Jamie Carragher issues Aston Villa apology after club start legal action
The pundit has found himself at the centre of a storm.
Jamie Carragher has apologised to Villa supporters and the club’s owners after being threatened with legal action.
Villa announced on Friday they had initiated proceedings against the former Liverpool man for what they described as “unacceptable insults” toward the club and fans.
Carragher responded on Saturday, posting a message on social media admitting his language had been “clumsy and wrong”.
The TV pundit drew the ire of supporters with comments made about boss Unai Emery, who has been touted as a potential successor to Michael Carrick at Manchester United.
Carrick, speaking on Sky Sports, claimed Emery would be interested in the job as he could not win the Champions League with Villa.
Later in the week, during an appearance on The Overlap podcast, he spoke about the backlash and told Villa supporters to “shut the f*** up”.
Carragher added: “Aston Villa will never be Manchester United.”
That prompted an extraordinary response from Villa and their chairman, Nassef Sawiris.
The Egyptian billionaire put his name to a statement posted on the club’s X account late on Friday, saying the club had initiated legal action.
It read: “Aston Villa will not allow anyone to stop our ascension in English and European football.”
Carragher, 48, responded on his own X account on Saturday afternoon.
He wrote: “I’d like to apologise to Aston Villa, the owners & their fans. My language this week was clumsy & wrong.
“I can assure Villa fans it was tongue in cheek but I can understand it’s not come across that way, so apologies. Good luck today UTV!”