Martin O’Neill has been around longer than most in the world of football, and he still clings on to a Liverpool incident that left him livid.
After Wilfried Nancy’s false start at Celtic, O’Neill has come back in to get the Scottish champions to the end of the season.
The 73-year-old continues to defy belief with almost 40 years of experience as a manager, and counting.
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Despite his busy schedule, he took the time to speak about a Liverpool approach back in 2008, when the Reds had their sights set on his captain and best player at Aston Villa.
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Martin O’Neill opens up about Liverpool and Gareth Barry debacle
Back in 2008, Liverpool were eyeing Gareth Barry to add to Rafa Benitez’s ranks.
The Aston Villa captain was keen, and did his best to force the issue. Whether that was at the behest of Liverpool, we’ll never know.
One thing we can say for sure is that it rightly annoyed his manager, especially one comment he made at the time.
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Sky Sports did a mini-documentary on the Barry saga, where O’Neill reveals: “It was just like lobbing a hand grenade in and it was so out of character.
“We’ve come across lots of disruptive players or players who would put their own interests in front of the football club’s interests and wouldn’t mind rocking the boat. But Gareth Barry, that wasn’t him.
Gareth Barry of Aston Villa and Rob Styles the referee interact on the pitch
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“I think there was a line in there saying the club publicly are saying they want to keep me, yet the manager can swan off to be a pundit at the Euros. I was really hurt with him.
“I should be at home in England, sending him off with our best wishes to Liverpool? I was fuming, would be a word. Absolutely fuming.”
Funnily enough, the move to Anfield never went through with the Reds unwilling to pay the £2 million extra that Villa were looking for — adding insult to injury for O’Neill.
To add another dimension to the tale, there were some Liverpool fans who thought Xabi Alonso’s departure was down to the presumption that they would get their new midfielder.
Barry argues: “Liverpool fans blame me for Alonso leaving, but not once did he [Benitez] say Alonso was going to be leaving.”
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Instead, Barry would join Man City the following season, winning the FA Cup and league title during his time in Manchester and becoming the player with the most appearances in the history of the Premier League.
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