Barry : was forced to face the wrath of fans
The wantaway England midfielder was targeted by angry
Aston Villa fans during a 60-minute appearance at Walsall. Barry,
fined £80,000 after a blast at O’Neill over his stalled move to
Liverpool, probably never expected to pull on a Villa shirt
again.
But after a club ban from the first two weeks of
pre-season training, he was forced to face the wrath of fans from
the moment he emerged out of the tunnel.
Barry, 27, had gone from wearing the England captain’s
armband in his last game — when he scored in the 3-0 win over
Trinidad & Tobago on June 1 — to a “punishment” place in a
second-string Villa line-up last night.
None of the likely starting XI for Saturday’s Intertoto
Cup second-leg tie with Danes Odense were on parade in the 3-2
friendly win against their League One neighbours.
Barry was loudly jeered after he followed captain
Marlon Harewood’s lead in clapping the away supporters. And he
received the same treatment whenever he touched the ball with
chants of ‘Judas’, ‘Barry Who?’ and ‘You’re Not Fit To Wear The
Shirt’ echoing around the ground.
There were even cackles of delight when Barry was sent
sprawling under a challenge from Georges Ba. The only respite came
when Walsall fans responded with ‘There’s Only One Gareth Barry —
Sign Him On!’
He was finally put out of his misery, making way for
Barry Bannan in the 60th minute before beating a hasty exit from
the ground just 10 minutes later. Boss O’Neill was left seething by
Barry’s accusation he had made little effort during the summer to
convince him to stay.
The player said: “He’s found time to be a BBC pundit at
Euro 2008 but hasn’t found time to speak to me.” But Liverpool’s
continued refusal to match Villa’s £18million valuation has left
him in limbo. And when O’Neill met Barry and his agent, Alex Black,
last Wednesday it was only to again hear his desire to join the
Reds.
O’Neill is set to beat Portsmouth to land Shaun
Wright-Phillips from Chelsea AND Younes Kaboul
from Spurs. Villa are ready with an offer of around £8m for SWP
after Pompey cooled their interest in the England winger, 26, who
has little chance of a starting place at Stamford Bridge.
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