Aston Villa have dropped their threat of legal action against Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher after he apologised for 'unacceptable insults' made on the Stick to Football podcast. The club had initially threatened legal proceedings after Carragher linked manager Unai Emery with replacing Michael Carrick at Manchester United and told fans to 'shut up'. Carragher apologised on Saturday, describing his comments as 'clumsy and wrong' and 'tongue in cheek'.
Though Villa never initiated legal action, they have now ended their threat following his apology. Emery, who joined Villa in 2022, has transformed the club's fortunes, guiding them from relegation battles to Champions League regulars and a Europa League victory in 2026. Carragher, however, suggested Emery would want to manage a 'giant' club again, having previously managed Paris St-Germain and Arsenal. 'There is a chain in football, whether you like it or not,' said Carragher. 'So Real Madrid will take Manchester United's best player, they did it with Cristiano Ronaldo.
And there will be teams below Aston Villa, and they'll take their players or manager. Aston Villa will never be Manchester United.' Posting on social media on Saturday, Carragher retracted his comments: 'I'd like to apologise to Aston Villa, the owners and their fans. My language this week was clumsy and wrong.
I can assure Villa fans it was tongue in cheek but I can understand it's not come across that way, so apologies.'.
Source: BBC Sport Football · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing