Aston Villa have confirmed they will take legal action against Jamie Carragher "for his unacceptable insults about the club and its fans". The Premier League club made the statement on their social media on Friday night, signed off by chairman Nassef Sawiris.
Club statement and context
Villa did not make specific reference to particular comments made by Carragher, but the Sky Sports pundit made headlines this week when he took on Villa fans who had taken issue with him hinting that Unai Emery could be the man to take over at Manchester United if they made a managerial change. He explained his reasons on Stick to Football and finished by saying: "So shut the f*** up Villa fans."
The club, without making clear what insults, said in a statement: "Aston Villa will initiate legal action against Jamie Carragher for his unacceptable insults about the Club and its fans. Aston Villa will not allow anyone to stop our ascension in English and European football."
Emery's record at Villa Park
Emery has been at Villa Park since 2022 and has overseen their rise from a side in the bottom half to one that has played in the Champions League in two of the past three seasons and also won the Europa League. The Spanish boss has done so while constantly having to rejig his squad, with the club sanctioning the British record sale of Morgan Rogers to Chelsea this summer. In the same window, they also saw Emi Martinez head to the Blues whilst Ezri Konsa headed to Arsenal.
Carragher's comments
Carragher, during his address earlier this week, commented: "I think Unai Emery is unbelievable with what he does year after year. That amount of change, players needing time to settle and he does it year after year. But the reason I'm going to go back at Villa fans is I can't believe that a manager who is so successful in the Europa League, take a player, if you'd won the Europa League three of four times surely you'll then want to go for the Champions League.
"Aston Villa will never be Manchester United. I just think he didn't do well at PSG or Arsenal, and maybe that's because of egos in the dressing room and that sort of thing. But surely he would want that opportunity to manage a giant again. There is a chain in football, whether you like it or not."
