Carrroooooooooooooooooooo is gonna start & Barry will be on his best behaviour

March 20, 2009 by Martin Banks
Filed under: Aston Villa, Match Previews, Transfer News 

Villa travel to Merseyside on Sunday for a 4pm kick off with the Reds and we go into it with confidence on the floor. But 2 boosts come ahead of the game to give us Villa fans a little hope; John Carew looks set to be handed a start and Gareth Barry will be out to impress.

Carew first

Martin O’Neill has been interviewed and if you read between the lines, it surely means that he intends to get Carew off the bench and onto the pitch, hopefully in place of Heskey, who has not yet found a way to fit in with our team and seems to have hindered us by changing or our style of play. Maybe during the summer we can find a place for Heskey, as he gets used to us, but for the remainder of the season, I’d be happy not to see him start another game. We need to get back to winning ways.

Here’s what MON said, and unless I’m just taking from it what I want to hear then it sounds like he’s suggesting Carew will start:

“The great thing about it is that John Carew now is getting really properly fit. He played nearly a full game up at Everton in the absence of Emile Heskey in the FA Cup. Now, in the little training sessions that he has been doing recently, he has been really sharp. He is really raring to go, which is great.

“The two goals he has got after coming on as a substitute will also have given him a big boost of confidence. It is great to see him back when, in actual fact, you probably thought that it might have been really hard work coming back from the injury.

“John coming back and firing and going well with confidence high is great. I think that will be a major boost to us. Now Emile Heskey has come in and started very brightly at Portsmouth. Yes, he is feeling his way a little bit but that is not a problem.

“To have the three centre forwards there and available can only boost us from now until the end of the season – if they stay fit.”

Four. Five. One.

Still on Carew, I’d like to see him start as the lone striker on Sunday. Two reasons why; firstly, that was the formation that worked for us, we got great results with it and even ground out wins when we weren’t having a good day and secondly, because it can’t do any harm against a team like Liverpool to have plenty of bodies in the middle of the park.

Whether Sidwell gets back into the team or Reo-Coker or Gardner gets the place, I don’t really mind which (probably leaning slightly towards Coker), just so long as we see the 4-5-1 again. Come on Marty, read this blog and trust the author, not your own years of experience.

Gareth Barry

The rumours are (as we expected) already rife about Rafa coming back in for Barry this summer, and with Villa very unlikely to do as well in the Champions League as ‘Pool if we qualify, Barry is very likely to have his heart set back on the move he wanted last summer. The word on the street is that Rafa will be given the funds to secure Barry this time around so I doubt he will be a Villa player in 6 months time and this game he will see as his chance to show his new fans what he’s made of.

It’ll be a very sad day (for me and a large proportion of Villa fans) when Barry goes, but I think we need to start accepting it now, otherwise we’ll have to set up helplines, like when Take That split up :)

Predictions

I honestly think we can come away with a point. I won’t be so daring to suggest we’ll win, but I think we’ll up our game against the big teams in these next 3 games and I see Sunday as a 1-1. Anyone else wanna venture a prediction? Or don’t you dare tempt fate!


Comments

7 Comments on Carrroooooooooooooooooooo is gonna start & Barry will be on his best behaviour

  1. andy villa on Fri, 20th Mar 2009 11:22

    2. notice how the barry to bin dipper rumours have resurfaced again right before we play them?

  2. Mlockey89 on Fri, 20th Mar 2009 11:24

    3. Let barry leave.

  3. Simon Preston on Fri, 20th Mar 2009 20:48

    4. One man is not a team. Who knows, we might end up playing better without him. I’ll miss the guy for sure but he’s given us a decade of loyal service and I can’t blame him for looking for a fresh challenge. Anyway, all this is pure speculation and the summer is still some months off. We’ve got more important things to concentrate on.

    I’ll be very happy if Carew starts. Both times he’s come on he’s made an instant difference. And I can’t help feel that if he started against Stoke and Tottenham that maybe we would have got a couple of extra goals that would have made the difference between sitting proud in 4th and suddenly finding ourselves chasing Arsenal.

  4. Simeon on Sat, 21st Mar 2009 3:22

    5. I’d be very surprised if Barry were to leave should we be in the CL next season. He’s all but said he’ll stay if we do, and to be frank, Liverpool are still a mess, even if Benitez has signed. Yes, he could go to Liverpool and remind the scousers what a proper midfield player looks like, but as far as I can tell, his first choice will always be Villa.

    It disappoints me to see so many Villa fans indifferent to Barry’s possible departure. He has been a great player and a great servant, and is not only the most important player at Villa, but more important than anyone other than perhaps Randy Lerner. Losing him will set us back indefinitely. I have to confess that a small part of me would like to see him leave because then perhaps even the most obtuse Villa fans might recognise how important he is.

  5. villa paul on Sat, 21st Mar 2009 10:40

    6. the games barry has missed this season we have been poor so i still think champions league is still in our own hands, after the next three games we couldnt ask for a easier remaining six games.
    get rid of heskey in the summer the bloke has done more damage than good since he came and i bet the bluenose slums of brum are laughing their dirty socks off…..

  6. Goldie 7 on Sat, 21st Mar 2009 10:47

    7. I hope he starts and gabby gets a nice little rest on the bench

  7. Liverpool_Andy on Sat, 21st Mar 2009 14:02

    8. @Simeon

    Remind us of what a proper midfielder looks like??? are you having a laugh?

    i’m not slating Villa OR Barry but c’mon…. Xabi Alonso, Mashcerano and irmmm ooh whats his name again???? oh thats it, that Gerrard fella…. these are all top drawer players with alot more big game experience than Barry. personaly, i wouldn’t waste money swapping Alonso for Barry as i feel they’re fairly even so it wouldn’t be of benefit to LFC.

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