Gareth Barry - a Villan not a Villain

I read this article by Jose Moran from Fox Sports.com and I disagree with a lot of it. Its very easy these days to criticise Gareth Barry, but to say that he betrayed Aston Villa is taking it a bit far. You have to try and look at the situation from his perspective for a minute. Gareth Barry has given his all to that club for many years and they continue to be a team that will finish in the top half of the table, with a slim hope of challenging for a place in Europe. He has been through many different coaches as Jose explains, and has achieved some success under Martin O'Neill, but how do we know what their relationship is like? David Beckham and many others achieved a great deal with Alex Ferguson, but they still had major problems with in their relationships.

Gareth sees an opportunity to join Liverpool, a team that has an outside shot of contending for the league, but a real shot at contending in the Champions League, things he's never had a shot at throughout his entire time at Villa. Why wouldn't he go for the move to Liverpool? Especially since he is in his prime and probably will never get an opportunity like this again. Aston Villa certainly aren't spending the kind of money that other clubs are spending or bringing in players even like Tottenham are, where they realistically might have a shot at winning something. If I was Martin O'Neill, I would be more angry with Randy Lerner and try to find out why he isn't being given the money to go out and get some more top players to contend for bigger trophies. I doubt that Gareth Barry would be looking to leave the club then and I also assume that O'Neill was promised more when he decided to take the job at Villa. Certainly more then just the cash to sign Ashley Young and John Carew, good players, but neither are going to take you to the next level.

Perhaps I am making too many assumptions here, but the bottom line is that I think you have to look at things from Gareth Barry's perspective a little more before you just go and condemn him. With that being said I can also sympathize with the Aston Villa fans as it must be really hard to see the captain of your club and one true England international looking to leave because the club can't match his ambitions. Villa are a massive club in England and potentially in Europe, they do have some history there. I think though if Gareth Barry does stay at the club and continues on like he always has that the majority of the supporters will get over this summer's events.

Soccer and all sports aren't what they used to be where a player stayed at a club his entire career. As much as Gareth Barry might have wanted to leave, there are plenty of players who have wanted to stay at clubs and were cast aside too. Its part and parcel of modern sports and we all have to accept that even when our favorite player at our favorite club no longer wants to be there. So does anybody know if Frank Lampard is still playing at Chelsea these days?