Martin O'Neill has urged Gareth Barry to remain
with Aston Villa and claimed the Midlands club want him more than
Liverpool.
Barry received a rapturous reception from the Villa
faithful following his introduction as a 15th-minute substitute in
the Intertoto Cup win over Odense.
The England midfielder responded with applause of his own as he
turned in his usual measured performance after replacing stricken
Dutchman Wilfred Bouma at left-back.
And with Liverpool still to come up with an offer approaching
the £18million Villa are demanding, O'Neill, who banned Barry from
the training ground after his newspaper sideswipe at the Northern
Irishman, is hoping his star man will stay.
"Having not heard anything from Liverpool for some time it is
clear we value him more than they do," said O'Neill.
"The fact they have not answered us for a week sends out a real
message.
"We obviously don't want him to go, so the price we are asking
is a fair and realistic one for a player who is so good. In fact I
think it is really cheap.
"My own view is that he should hang around for another year and
see if we can make further progress as he would want.
"Gareth is still only 28 next year - if we don't get where he
wants to go, everybody would wish him well."
O'Neill could not have asked any more of the Villa fans, who
jeered Barry during a midweek outing at nearby Walsall.
There was not the merest hint of dissent this time as the cheers
began as the player waited to make his entrance.
The reception, as well as a win which takes Villa into the UEFA
Cup second qualifying round, provides the perfect platform for
Barry to revise his opinion, which is what O'Neill desperately
hopes for.
"He has been with us for 10 years and the crowd reaction was
really strong in his favour," said O'Neill.
"I don't think there's any doubt about what we all want at Villa
Park. We want him to stay at the club.
"I am not in the habit of encouraging players to talk to me
after games but I told Gareth he had been terrific.
"You could see, with hardly any training, how brilliant he
was.
"We need him at this club. He would be a terrific loss for
us."