Jamie Carragher pledges support for Aston Villa after row over remarks

Jamie Carragher has apologised to Aston Villa after the club threatened legal action over comments in which the former Liverpool player used abusive language towards their supporters and said they would “never become like Manchester United”.

The Sky Sports analyst issued the apology on X after Aston Villa released an angry statement responding to his remarks.

“I would like to apologise to Aston Villa, its owners and supporters,” Carragher wrote. “My language this week was inappropriate and wrong.”

He added: “I assure Aston Villa fans that what I said was intended as a joke, but I understand it was not taken that way, and for that I apologise. I wish you all the best today – come on Villa!”

Carragher’s message came before Aston Villa’s Premier League match against Fulham on 31 October 2026. The club are also due to face Roma in the Champions League on 03 November 2026.

The dispute followed comments Carragher made on the Stick to Football programme about manager Unai Emery and the club’s long-term ambitions.

Carragher suggested the Spanish coach may have progressed beyond Aston Villa, given the success he has achieved and his potential desire to manage another leading European club.

“I think Unai Emery is an amazing manager considering what he achieves year after year,” Carragher said.

“He deals with this amount of change, with players who need time to adapt, and yet he continues to achieve success year after year.”

Carragher said he found it difficult to believe that a manager who had enjoyed such success in the Europa League would not be considering his next challenge.

“If you are a player and you have won the Europa League three or four times, surely after that you want to compete in the Champions League,” he said.

Aston Villa won the Europa League last season and finished fifth in the Premier League. However, the club were forced to sell several prominent players, including Morgan Rogers, Youri Tielemans, Ollie Watkins and Emiliano Martinez.

Carragher also said Aston Villa would not reach the same level as Manchester United, while claiming Emery had not achieved the success expected during spells with Paris Saint-Germain and Arsenal.

“I just think Emery did not have the success required at Paris Saint-Germain or Arsenal, perhaps because there were some big personalities in the dressing room and things like that,” he said.

“But he will certainly want another opportunity to manage one of the giant clubs. There is a hierarchy in football, whether you like it or not.”

He had earlier told Aston Villa supporters to “stop this nonsense”, arguing that clubs considered less prestigious than Aston Villa would try to sign their players or manager, before repeating his claim that the club would “never become like Manchester United”.