The recently-concluded summer transfer window saw two long drawn out sagas concerning then Aston Villa captain Gareth Barry and Tottenham Hotspur star Dimitar Berbatov. The former’s move to Liverpool failed to materialise while, the latter beat the deadline to join his ‘dream’ club Manchester United.

Villa boss Martin O’Neill, who is thankful that long-serving Barry is still with the ambitious Midlands side, has compared the trials and tribulations that he faced in the summer to that also experienced by his Spurs counterpart Juande Ramos over the transfer sagas.

"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," said O’Neill.

"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."