Barry staying at Villa (aka Aston Villa Birmingham)

By: Chris | November 28th, 2008

Pic: NOTW

With the frustration and general annoyance of the January transfer window fast approaching, Aston Villa fans have been preparing themselves for a snooze-inducing month of speculation about Gareth Barry moving to Liverpool and slagging off Rafael Benitez. Well, at least some of it is fun.

We’ve had some news on that front today which should help stem the flow come January. And in other news, one Birmingham (the city, not the circus) official seems to be getting a little too festive a little too soon.

Barry staying until the end of the season

I still haven’t forgiven Gareth Barry for openly courting Liverpool this summer and I probably never will. If he wanted a transfer, he should have asked for one. Instead, he allowed (I believe he was complicit throughout, incidentally) Stevie “Steven Gerrard” G and the Fat Spanish Waiter to tap him up through the media, then went bleating to the News of the World about how appallingly mean Martin O’Neill is.

As you know, Villa stood their ground and refused to let Barry go for £18m, blowing Benitez’s attempt to get him on the cheap out of the water. That’s right, Gareth. He didn’t even really want you, he was just having a punt at getting an international for less than market value. That’s why you’re a prize tit for chucking all your man-eggs in his basket.

Having presumably been informed that Liverpool do not wish to pursue their interest (they’ve already unsettled the captain of a rival – one of their main aims in all this), Barry has spoken to O’Neill and, as announced today, will be staying at Aston Villa until the end of the season:

Martin O’Neill has confirmed Gareth Barry will be staying at Villa for the rest of the season. The Villa boss revealed he has held talks with the England midfielder about his short-term future. And, in a decision that should end any January transfer speculation, MON revealed Barry wants to be a Villa player until the end of the season at least.

Well, lucky us. I’m probably looking for flaws in his game since he let us down so badly, but I really think he’s not bothered anymore. His effort level has dropped and he often makes mistakes which he does little to rectify.

I said at the start of the season that I would want Gareth Barry out of Aston Villa unless he a) sacked his agent, the cretinous Alex Black, who advised him so badly that he failed to get his move and became loathed by many Villa fans, and b) signed a new long-term contract. Not so we keep him, but so we get some cash when he finally sods off.

Black has gone (I disagree with the Mail’s interpretation of Barry’s reasoning) and Barry’s form has improved in recent weeks, so I actually think clearing up the January issue today was a good move. For me, though, the only road to forgiveness is a full and sincere apology to O’Neill and, most importantly, to the fans who’ve supported him for a decade.

Birmingham Council leader breaks muppetry record

Bizarrely, Aston Villa have been approached by council leader Mark Whitby with a request to change our name.

Whitby clearly isn’t the brightest, as there are two major problems with his proposal. First, we’ve been called Aston Villa since 1874. It’s football’s most beautiful name, and carries with it an illustrious history – over 130 years of glory, turmoil, triumph and pioneering. You don’t just go round changing names like that.

Of course we can’t be called ‘Birmingham’ because of its ties with our inbred neighbours. But most insulting is Whitby’s suggestion that we should incorporate the name of the city (not circus) into our name in order to help promote the name of Birmingham internationally.

No.

This is the same Birmingham that is constantly threatening Villa about persistent standing at matches and is regularly linked with the possibility of funding a new stadium for the filth. Aston Villa owe nothing to the City of Birmingham.