Former Liverpool defender and Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher has apologized to Aston Villa, the club's owners, and fans for using "clumsy and wrong" language during a podcast appearance linking manager Unai Emery with the Manchester United head coach position.
On Friday, Aston Villa announced they would initiate legal action against Carragher over what they described as "unacceptable insults." The club's statement, signed by chairman Nassef Sawiris, referenced comments Carragher made on the Stick to Football podcast, where he suggested Emery would want to manage a "giant" club and told Villa fans to "shut up," adding: "Aston Villa will never be Manchester United."
Carragher posted on social media on Saturday, stating his comments were intended to be "tongue in cheek." He wrote: "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."
The controversy comes as Manchester United manager Michael Carrick's position remains uncertain following a poor start to the season. Carragher had argued there is a "chain in football" where bigger clubs attract players and managers from smaller ones. He later reiterated on the Overlap Daily podcast that his message to Villa fans was meant "in jest" and that he has praised Emery and the club "for years."
