Gareth Barry goes into England's World Cup qualifying campaign admitting he lost his focus over the summer.

The midfielder was at the centre of a bitter £18million tug-of-war between Aston Villa and Liverpool which became the summer's longest-running transfer saga.

It even led to England boss Fabio Capello admitting he was concerned at Barry's drop in form during last month's friendly with the Czech Republic at Wembley. Click to continue reading...

Rafael Benitez suffered a torrent of abuse and saw his Liverpool side miss out on the chance to go top of the Barclays Premier League after a goalless draw at Villa Park.

Aston Villa fans taunted the Reds boss with chants of 'There's only one Gareth Barry' after the collapse of the England midfielder's move to Liverpool, and some of the crowd aimed personal insults at the Reds manager. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez was satisfied with the point his side secured away to Aston Villa, but believes his men need to improve their final ball if they are to challenge for a top-two finish.

In a drab affair at Villa Park, both teams lacked potency in the final third as Robbie Keane, Martin Laursen and John Carew spurned the only real clear-cut chanced of the game. Click to continue reading...

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In the Carling Cup Third Round Draw, QPR will play Aston Villa (at Villa!)
Matches will be played the week of September 22.

Could you be tough, depending who Aston Villa actually play on the night: - Aston Villa's Current First Team Squad!
1 Brad Friedel Goalkeeper
2 Luke Young Defender
3 Wilfred Bouma Defender
4 Steve Sidwell Midfielder
5 Martin Laursen Defender
6 Gareth Barry Midfielder
7 Ashley Young Striker
9 Marlon Harewood Striker
10 John Carew Striker
11 Gabriel Agbonlahor Striker
13 Stuart Taylor Goalkeeper
14 Nathan Delfouneso Striker
15 Curtis Davies Defender
16 Zat Knight Defender
17 Moustapha Salifou Striker
18 Wayne Routledge Midfielder
19 Stiliyan Petrov Midfielder
20 Nigel Reo-Coker Midfielder
21 Nicky Shorey Defender
22 Bradley Guzan Goalkeeper
26 Craig Gardner Midfielder
27 Isaiah Osbourne Midfielder
29 Stephen O'Halloran Defender
48 Nathan Baker Defender


Complete Round Three Draw

Arsenal v Sheffield United
Brighton & Hove Albion / Manchester City v Derby County
Burnley v Fulham
Portsmouth v Chelsea
Blackburn Rovers v Everton
Rotherham United v Southampton
Swansea City v Cardiff City
Ipswich Town v Wigan Athletic
Stoke City v Reading
Leeds United v Hartlepool United
Watford v West Ham United
Manchester United v Middlesbrough
Liverpool v Crewe Alexandra
Aston Villa v Queens Park Rangers
Sunderland v Northampton Town
Newcastle United v Tottenham Hotspur
- Complete Third Round Draw Click to continue reading...

Brad Friedel, Martin Laursen and Leon Cort have a competition to see who can stretch their bodies into the most uncomfortable positions. Martin Laursen's face wins. (AFP/FIFA) Click to continue reading...

Picture from The Telegraph via Getty Images. Maybe Tony Pulis was right. Mamady Sidibe's header gives Stoke City a shock 3-2 win at the Britannia Stadium. If you heard me this week on The Third Half, I pretty much mocked the fact I pulled this game out of the hat to do as one of my two full [...] Click to continue reading...

Picture from The Telegraph via Getty Images.

Maybe Tony Pulis was right.

Mamady Sidibe's header gives Stoke City a shock 3-2 win at the Britannia Stadium.

If you heard me this week on The Third Half, I pretty much mocked the fact I pulled this game out of the hat to do as one of my two full match reviews.

Click to continue reading...

Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill insists Gareth Barry "knew the consequences" of his decision to play in the UEFA Cup on Thursday night.

Barry scored the opening goal as Villa cruised to a 4-1 victory over FH Hafnarfjordur in Iceland in the second qualifying round match, a result which home boss Heimir Gudjonsson admitted has killed the tie off at the halfway stage. Click to continue reading...

Aston Villa

2007-08 RECORD League 6th FA Cup3rd round Carling Cup3rd round

Manager Martin O'Neill. Had a difficult summer, paying £5m for a Chelsea reserve and £2m for a 37-year-old and handling the Gareth Barry situation with less than his customary aplomb. Click to continue reading...

In one of my recent poll questions, which you can find on the left-hand side of the homepage underneath the blog archive, I asked which story you believed to be the biggest so far this summer. One of the choices was Gareth Barry and his desire to leave Aston Villa for Liverpool, and although I can't remember the exact number, it got its fair share of votes. Click to continue reading...

Its another sad day for MLS as another top young American player is leaving to go abroad and play in Europe. Brad Guzan has left Chivas USA to go play for Aston Villa, as had been rumored for quite awhile. Its a good move for Brad Guzan in that Aston Villa are a club that expects to be in the top 10 of the English Premier League and competing for a place in Europe every year. Click to continue reading...

Aston Villa appear to have agreed to sign Chelsea midfielder Steve Sidwell in a £5million deal subject to him passing a medical. Villa boss Martin O'Neill now expects the signing of a player he has long admired to be completed within the next couple of days. Sidwell would seem to be a straight replacement for Gareth Barry, who seems destined to end up at Liverpool. Click to continue reading...

Martin O'Neill is ready to accept Liverpool's £15 million offer for Gareth Barry now that Steve Finnan has been offered in a part-exchange deal. As Barry, the England midfield player, was expressing his disappointment at the controversial nature of his departure from Aston Villa, the manager was preparing to sign Steve Sidwell as a midfield replacement. Click to continue reading...

Martin Laursen is threatening to be Aston Villa's top goalscorer this season, with six to his name already. This includes three goals in his past five matches, a ratio anyone apart from Cristiano Ronaldo would be proud of right now. His ability to find the net (as well as some pretty stout defending! Click to continue reading...

Aston Villa are set to lose Olof Mellberg in the summer to Juventus but manager Martin O'Neill is unlikely to lose his other central defender Martin Laursen. ESPN Soccernet has quoted the Danish international defender as saying that he is happy to stay at Villa Pak and should his demands be met by the club, [. Click to continue reading...

Newcastle will probably welcoming two defenders at St. James' Park in the next couple days. Aston Villa's Martin Laursen recently being tipped to make a move to the Magpies after failing on new contract deal with Randy Lerner's team.

"I've read in the press that those two clubs would be interested in me," he said in the Birmingham Mail.

Click to continue reading...