The fallout continues after Aston Villa declared it would be taking legal action against Jamie Carragher, with Piers Morgan taking aim at the former Liverpool defender following his apology
Piers Morgan and Jamie Carragher
Piers Morgan has lashed out at Jamie Carragher over his apology to Aston Villa(Image: Getty Images)
Piers Morgan has taken aim at Jamie Carragher, having told the Liverpool legend to “grow a pair” following his apology to Aston Villa.
Carragher published an apology to the Premier League club after Villa declared it would be taking legal action against the pundit for his comments on Unai Emery being linked with Manchester United.
Speaking on the Stick to Football podcast, Carragher defended his decision to suggest that the Villa boss could be interested in taking over from under-fire United boss Michael Carrick at Old Trafford, and in doing so he told fans of the Midlands club to “shut the f--- up” after receiving backlash.
"Surely he would want that opportunity to manage a giant again,” Carragher said. “There is a chain in football, whether you like it or not. So Real Madrid will take Manchester United’s best player, they'll take [Cristiano] Ronaldo. There's very few above United, same with Liverpool.
"But there will be teams below Aston Villa, and they’ll take their manager, or they'll take their players, so shut the f--- up Villa fans. Aston Villa will never be Man United.”
Those comments though led to Villa chairman Nassef Sawiris releasing a statement through the club’s channels late on Friday, declaring: “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.”
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Despite the statement being ridiculed by many, Carragher issued an apology to the club on Saturday, posting on X: “I’d like to apologise to Aston Villa, the owners & their fans. My language this week was clumsy & wrong.
“I can assure Villa fans it was tongue in cheek but I can understand it’s not come across that way, so apologies. Good luck today UTV!”
That apology has also been questioned though, with TV personality Morgan criticizing his decision to backtrack on his original comments.
Responding to Carragher’s post on Saturday, Morgan said: “Why on earth are you apologising? Grow a pair.”
Morgan didn’t stop there either as he reignited a previous spat between the pair over Cristiano Ronaldo. The pair have clashed in the past over the five-time Ballon d’Or winner, with Carragher claiming the TV host was “absolutely embarrassing” himself by defending Ronaldo last month after he walked out of training with Portugal.
Morgan reposted a clip of Carragher making those comments, along with a tongue-in-cheek message to the former defender. “I will initiate legal action against Jamie Carragher for his unacceptable insults. (Do I get a grovelling apology too @Carra23?),” he said.
Villa is yet to respond publicly to Carragher’s apology, with the defender-turned-pundit likely to be back on TV over the next couple of days as his former club Liverpool takes on Arsenal, while he should appear on Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football as usual as Newcastle hosts Everton.