Birmingham City claim involving Aston Villa duo Gareth Barry and Morgan Rogers made - 'this is hurting me to say' | OneFootball

FLW's Birmingham City fan pundit has named the Aston Villa player he would liked to have seen play for Blues

This article is part of Football League World's 'Terrace Talk' series, which provides personal opinions from our FLW Fan Pundits regarding the latest breaking news, teams, players, managers, potential signings and more…

The Second City derby, contested by Birmingham City and Aston Villa, is one of English football’s fiercest battles, with supporters from both clubs full of distaste for the other.

Villa’s relative success compared to Blues in recent years has meant that this fixture hasn’t been contested on a regular basis, which just builds up anticipation between everyone involved for their next meeting.

The Villans haven’t lost a league encounter to their city rivals since 2005 and haven’t finished below them in over 22 years, which means that their supporters have enjoyed bragging rights for quite some time.

That has been the trend throughout the history of this derby, with Birmingham City supporters forced to watch on as their arch-enemies lifted the European Cup in 1982 and the league title on seven occasions, with Blues unable to respond on that front.

This disparity in quality between the two outfits has led to Villa fans being able to cheer on players with a higher level of talent throughout the years, operators who have gone on to achieve things at the very highest level of football.

With this in mind, Football League World’s Birmingham City fan pundit, Jason Moore, has highlighted some Aston Villa players who he wished could’ve represented the blue half of Birmingham instead.

Birmingham City fan pundit names Aston Villa duo he wishes had played for Blues

“That is a horrible question to ask,” joked Jason. “Two come to mind, and this is hurting me to say purely because they're Villa players.

“I always quite liked Gareth Barry, and I liked him a lot more when he left for Man City and you can't help but be impressed currently with Morgan Rogers.

“He looks a real player, and I think it's only a matter of time before he gets a big, big move to somewhere else. I’d have to cash in on him at this rate.

“I'd go Rogers and Barry off the top of my head.”

Gareth Barry and Morgan Rogers would’ve been real assets for Birmingham City

As Jason somewhat reluctantly mentioned, Barry and Rogers are both top operators who have been some of Villa’s most talented players in the 21st century.

Barry played 440 times for the Villans and is currently 12th on their list of all-time appearance makers, which highlights just how key a player he was for the club.

From 1997 until 2009, the midfielder was consistently one of Villa’s best operators and contributed to them fighting for European football on a regular basis.

Rogers is part of the current crop at Villa Park under Unai Emery, but his talent has been matched by few in the club’s recent history.

Now a regular England international, the 23-year-old’s evident creative ability can cause problems for even the best defences in the world, and he will likely become one of the Premier League’s most dangerous operators across the next decade.

Both of these players would’ve been tremendously valuable assets for Birmingham City to have in their squad, but Blues supporters have unfortunately had to suffer the torment of the duo contributing positively for their arch-rivals instead.