Villa to be built around Barry - O'Neil
Aston Villa manager Martin O’Neill wants to “build his side around” Gareth Barry after admitting his relief that his skipper did not join tomorrow’s opponents Portsmouth in the summer.
Pompey were one of the front-runners to sign Barry after he had become disillusioned with life at Villa Park and was looking for a move to revive his England chances.
However, O’Neill persuaded Barry to stay and sign a four-year deal and believes he has been an inspiration to his team-mates during a difficult campaign.
O’Neill said: “Gareth was certainly thinking about leaving and him staying here, that was always going to be a big thing. All I will say is I am very pleased he did so. He has been a big player for us this season in every aspect.
“He has improved as a player, which is great credit to himself, and has at least been thought of again as an England player, which is great news for him.
“As our team gets better, you would hope international recognition on a more permanent basis would follow. He has just been terrific.
“It is all about what he does on the pitch. He is a naturally quiet lad but he shirks nothing on the field. That’s where the players see their captain, just putting his body in the way of things and going for tackles he would have no right to win.
“That rubs off on the rest of the players, knowing the captain will go through the brick wall for you.
“All of those aspects have shown a bit of leadership. Sometimes you can’t change someone’s personality but Gareth is a leader in other respects.”
O’Neill admits he does not know where Villa would be without Barry, saying: “I don’t know where we would be. We would have been a much lesser team. Can you build the side around him? That’s what you would do.
“He is that good. He has a great attitude. You look at the four big clubs, and the squads they have, and Gareth is capable of playing in any of those teams, the Manchester Uniteds and Chelseas.”
Villa have an outside chance of qualifying for Europe after collecting eight points from the last four games but O’Neill believes they need a 100% record for the remainder of the season to stand any chance.
He said: “We would have a lot of work to do. The seventh team qualifies and we are capable of winning the games because confidence is high.
“If you were looking at any chance of European football. you’d have to win all four games. We could not afford one slip-up at all.
“Even then, you can imagine Spurs, who have games in hand, going past that points tally but, with four games to go, it is worth going for.”
Striker John Carew could return tomorrow after missing the last three games with a calf problem while midfielder Gavin McCann is available after completing a two match ban.
