Aston Villa have stepped back from their threat to pursue legal action against Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher, following an apology from the former Liverpool defender over comments he made about manager Unai Emery.

On Friday, Villa issued a strongly-worded statement — signed by chairman Nassef Sawiris — warning they would initiate legal proceedings in response to what they called "unacceptable insults." The row centred on remarks Carragher made on the Stick to Football podcast, where he argued that Emery would prefer to manage a "giant" club.

With Manchester United manager Michael Carrick's position under scrutiny — the club sitting 17th in the Premier League — Carragher put forward what he framed as football's natural hierarchy: "Surely he (Emery) would want that opportunity to manage a giant again. There is a chain in football, whether you like it or not. So Real Madrid will take Manchester United's best player, they did it with [Cristiano] Ronaldo. And there will be teams below Aston Villa, and they'll take their players or manager. Aston Villa will never be Manchester United."

Carragher also told Villa supporters to "shut up" when they pushed back at him online.

Carragher's apology

By Saturday, Carragher had posted an apology on social media, insisting his original remarks were meant to be "tongue in cheek." The former England defender described his choice of words as "clumsy and wrong" and addressed the club's ownership directly.

"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."

Villa confirmed on Saturday that they had dropped the legal threat in light of Carragher's public apology, bringing a swift end to what had escalated into one of the more unusual disputes between a club and a television pundit in recent memory.