Birmingham Mail: GARETH Barry was today hailed as a "demi-god" at Villa by Martin O'Neill - just 24 hours before a crunch meeting between the Villa boss and Randy Lerner to discuss his future. O'Neill ridiculed Inter Milan's so-called interest in Steven Gerrard and says Villa should not pin-point a media-hyped campaign to hang onto Barry - the likes of which have not been seen since John Gregory attempted to fire bullets at Dwight Yorke over his departure to Manchester United. The current Villa boss said: "We're going to be sitting down very shortly and discussing Gareth's future. We won't let this lie. "I'm going to see the chairman in the next couple of days with a bit of luck and the two of us together might be able to persuade him to stay. "I say persuade him, but he still has two years left on his contract. "It's quite ironic that Liverpool have gone to great lengths to say that this supposed offer has arrived from an Italian team for Steve Gerrard and he has several years left on his contract. "Maybe we should take a leaf out of their book and do exactly the same? "Gareth is a demi-god at Villa Park, he has that reputation and he's playing for England and he hasn't had to move to another club to do that. "He's been particularly brilliant for us. We want to improve the team and our best chance of doing that is to keep our best players and adding some quality."

Birmingham Mail: MARTIN O'Neill says that Nigel Reo-Coker thrived in the cauldron of noise that was West Ham's Boleyn Ground. "Nigel Reo-Coker was particularly excellent for us. He really thrust forward with the ball and was a real throwback to what he used to do for West Ham, as their supporters would have known over the last couple of years", he said. "He just seems to get blamed for everything going wrong at Upton Park - probably for all West Ham's woes since Bobby Moore! "He did splendidly for us to cope with all of that." O'Neill also praised Olof Mellberg, who paid around £40,000 for replica shirts to be left on every seat in the away end. O'Neill added: "I was particularly pleased for Olof because he's been a splendid professional footballer here over the years I have known him and a lot longer than that. "He goes to Juventus with all of our best wishes. "It was a lovely gesture of him regarding the shirts. I'm not sure I would have done it - I wouldn't have the same money!"

Birmingham Mail: MARTIN O'Neill conceded that Villa were unfortunate not to get all three points at the Boleyn Ground. He believes they were guilty of missed chances. "There was a lot in the game which suggested the match was a microcosm of our season", O'Neill said. "There was lots of attacking football and we had a great spell just after half-time where we were unplayable - just fantastic. "I felt we were unlucky not to score a couple of goals at that time to put the game beyond West Ham because at 2-1 it was always in the balance." Everton's home win over Newcastle eventually ended their pursuit of fifth place. O'Neill added: "Had that equalising goal been really costly- if Newcastle had gone on and won after equalising at Goodison Park - that would have been particularly disappointing. "I had heard before that that Everton had retaken the lead and so overall, even though we conceded late, it didn't affect the outcome in the table."

Birmingham Mail: NIGEL Reo-Coker believes it was a case of 'mission accomplished' for Villa as they rose from 11th to sixth in Martin O'Neill's second season. A draw at West Ham gave Villa their best points return in eleven years but was still not enough guarantee European football. Reo-Coker nevertheless wanted to praise the efforts made by his team-mates in reaching 60 points as they secured an InterToto passage and a first game on July 20. "We've done what we set out to do at the start of the season", said the midfielder. "In any other season finishing sixth would have got us straight into Europe. "It''s been a strange season in the FA Cup and Carling Cup going the way of the underdogs. But that's football and we''re delighted with what we've done this season. "To finish where we have is a great effort. If you look at the small squad that we''ve got, I think about eight players have played over 30 League games this season. ""We've ended the season well. We didn't get into the UEFA Cup automatically but we''ve got a great chance to qualify through the InterToTo Cup."

Express and Star: Martin O'Neill plans to meet Villa owner Randy Lerner in the next 48 hours to thrash out a strategy to persuade captain Gareth Barry to stay. Yesterday's 2-2 draw with West Ham closed the Premier season with Villa in sixth spot, bringing qualification for the Intertoto Cup. Afterwards, boss O'Neill described Barry as a 'demi-god' in the eyes of Villa fans. Liverpool and rivals for his signature Arsenal can offer Barry Champions League football, but boss O'Neill and chairman Lerner are determined to do everything in their power to keep their skipper. They are hoping they can present a convincing enough argument to persuade the 27-year-old that he can achieve big things at Villa.

Express and Star: Aston Villa defender Olof Mellberg paid more than £50,000 to ensure 3,200 fans who travelled to West Ham got specially printed shirts to mark him leaving Villa. The Swedish international, who played his last game for Villa yesterday before joining Juventus on a free transfer this summer, had 3,200 home and away shirts printed with the message 'Mellberg - Thanks 4 The Support' on the back. Villa fans were handed a free shirt on arrival at Upton Park before the 2-2 draw to end Mellberg's stay at Villa. Many away fans were already decked out in Sweden colours, or dressed as Vikings in tribute to the long-serving defender, who spent seven seasons at the club. He said: "This is just the perfect way to say goodbye to the fans and to thank them for all their support in my time at Villa."

Express and Star: Captain Gareth Barry refused to talk about his future - but feels Villa will continue to improve next season. Barry, who scored Villa's second goal in yesterday's 2-2 draw at West Ham, is wanted by Liverpool and Arsenal who can both offer Champions League football. The skipper was, however, delighted to help secure European football for the first time since 2001-02 as Villa qualified for the Intertoto Cup. Fans will have to wait to see if they can keep their skipper with boss Martin O'Neill due to meet ownder Randy Lerner this week to thrash out a strategy to try to persuade him to stay. "Hopefully we can do the business in the Intertoto Cup and get ourselves back where we belong," said Barry. "It was always the aim to get that European spot - whether it be through the Intertoto or not."

BBC: Aston Villa boss Martin O'Neill says the chance to qualify for Europe next season after finishing sixth in the Premier League is a great achievement. Villa will play in the Intertoto Cup in July and only have to get through one two-legged tie to make the qualifying round of the Uefa Cup. He said: "We've improved significantly. To get 60 points with a small squad all season is terrific. "This time last year we wouldn't be equipped at all to do it." Villa last played in the Cup in 2002 when they lost at the semi-final stage. Their previous venture in the competition in 2001 saw them make the first round of the Uefa Cup and the new slimmed-down version of the tournament, in its last year, gives them an excellent chance of a potential repeat next season.