Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill admits the Villans' pre-season ambitions would have been in tatters had Gareth Barry left the club.
The England midfielder was at the centre of a long-running transfer saga involving Villa's Premier League rivalsLiverpool.
The Reds saw four bids for the midfielder knocked back by the Villans, with an £18million price tag placed on the player.
Liverpool eventually turned their attentions elsewhere and Barry remained in the Midlands.
O'Neill is delighted to have retained the services of his former skipper, especially having witnessed the damage uncertainty over player futures can cause.
Tottenham's disappointing start to the new season has been put down to the protracted sale of Dimitar Berbatov toManchester United, with O'Neill admitting he can understand the frustrations of Spurs boss Juande Ramos.
"If you have players who are not sure where their future lies, or a bit up in the air, then it can be disconcerting for the manager for a few weeks," he said.
"I saw what Spurs boss Juande Ramos said and his point was pretty valid about the transfer deadline being a couple of weeks after the season begins.
"He has worked on the assumption that Berbatov was going to go and got his replacements in.
"But in terms of Gareth, we didn't know or not if he was going to go.
"We were doing some business in the transfer market and we have got some players in but I could never say there was a like-for-like replacement for Gareth, someone to fill that particular role.
"I am not so sure in this country that there are too many."
source: sportingnews
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