O'Neill slams Rafa over Barry

Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill has launched a stinging attack on Rafael Benitez after accusing his Liverpool counterpart of stirring up the Gareth Barry transfer saga.

Last week O'Neill hit out at Liverpool for making their £10million approach for his skipper public knowledge. The Villa boss also rejected the player-plus-cash offer out of hand.

But now O'Neill has reacted angrily to fresh claims from Benitez that he has been party to continued dialogue between the pair.

Speaking on Thursday, Benitez claimed he and O'Neill had discussed the "idea" of Barry's transfer to Anfield at length.

"What idea did I have? I've got absolutely no idea! I have no idea what he's talking about. It's absolutely crazy," a furious O'Neill told the club's official website.

"It suggests this is a conversation that I wanted to keep going, to keep on the boiling pot. Absolutely not. It's a complete nonsense.

"This is not something I initiated and I certainly was not on the phone to him to ask him about his players either, which I think is something he's trying to refer to.

"That is not true. He mentioned players himself but I might not be interested in any of his players. I'm absolutely astonished at this story, 'Rafa Exposes O'Neill'.

"I've never denied speaking to Rafa Benitez so how can you be exposed for something you haven't denied?

"I think Rafa is being very clever here. He gives the impression that there's been constant dialogue. That's simply and utterly untrue.

"He made a phone call to me - I did not initiate the phone call. He asked about Gareth Barry and I said: 'Well he's got a testimonial and two years left to run and he's our best player.' So what would the reaction be?

"I said that I would speak to our owner - obviously because he has a big, big say in the proceedings - and I assumed he would have the same answer as myself - that Gareth wasn't for sale.

"So I'm astonished to read this."