I even get blamed for global warming
He roared: “Some people will blame me for everything —
global warming, rises in petrol prices, everything. “In this case,
I want to be clear. Since I talked with Martin O’Neill in April, I
didn’t talk with anyone else at Aston Villa.
“All the talks have been between Rick Parry and the
owner and chief executive of Aston Villa — and they have been
pretty good. "If someone wants to talk about Barry, they will have
to talk to the owner or chief executive of Aston Villa, or Rick
Parry.
“I was not doing the talks about Barry, and I was not
doing the talks about Xabi Alonso and Arsenal. “If you want to talk
about players, you have to talk to Rick Parry. If you want to talk
about football, talk to me.”
Benitez seemed irritated by the statement issued by
Anfield chief executive Parry over the Barry affair. Parry said he
and owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett did not question Benitez’s
judgement, but they felt Villa’s £18million price tag was too
high.
The Reds manager refused to accept the deal was dead
after Barry played for Villa in the UEFA Cup this week. He is still
desperate to land the England midfielder but said any new
initiatives would not come from him. He said: “I don’t have any
problem with the owners. It’s just that I will always try to
improve the squad.
“The squad is better and that was my idea. But we do
have some problems on the left because we have lost John Arne
Riise, Harry Kewell and Sebastian Leto.” Benitez does not usually
lose his cool this quickly — it normally happens
AFTER he slips out of the title race. But Reds
fans are steeling themselves for disappointment even before today’s
Premier League opener at Sunderland.
Liverpool looked sluggish in their midweek Champions
League tie and Benitez said: “We have one or two players who are
not playing very well, but I am very optimistic for the Sunderland
game.”