Barry & Angel close in on new contracts
Gareth Barry hopes to hammer out a new contract at Aston Villa as soon as possible.
Barry has just over 12 months left on his current deal and was encouraged by his opening round of talks with chairman Doug Ellis.
He said: "We finally got into a meeting in the middle of last week to see what the club's thoughts were.
"I came out in a positive mood. But it is still early stages and hopefully, if I can keep performing and the club can also keep going forward, that will make it easier to sort things out.
"It could be done tomorrow if the club wanted to But judging from my last contract it took six to nine months.
"Contracts can be funny things and we will see how it goes.
"The chairman was pretty keen to get the deal done as soon as possible and hopefully that will be the case."
David O'Leary had felt that the concern over the new contract had affected Barry's form.
Barry disagrees but admits that before the last couple of months some of his performances had been patchy.
He added: "I have tried to keep it off my mind. But things happen that you don't realise and that might have been the case.
"I have been happy the way last two months have gone. Before that it was a bit inconsistent and not as good as I would have liked.
"But that is football and you can't continually play well every week in every season. I realise that from my past experiences."
Juan Pablo Angel is ready to commit his future to Aston Villa because he believes there are exciting times on the horizon at the club.
Angel, who has just over a year plus a 12-month option on his current deal, met chairman Doug Ellis last week to open talks about a new contract.
"We are still in the early stages," said Angel whose 22nd strike of the season earned Villa their win against Tottenham on Sunday.
"But I am sure we will get a good ending, hopefully before the season finishes.
"I have said that I want to commit myself for the next few years. Now it is up to the chairman.
"We are talking in the early stages. But I think this club is in a great position to go forward.
"This is a good chance to change a lot of things in the summer and I am sure the board will take the opportunity to make the right decisions.
"There is a great togetherness in the dressing room. People are very honest.
"No-one gave us a chance this season. We were in the bottom three and now we are challenging for a Champions League spot. This season has been remarkable in so many ways.
"But there is plenty to come. We need to be in that top six position for the next couple of years.
"It is no good having a good season and following it by a bad season.
"We need to bring in more players and then try and challenge every year for Europe."
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