Jamie Carragher apologises to Aston Villa over remarks about Emery

Jamie Carragher has apologised to Aston Villa, the club’s owners and their supporters after saying his language was “clumsy and wrong” when discussing manager Unai Emery as a possible Manchester United head coach.

Villa said on Friday that it would begin legal action over what it called “unacceptable insults”. The club’s statement, signed by chairman Nassef Sawiris, referred to remarks Carragher made on the Stick to Football podcast.

Discussing the prospect of Emery moving to Manchester United, Carragher said the Spaniard would want the chance to manage a “giant” club. He also told Villa supporters to “shut up” and said the club would never be Manchester United.

In a social media post on Saturday, Carragher said he had intended the remarks as “tongue in cheek”, but understood that they had not come across that way. He apologised to the club, its owners and its fans.

After the initial criticism, Carragher had said that telling supporters to shut up was a joke and that he had praised Emery and Villa for years. On the Overlap Daily podcast, he again said the comment was meant “in jest”, while describing Emery as the best manager in the league.