Carragher apologises to Aston Villa over 'clumsy and wrong' Emery remarks
Jamie Carragher has apologised to Aston Villa, its owners and fans after the club threatened legal action over his podcast comments linking Unai Emery to Manchester United.
Jamie Carragher has apologised to Aston Villa, the club's owners and their supporters after the club said it would take legal action over his comments linking manager Unai Emery with the Manchester United head coach job. Villa's statement, signed by chairman Nassef Sawiris, described the remarks as "unacceptable insults".
The dispute stemmed from Carragher's appearance on the Stick to Football podcast, where he suggested Emery would want to manage a "giant" again and told Villa fans to be quiet, adding that the club would never be Manchester United. The context was the uncertain position of Manchester United manager Michael Carrick after a poor start to the season.
In a social media post on Saturday, Carragher said he wanted to apologise to the club, its owners and fans, describing his language as "clumsy and wrong". He insisted the remarks had been tongue in cheek but accepted they had not come across that way.
Carragher had earlier responded to criticism from Villa supporters by saying the instruction to be quiet had been a joke and that he had praised Emery and the club for years. On the Overlap Daily podcast he repeated that the message had been made in jest, calling Emery the best manager in the league and saying a club like Manchester United would consider what the best available option might be.
Villa's public threat of legal action marked an escalation beyond the usual back-and-forth between pundits and supporters, while Carragher's apology sought to draw a line under the episode. The affair also kept attention on Emery's standing at Villa and on the pressure surrounding the Manchester United job.
Image: Getty Images / BBC Sport
