM
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