O'NEILL SURPRISED BY REACTION

Barry - chased by Liverpool.

Martin O'Neill is unhappy Aston Villa were blasted for holding onto Gareth Barry whereas Manchester United were praised for retaining Cristiano Ronaldo's services.

Both players are on long-term deals with their respective clubs, but were chased fiercely this summer with Liverpool keen on Barry while Real Madrid attempted to secure Ronaldo from Old Trafford.

While O'Neill has no qualms with Sir Alex Ferguson's reluctance to lose Ronaldo, he is just surprised his club's stance on Barry has received so much negative publicity.

Barry's chances of staying at Villa Park this season increased on Thursday when he started the Uefa Cup second round qualifier against FH Hafnarfjordur, ruling him out of The Reds' UEFA Champions League campaign until February.

"We got lambasted by some for our stance of Gareth Barry and sticking to what we thought was right," O'Neill told the News of the World.

"Manchester United were lauded for their approach to Ronaldo.

"Of course I admire their stand. I just believe we did a similar thing."