It's becoming all too familiar for Aston Villa supporters. For the last three consecutive summers we've been subjected to one greedy bastard or another deciding that being unspeakably wealthy and having the unquestioning affection of tens of thousands of people doesn't meet his "ambition". In 2008, Gareth Barry destroyed his remarkable relationship with Villa supporters by angling publicly for a move to Liverpool, who kindly obliged him through a disgraceful campaign of media up-tappery.
Villa kept Barry on that occasion, but his standing at the club never recovered. In 2009 it was Barry again who was the focus of a potential transfer saga, with Liverpool again interested and moneybags Manchester City keen to sign the man who should have been a Villa legend and Martin O'Neill keen to move quickly to get shot of him. Right now Villa are in the midst of another key player making his way towards the exit door. James Milner has matured into a fine and versatile midfielder, sharing not a few traits with his former captain. It was inevitable that he would attract the attention of other clubs and when I was told back in May that Manchester City were lining up a move I resigned myself to losing him.
For me, it was the straw that broke the camel's back. Villa aren't exactly tiptoeing a tightrope financially, but some clubs are rich beyond belief and intent on snapping up the best players at other clubs even if they're probably not good enough to improve the destination squad. Having watched Barry for his entire Villa career and Milner for a season on loan on top of his time as a Villan proper, I believe that to be true in both cases. Neither were out of place in the squad City had at the time of their (presumed in Milner's case) signing, but they didn't and won't much improve them.
Barry is reviled by most Villa supporters. He appeared to be noticeably affected by the bile-filled reception he received upon his return to Villa Park. He had even been booed in a pre-season friendly more than twelve months before that return, while in a Villa shirt, a full season before his departure. Whispers that he fancies a return to Villa (told you you would, Custard Pants) have been rightly met with utter revulsion by right-thinking supporters. He could have been a true Villa legend but he'll forever be thought of as money-chasing scum.
The Barry and Milner situations appear the same on the surface but there are crucial differences that mean that the vocal majority of supporters will be wrong to treat Milner with the same contempt as they do Barry. Milner is by no means an innocent party. It seems clear now that he declared his intention to move before heading to South Africa for the World Cup and is upset with O'Neill for outing him as nothing more than a typical footballer. For a young man whose hard work and no-nonsense approach have earned him a reputation as a better man than the average player, he knows he's been exposed as just another mercenary and he doesn't like it.
Milner's outrage at O'Neill going public is the only part of his behaviour that I find upsetting. Although it irritates me when the "wouldn't
you say yes to doubling your money?" argument is wheeled out - it does not apply to football, for a number of reasons - I find it difficult to argue that Milner is wrong to leave. He will be well paid at City and he is, as he's demonstrated, nothing more than a bog-standard football money-grabber. He's one of many hundreds, so it's hard to criticise him specifically for it. In essence, I don't blame him. He's years away from 'legend' status at Villa and his best years are ahead of him.
Not so Barry, who had only to resist temptation for another couple of years to be assured of his place as one of Villa's adored modern greats. He'd been at Villa for the best part of a decade and he owed the club more respect. Talk of "ten years' loyal service" is bollocks. For at least eight of those ten, Barry needed the club more than the club needed him. He might have been a fan favourite, but for a large part of his career he would have struggled to find a better move and the club stood by him as he disappointed for large patches.
But the main distinction between Barry, the disloyal back-stabber, and Milner, who has disappointly been shown to be no better than the rest of his profession when we'd hoped he might, is their conduct during the death throes of their Villa careers. While Milner has employed an undignified silence on his supposed new contract conundrum, the open and obvious media campaign waged by Liverpool and Barry in 2008 was disgusting. Rafael Benitez and Steven Gerrard both spoke out of turn. Patrik Berger, at the time a significant money drain for Villa as he took years worth of wages for contributing absolutely nothing, was seemingly sacked on the spot for his part in the saga.
Then, of course, Gareth Barry's infamous interview with the
News of the World secured his place alongside Steve Hodge in the Villa hall of shame. From there, there was no turning back. After bleating on about Champions League football, Barry moved the goalposts last summer and settled for a big money move to Manchester City, a club with no European football whatsoever. I said at the time that Barry would never play Champions League football because if they failed to reach the competition for the forthcoming season he would become a victim of a high turnover of players, and I remain confident that will prove to be true. I certainly hope so.
By contrast, Milner has been relatively quiet on the matter up until now and his situation in general is different. If Villa's ambition was wavering in the summer of 2009, it's been exposed as a mirage now. More importantly, Milner's age - unlike Barry's - means that City's long-term prospects rightly mean he could be heading for a silverware-laden future. Barry was merely an aging stop-gap and will be a bit-part player at best when City's apparently inevitable success arrives. My bet is that he'll be long gone by the time City debut in the Champions League group stage.
Most importantly, Milner has never failed to give his all for Villa. In a football world where money talks and players are professionals and nothing more, that's really all we can expect of them. Barry, on the other hand, will be remembered for a number of limp showings at the end of the 2007/08 season - notably at home against Wigan Athletic on the weekend the Liverpool link went public - and for much of the following campaign, during which it took him almost until Christmas to celebrate a goal with his team-mates and he developed a habit of not fighting back after giving the ball away, most memorably at Stoke City.
Perhaps my difference in opinion on these two players is simply down to the fact that I'd invested so much more personal emotion in Barry's career than Milner's, or that my own hatred of top-flight footballers has moved on so much in the last twelve months that Milner would've had to take a crap on my pillow to anger or surprise me, but regardless of the reasons behind it the two stories are different. The response from Villa fans should be too, but it won't.
(Pic via
This Is London)
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