THE Aston Villa manager, Brian Little, was yesterday involved in an angry verbal exchange with Paul McGrath, which resulted in the Republic of Ireland international defender being dropped from the first team.
It is unlikely that McGrath (36) will ever play for Aston Villa again after he was called to the training-ground office of Little to answer comments he had made suggesting the Premiership club was trying 60 block his move to another club.
Little decided upon immediate and stern action and he and the remainder of his players left for tonight's Premiership game at Newcastle leaving McGrath behind.
Little was furious at suggestions by the defender, who claimed: "I have shown loyalty to Manchester United and Villa in my career but that loyalty is not being repaid by Villa. What angers me most is that the club seems intent on blocking any opportunity for me to go elsewhere."
McGrath was referring to the fact that when the Coventry City manager, Ron Atkinson, recently tried to buy him, Villa put a £200,000 price on the Irish international.
Said Little: "I have sent Paul home and he will not be travelling with us to Newcastle. I called him into my office to ask him about comments he had made.
"He told me they were true, apart from the fact that he was not prepared to pay back the summer signing-on fee he had received from us just so that he could leave.
"After the conversation we had, I told him the only way we could settle the issue was if I left him out of my first-team thinking altogether.
McGrath is believed to have received around £100,000 as a signing-on fee when he agreed a one-year contract with Villa in the summer. He is also reported to be earning around £5,000 a week in wages but this season his first-team activities have been restricted to just one 30-minute appearance as substitute during last Tuesday's UEFA Cup meeting with Swedish part-timers Helsingborgs.
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