Gareth Barry will get time to settle, says Martin O'Neill
GARETH Barry will be allowed time to find his feet following his failed move to Liverpool before Martin O’Neill seeks private talks with his former skipper to prepare the groundwork for the season ahead.
Barry is currently away with the England squad and will return ahead of the trip to White Hart Lane.
O’Neill admitted that Barry’s form suffered in the recent defeat at Stoke City because of the drawn-out saga.
He will now attempt to do all he can to keep Barry’s form at the consistently high standards of recent years.
“We will just let it settle down”, O’Neill said.
“He is staying with us. The transfer deadline has passed and I am sure as time goes on (we will talk).
“He wants to get his head down and get back playing in the type of form that he got into in the last two years.
“I would have thought that he is getting back to that.”
Graham Taylor recently made some comments that the relationship between Barry and O’Neill could be a difficult one to repair.
O’Neill jokingly admits that few of his players would actually enjoy an evening in his company.
“Graham has been a manager and I have the upmost regard for what he has done”, he said.
“He might have been looking at it from a (particular) viewpoint. I can’t comment on that.
“All I will say is that I am absolutely delighted that he is staying, and as I said last week, there wouldn’t be too many players want to be spending evenings with me on a social scene.
“We are in here to try and win some football games.”
Agent Alex Black had also insisted in a recent statement that any talks about a new contract would be put on hold until the end of the season.
O’Neill, again, is not reading too much into things at this stage.
He added: “I don’t know what the agent said and I would not have any comment to make on that.”
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