Why Martin O'Neill is so desperate for Gareth Barry to stay at Villa

Of the players that remain committed to the claret and blue cause, the England  international heads a cast list that is essentially reasonably high in quality,  but low in numbers.

As the tug-of-war for the midfielder's heart and mind continues apace, it is  worthwhile working out the reasons behind the Irishman's tooth-and-nail fight  to retain Barry's services.

In demand: England midfielder Gareth Barry is wanted by Liverpool but Villa are determined not to him leave.

There are but nine players in O'Neill's squad who do not have question-marks  against their names heading into next season's InterToto and Premier League  campaigns.

Wilfred Bouma, Martin Laursen, Ashley Young, Gabriel Agbonlahor, Marlon  Harewood, Zat Knight, Nigel Reo-Coker and Craig Gardner can all say with justification that they will be in the Irishman's plans.

Thomas Sorensen, Olof Mellberg and Patrik Berger have either departed or will  shortly be grabbing their designer wash-bags and heading away from the  Birmingham drizzle.

There are queries regarding the suitability of the following for a variety of  different reasons: Barry: (potential transfer), Scott Carson: (likely to return to Liverpool), Stuart Taylor: (not done enough to convince he is a natural number one), Curtis Davies: (long-term injury), Moustapha Salifou: (untried at Premier League level), Stiliyan Petrov: (remains unproven after two seasons in England), Wayne Routledge: (not started since joining in January's transfer window), Shaun  Maloney: (flashes of quality not nearly enough), Isaiah Osbourne: (used  sparingly) and John Carew remains an enigma.

When he fires, so too, do Villa. Witness his bullying displays against Newcastle and Birmingham City. And then contrast  those with his lifeless shows against Wigan and Sunderland)

In an ideal world, Peter Crouch's return would have been welcome, possibly at  Carew's expense, although the Liverpool forward appears to be heading back to  Portsmouth.

The Norwegian would be a world-beater if he found a high level of consistency.

The problem is for O'Neill, he just does not know when the big striker fancies it.

But - and herein lies the point - along with Young, Laursen and Bouma, Barry remains a minimum seven-out-of-ten. He often raises that to an eight. And every now and again, he's a nine.

With so many of unpredictable quality around him, the skipper is the one man O'Neill can count upon to give him a standard each week.

What's more, he is so entrentched now in Villa's fabric that he understands the  demands of playing for a club in the Midlands that the rest of the region tries to emulate.

He bought into O'Neill two years ago when the Irishman was first installed at  Villa Park. Back then, the player wanted out.

Disillusioned at seeing the seasons pass by without any genuine or justifiable attempt at landing some silverware, Barry could hear the clock ticking down.

He did trust the new manager and signed a four-year deal. He committed himself  to Villa until he was 29.

But, and it is a point subsequently not lost on O'Neill, Andy Webster's case has given players a loophole to buy-out their contracts in the third year of a  four-year agreement.

This does not mean that Barry could sign a seven-figure cheque and pack his bags for Anfield. It only applies to foreign moves.

O'Neill says that Barry is an honourable man. That he has given Villa's boss no  reason to believe he would walk out on his contract.

But as Berger pointed out, Liverpool do not come knocking every day.

And Rafael Benitez's overtures, while totally unwelcomed, would leave Villa's boss  with a huge hole to fill.

If Villa did sell - and that thought has never been anywhere O'Neill's lips in public - it seems that a figure in excess of the reputed £18m handed over for Javier Mascherano would be asked for.

Proven England international midfielders at the peak of their careers do not come cheap.

It may fill the coffers at Villa Park. But a squad low in numbers would be even shorter in quality with Mellberg and Barry having quit for pastures new.

And O'Neill has raised expectations at Villa Park. A sixth-placed finish is a vast improvement on what has gone before.

But to build on that with players leaving for Juventus and Liverpool respectively would be a massive ask.

And, above all else as O'Neill tries desperately to win the public battle to keep hold of the club's captain, you suspect in his quieter moments, he knows it, too.