|
Rafa: Stop moaning O'Neill
12/05/2008 17:21 - (SA)
Birmingham - Rafa Benitez has told Martin O'Neill to stop moaning after the Aston Villa boss complained about Liverpool's attempt to sign Gareth Barry.
Liverpool are ready to double Barry's wages as well as offering him the chance to play in the Champions League and the England midfielder is thought to be keen to move.
But O'Neill has accused the Reds of trying to unsettle his captain and made it clear he won't let the England midfielder leave without a fight.
"If your captain wants to leave, it's a problem, but that's football," Benitez told the Liverpool Echo.
"I think the right approach when you want to sign a player is to talk to the manager.
"I was talking to Martin O'Neill. I said we would like to sign Gareth Barry and asked what the situation was.
"He just said he needed to talk to the owner and I said okay. He will not have any problems with his supporters because he never said to me he wanted to sell Barry.
"We were just talking about football so why he was so angry, I do not know."
Benitez insists he has no reason to feel guilty about his approach to Villa, who are bracing themselves for a renewed offer from the Reds after turning down their first 10 million pounds bid.
Very clever
"I have been very clear. The player had said before that he wanted to play Champions League football. We knew that and so tried to sign a good player. It is that simple," he said.
"We made an offer but I think we were straight. When you make an official offer, you do so by fax. Some people see the fax and you cannot control everything.
"The Birmingham press found out about the offer and it was not our fault. They were very clever and used that information.
"I was talking with Martin O'Neill 20 days before that and nobody knew. We were doing things properly. We are waiting now to see what happens next."
O'Neill had earlier asked Villa owner Randy Lerner to help him persuade Barry to stay.
"I'm going to see the chairman in the next couple of days with a bit of luck and the two of us together might be able to persuade him to stay," O'Neill said.
"We're going to be sitting down very shortly and discussing Gareth's future. We won't let this lie.
"All I know is he has never expressed one iota of unhappiness in my time at Villa Park. He might not have stayed that long had he been really unhappy before.
"Gareth is a demi-god at Villa Park. He has that reputation and he's playing for England and he hasn't had to move to another club to do that.
"I wouldn't want to be saying how confident we are (of keeping Barry). It's a different era we live in. We will see."
- SAPA
|
.jpg)
