Aston Villa Football Club News

• Nickname:The Villains
• Founded:1874
• Manager:Alex McLeish

• Ground:Villa Park
• Capacity:42,584

Barry eyes calmer summer

28 Apr 2009 - 14:28:50

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England ace Gareth Barry is hoping to avoid making the same mistakes as last summer when he sits down to decide on his Aston Villa future at the end of the season.

Barry was involved in a high-profile transfer saga with Liverpool, but ultimately remained at Villa Park after the two clubs were unable to agree a fee.

The England midfielder went public with his desire to play in the Champions League last summer and Villa boss Martin O'Neill was hoping to secure a top four finish to avoid a repeat scenario at the end of this season.

However, that now seems unlikely and already there has been plenty of speculation surround the future of the former Villa club captain.

But after vowing to put thoughts over his future on hold until the end of the season, Barry believes he has learned a lot from last summer's mistakes.

"From the experience of last year I'm hoping to deal with it better," he told the Birmingham Mail.

"It would be disrespectful to the fans and the club if I'm thinking about anything else rather than trying to get maximum points from the last four games. That's where my head is at this moment.

"It will definitely be a difficult decision, but we'll see where we are at the end of the season before making any decision. It's always going to be a tough one, no matter what happens.

"I've learnt a lot from what happened and last season I learned a lot off the pitch. I'm looking for a completely opposite scale of things and I'm confident it won't be one of those sagas again.

"There are things I'll do differently. I'm not dreading it at all, I know what's coming. It's not something you dread, it's part of the game."