During his 10 years at Aston Villa, Gareth Barry has been a loyal servant, turning in performance after performance and gradually getting better as the years passed.

It was just two years ago when Barry was getting frustrated at the lack of ambition at Villa Park, then it all started happening. Doug Ellis made way for Randy Lerner and Martin O’Neill was brought in hailed as the club's saviour. It took a quick chat with O’Neill for Barry to realise he should stay and take Villa forward.

'Barry could stay at Aston Villa and be one of the leading men to take them forward, or he could go to Liverpool and risk sitting on the bench - and maybe slip out of the top four that he was moving into'


Since then, the club has come on leaps and bounds, finishing 16th, 11th and now sixth in the last three seasons. It is clear for all to see the ambition and drive with them just missing out on the UEFA Cup through the league and having to be consoled with an InterToto berth.

Compare this to the turmoil going on at Liverpool where there seems to be a constant power struggle between warring co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett, with Rick Parry thrown into the mix. Is that really an environment that a team claiming to be contenders for domestic and European crowns should be in?

This season has seen Liverpool do exactly what they always do - fall short of the leading pack. And that was after the huge investment spent on Fernando Torres. Yes, he is fantastic buy, but it's not enough. Combine that with Rafa Benitez’s ridiculous rotation policy and a move to Liverpool suddenly doesn’t look to be too appealing does it?

Aston Villa are one of the teams - along with Everton, Man City and Tottenham - with geniune ambitions of knocking Liverpool out of that top four and establishing themselves in the Champions League. Along with Everton, Villa did a good job of pushing Liverpool for a while with the smallest squad in Premier League.

With Martin O’Neill having already stated his desire to pack out the squad a bit more to cope with a domestic and European campaign, they can only impose more of a threat to Liverpool.

I’m not saying Villa are better than Liverpool - that would be disrespectful to England’s most successful club - but the things I have outlined are things that Gareth Barry needs to consider before making his mind up.

He could stay at Aston Villa and be one of the leading men to take them forward, or he could go to Liverpool and risk sitting on the bench - and maybe slip out of the top four that he was moving into.

His England credentials are under no threat plying his trade for Birmingham’s elite, as he is always on show doing what he does best. He won his place in the national team's starting line-up through his performances for Villa, so why would he be forced to move on?

It took one conversation with O’Neill two years ago to make Barry realise his immediate future lay in the Midlands, and I’m sure the Villa boss will convince him he made the right decision.

It would be a mistake for Barry to leave right now. He should wait it out for at least another year and see what happens at the end of next season. At 27, he certainly has time on his side.