Aston Villa Football Club News

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

• Ground:Villa Park
• Capacity:42,584

O'Neill helped Barry impress

11 Oct 2007 - 08:32:41

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Aston Villa midfielder Gareth Barry has thanked club manager Martin O'Neill for helping him secure an international recall to the England team.

The 26-year-old had pondered leaving Villa Park to try and get back into the national team set-up, but is now more than happy with life at his one and only professional club.

He said: "Martin O'Neill has been very good to me. One of the first things he said to me when he arrived at Villa 14 months ago was 'if you stay here with me, you'll improve a player and you'll eventually get your England call-up again'.

"He is a quality person, someone you listen to and he has been proven right in what he said, which goes to show what a good manager he is.

"At that time, I was facing a big decision, whether to try moving to a new club, whether it would be good for my career.

"But when I heard Martin O'Neill was arriving, that got me thinking straight away, even before I spoke to him, that it maybe best for me to stay around and that has been the case."

Barry had been out of the England reckoning for around four years before returning to Steve McClaren's squad earlier this year, while he cemented a starting spot with superb displays in the recent 3-0 wins over Israel and Russia.